NothingsPerfectmember
79 posts
Location: Warwick, Rhode Island


Posted:
I don't know why I felt compelled to start this thread but I did. It makes me very sad to know that 7 astronauts lost their lives this morning especially because this was the first big deal I've heard as far as space exploration (or experimentation) goes in a long while. NASA was doing horribly a few years back and I was very concerned about the future of funding for space scientific research. I only hope that this won't keep people from continuing to try to explore possibly one of the vastest resources in existence. I may just be a science fiction dork, but I do believe that progressing to space is the future of our planet.

~And when the day arrives I'll become the sky, and I'll become the sea, and the sea will come to kiss me for I am going home. Nothing can stop me now.~


Paddyback from the dead...sort of
884 posts
Location: 43°41'N 79°38'W


Posted:
I'd like to add my condolences to all those affected as well. God bless those who lost their lives today.

This hits kind of close to home because when I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut. As I grew up, stories of the Challenger disaster seemed far and distant and very much in the past. For years now, being an astornaut has, to me, seemed fun, exciting, and *safe*.

It's very shocking to have that belief, that I've grown up with my whole life, come crumbling down in a morning.

NYCNYC
9,232 posts
Location: NYC, NY, USA


Posted:
I'm watching the press conference right now. A bit teary eyed I must say. Watching the Program Director and Mission Controller sit and talk to reporters ... Gotta be a miserable job right now.

My heart goes out to the families of the astronauts as well as the countless scientists on the ground who were involved.

I hope we can see the program up and running as soon as possible.

The quote that hit me the hardest so far was listening to the Chief Flight Director (Milt Heflin?) going throught the technical series of events up until they lost contact with the shuttle. After he read his last bit of data stating that they'd lost voice and tracking data on the shuttle he said simply: "...And that's how we know... we had a bad day."

Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]


Magnusmember
279 posts
Location: Bath, UK


Posted:
I hope that within our lifetimes we will see a memorial to these astronauts and all those who have given their lives to the cause of space travel. A memorial carved out of red rock, on the surface of Mars.

Magnus... pay it forward


Raymund Phule (Fireproof)Enter a "Title" here:
2,905 posts
Location: San Diego California


Posted:
Space exploration will live on. I have upmost faith in that. Humans are just too curious.

There are many many tragidies that happend today.

It is a terrible thing to happen. My heart goes out to those family and friends.

Some Jarhead last night: "this dumb a$$ thinks hes fireproof"


Cagemember
174 posts
Location: St. Paul, MN USA


Posted:
I will say a prayer tonight for the astronauts, their families, and those scientists whose hearts must surely be heavy with the weight of a nation wanting answers. May God be with them all.

I hope (and think) NASA will be able to overcome this trajedy in a bit shorter time frame than the Challenger disaster presented. They will learn from it and others will continue to explore.

peace and love
cage

Without further guilding the lily and with no more ado, I bid you farewell and sweet dreams...


MikeGinnyGOLD Member
HOP Mad Doctor
13,925 posts
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA


Posted:
Ugh. I remember the last time this happened, too.

-Mike

Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella



A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura


KajiQuantum Theorist
564 posts
Location: Vansterdam


Posted:
Sad very sad. Those poor families

In the 60's people took acid to make the world weird, now the world is weird and they take prozac to make it normal again.


poiaholic22member
531 posts

Posted:
What about all the other families on this planet losing loved ones this same day?Don't they deserve condolences too?Sorry if I sound insensitive about this but we all take chances everyday and people die everyday.I'm not gonna single out my feelings just because these 7 were on a spaceship.I feel for anyone losing loved ones.

MikeGinnyGOLD Member
HOP Mad Doctor
13,925 posts
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA


Posted:
I wrote this on the 15th anniversary of Challenger.

I guess it's appropriate today.

Sacrifice
1/28/2001


A rose may bloom once every spring for years and years unending
But there are thorns there on the stems that winds of change are bending.
And it is just so with the tale that flows from history’s pen
As it writes of heroes’ triumphs and the victories of men.

Into the West did young men ride upon their sturdy steeds,
Braving Mother Nature’s wrath to see what they could see.
And they lit their campfires as dusk began to fall
Yet one black-clad visitor would often deign to call.

Lightning flashes, thunder claps, and in do dark clouds roll.
The human spirit, the quest for truth, exacts its grisly toll.
Those very forces in the soul that fill it with its light
Join these brave adventurers as they journey into night.

But in their loss there is yet hope; their visions do not die.
As new steeds ride on firey trails into the azure sky,
New brave adventurers ride east into the setting sun.
And some might say that twilight falls...
But daybreak’s just begun.

-Mike

Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella



A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura


Magnusmember
279 posts
Location: Bath, UK


Posted:
I have just been reading about the Indian Astronaut.

poiaholic22, you are right, many other people died yesterday. But how many of them were doing such extraordinary things? When they leave the atmosphere astronauts cease to be Americans, or Indians, or Israelis. They become emissaries for all of humanity; ambassadors to space and our future. Not everyone can say that.

I just hope these astronauts weren't let down as badly as the challenger astronauts were.

and I still want to go into space...

Magnus... pay it forward


KajiQuantum Theorist
564 posts
Location: Vansterdam


Posted:
Feb 1/03 was a bad day.
The same day as the Columbia Accident (7 People killed). 7 Grade ten students were killed in an avilanche near Revelstoke, British Columbia. Hmmmm Karma maybe? What do you think? I don't believe in coincidence (sp)

In the 60's people took acid to make the world weird, now the world is weird and they take prozac to make it normal again.


Magickal_Kaleidoscopemember
119 posts
Location: Newcastle, Australia


Posted:
in Australia it all seems so different.
but i still feel linked to the people i had a funny feeling the night before it happend .

Raymund Phule (Fireproof)Enter a "Title" here:
2,905 posts
Location: San Diego California


Posted:
I find it disturbing, indeed this is a tragidy, but there are so many other tragidies that happen every day that get over looked. I understand that this is big news, but my word it sure puts little to no enphisis on anything that is happening in the world except for Iraq.

Is anyone else botherd by this?

Some Jarhead last night: "this dumb a$$ thinks hes fireproof"


jim bombadilmember
142 posts
Location: bristol


Posted:
i'm not too bothered about hearing about the spacemen to be honest, if your going to get in a spaceshuttle going straight up into space you've got to expect a fair chance your going to be splatted really. As for carving a memorial on Mars,sod that leave it alone I don't get why humans want to order and form everything so much.

Magnusmember
279 posts
Location: Bath, UK


Posted:
That's true, they knew the risks, and they went anyway. Because, unlike some of the posters in this thread, they understand the importance of space travel and research. Sorry but I think that's pretty fucking special.

Magnus... pay it forward


Paddyback from the dead...sort of
884 posts
Location: 43°41'N 79°38'W


Posted:
Geez, Jim, that's a bit harsh, isn't it? Just because people willingly take risks doesn't mean we can't mourn if something does end up happening to them.

If you don't want to mourn the loss (to do so or not is your choice), at least show some respect for the loss of life.

ivan..member
165 posts
Location: Halifax, NS


Posted:
any loss of life is a tragic loss for those who are affected by it. Watching it happen affects everyone who sees. In that respect it is a huge loss, but it is no greater loss than what parents and children go through when their loved one dies .... there were many lives lost the day the columbia fell apart during re-entry. 7 kids in an avalanche , over 30 people in a train wreck , and hundreds ( thousands? ) more ( not important enough to be on tv ) because of all the things that take life .... personally i believe that people who take risks knowingly also understand they may die.. astronauts, military, police, firemen/women...it doesn't make their lives less important or more important it's a loss for their family. as for the space program... after the challenger splatted it's payload of 7 over the sky it didn't slow down the program much, and now there is the space station to think about... shoudl nasa decide to wimp out i'm pretty sure other organisations private, national, and multinational will fill the gap ... i mean with all the crap going on here .. most people would love to be able to run away from our earthly problems rather than fix them...

you know what i think is funny ( yeah there is humor in everything ) all those stupid yahoo's getting sick because they are scrounging bits of the debris from columbia... yet another way of culling the herd ...

pax,
ivan

thats right i look like an albino ape that has had a bad day.. go ahead say something stupid... i dare ya !


Magnusmember
279 posts
Location: Bath, UK


Posted:
Ivan - after Challenger there were no shuttle launches for 3 years. That sort of a delay now would destroy the space station, unless the US invested in the Russian space programme and their rockets could pick up the work.

Agree with you about the Texas yokels though

Magnus... pay it forward


jim bombadilmember
142 posts
Location: bristol


Posted:
sorry, yes it was a bit harsh. Its not that I'm insensitive to their loss and they're families loss it just seems a little ridiculous to me to morn 7 (was it seven) random human beings out of all the individual beings in the universe. As for KNOWING the importance of space travel, thats a funny one, I don't think it is carved in stone (on any planet that I've been to) that it is important. There are many directions you can travel and many options for not traveling at all and the value judgements are allways changing depending on your pespective. I can see the natural urge to spread and if space IS infinite then maybee we'ed have a playground for any one into collonising stuf but there is good argument for getting this planet running a bit better first as well. Anyone being chating to God about this recently??

[ 05. February 2003, 21:12: Message edited by: jim bombadil ]

Salingermember
382 posts
Location: Southampton


Posted:
Within hours of the crash, parts of the debris from Colombia were being sold on ebay....truly sickening and a sad representation of our planet.

A conspiracy of silence speaks louder than words...


SteelWngsBRONZE Member
member
169 posts
Location: Malden, Massachusetts United States, USA


Posted:
Borrowed from a site that I read all the time. I just figured that it fit this thread very well and it expresses my feeling better than I can.


>>>>In life, depending on your age, there are always events that people remember: disasters or historic events that also become personal points in history. Many older people remember where they where when President Kennedy was assassinated. Most of us remember where we were when the attacks on September 11th happened. When I look back at my own life, the first event of this type that I remember was the Challenger disaster in 1986. I was a senior in high school. I only had classes in the morning that day, so I was on my way home when I heard the news on the radio. The news this morning, heard from the TV which just happened to be on as I went to get a cup of coffee, eerily reminded me of that day so many years ago.

Humans are emotional creatures. We are defined as much by the emotive events in our lives as we are by our own actions. Many times, we have no way of controlling these events, and they can come out of nowhere. Depending on your focus, you can wallow in the sadness that is life, or you can reflect happily in the joy that also is life. It's an odd paradox.

We sit here looking at proceeding into a war based on preemptive principals and 'high moral' goals (I don't think i want to get into my opinion on this potential conflict). We watch this morning as something that normally isn't even newsworthy, the return to earth of a Space Shuttle, as it suddenly bursts into our consciousness as it disintegrated over the clear skies of Texas. We watch the apparent disintegration of the lives of seven people a craft that has symbolism in its own right. Fears of our own mortality that arise when others die within the view of our conscience radars.

Somber thoughts for a quiet, grey, snowy day here in lower Michigan. I could go further with these lines of thought, but for some reason i want to just let them set. My condolences go out not only to the families of those lost in this disaster, but to those who also mourn for things that may not reach so high on the public consciousness.

Maybe thats one of the reasons people need the ability to express themselves in words, music and art. It helps you deal with all shades of things, from the joyous to the tragic. <<<<<


With that said love and respect to all.
Peter

Blessings to all,
Peter
When you find yourself in the company of a halfling and an ill-tempered Dragon, remember, you do not have to outrun the Dragon ...you just have to outrun the halfling.


KaosDancermember
19 posts
Location: wash. dc | the space between space | plucking the ...


Posted:
quote:
Maybe thats one of the reasons people need the ability to express themselves in words, music and art. It helps you deal with all shades of things, from the joyous to the tragic.
how beautiful, and how very true...

-k.

·:¦[ Feed my will to feel this moment urging me to cross the line. ·:¦[ Reaching out to embrace the random. ·:¦[ Reaching out to embrace whatever may come. __/( tool: lateralus )/¯¯


Raymund Phule (Fireproof)Enter a "Title" here:
2,905 posts
Location: San Diego California


Posted:
Well... do you morn people who die like cops and firefighers? They know the risks. You dont see people dropping their lunch to rush to a church to pray for their souls. Where was the national memorial service when the American C130 crashed in the mountains of Pacistan killing eight people? Where was the national memorial when the firefighting plane's wings were torn off the plane when it pulled up after dropping its payload of fire retardent killing the crew.

It is amazing that the news doesnt care how many die, they dont care about the story, they just care if they get ratings.

It is pretty sad.

Some Jarhead last night: "this dumb a$$ thinks hes fireproof"


NYCNYC
9,232 posts
Location: NYC, NY, USA


Posted:
Ray, it's human nature for us to identify with famous people. We identify with the main character in a movie. When we watch someone die on TV it's natural to feel sorry. It just so happen that lots more people watched it than watched my aunt die or my grandma. So more people feel badly.

For the FIRST time it's nice to see us honor celebreties who are positive role models.

Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]



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