As I'm sure everyone has heard by now, the Space Shuttle Columbia has exploded over central Texas minutes while re-entering Earth's orbit minutes before it was to return to Florida.
One of its crew was Israel's first astronaut. Terrorism is NOT suspected. Nearly 18 years since the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded. Wonder how this will affect the space program.

First major news story of the year.:(

Originally posted by Captain ABlairica
As I'm sure everyone has heard by now, the Space Shuttle Columbia has exploded over central Texas minutes while re-entering Earth's orbit minutes before it was to return to Florida.
One of its crew was Israel's first astronaut. Terrorism is NOT suspected. Nearly 18 years since the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded. Wonder how this will affect the space program.

First major news story of the year.:(
I saw. It's terrible. I feel sorry for all the astronaut's families :(

I'm watching the story on Headline news right now. It's terrible. There's enough tragedy going on in the world with this Iraq stuff. Now this. I feel sorry for the astronauts' families. I'll pray for the families and hope that they will be okay in the future.

Originally posted by Captain ABlairica
As I'm sure everyone has heard by now, the Space Shuttle Columbia has exploded over central Texas minutes while re-entering Earth's orbit minutes before it was to return to Florida.
One of its crew was Israel's first astronaut. Terrorism is NOT suspected. Nearly 18 years since the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded. Wonder how this will affect the space program.

First major news story of the year.:(


Its a very sad day for America, Isreal and India, as we lost 7 of our heroes GOD BLESS EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM. My heart goes out to the astronuats and there families.:crying:



GOD BLESS AMERICA

I'm heartsick. Those poor people and their families. Last week, January 28th marked the 17th anniversary of the Challenger explosion in 1986.
This doesn't reflect well on NASA.

Originally posted by TheFonz

I saw. It's terrible. I feel sorry for all the astronaut's families :(

yeah, me too.:( I heard it on the radio this morning.

This really is a tragedy. My heart goes out to the families of these astronauts. I couldn't believe it when I saw it on tv. I called my cousin who lives just outside of Dallas, and she heard the explosion, so she went outside and she saw it all. She took pictures. She said she had never seen or heard anything like that in her entire life. I live in Arkansas, and the shuttle could actually be seen from, get this, Columbia County, in extreme southwest Arkansas as it fell.

I heard about it this morning. It's really sad. :(

Originally posted by Three'sCompanyrules



Its a very sad day for America, Isreal and India, as we lost 7 of our heroes GOD BLESS EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM. My heart goes out to the astronuats and there families.:crying:



GOD BLESS AMERICA

Ditto to that!

aww thats really sad :( My Heart goes out to the families of the astronauts I remember when the Challenger exploded I was in 6th grade and we were in PE My teacher canceled the actual Class so we could actaully see it happening on TV

I heard about it.....its so sad there were like, 7 or 8 ppl on there??? :(

oh man I know... does anyone know why it exploded? Courtney there was 7 people on board :(.

Originally posted by TheFonz
I saw. It's terrible. I feel sorry for all the astronaut's families :(
me too. But it all works in God's plan. :)

Originally posted by BubbleLuvGrl026
I heard about it.....its so sad there were like, 7 or 8 ppl on there??? :(
Exactly seven people were on there. Five of them were male, and the other two were female. They were all in their 40's.

Originally posted by Janice
Last week, January 28th marked the 17th anniversary of the Challenger explosion in 1986.


My brother and I were helping my sister move into her new house and had a horrible sense of deja vu this morning when we heard the news. We both remember watching the tragic events of the Challenger disaster on TV as we watched the reports today.

Very sad.

How awful! :( My prayers are with the astronauts' families.

I was just a year old when the Challenger exploded and I never expected to see something like that now. Too bad that I'll remember that when I found about thee Columbia, it was 2:00 in the afternoon and I was laying around in my bed and hadn't even showered yet.

But my heart goes out to those astrounauts and their familes who are hurt the most by this tragedy.

I Just got through reading what happened and i can't stop crying... It is so sad and it happened right here in Texas... My heart goes out to those who lost their lives and to their families.

Originally posted by TJL

My brother and I were helping my sister move into her new house and had a horrible sense of deja vu this morning when we heard the news. We both remember watching the tragic events of the Challenger disaster on TV as we watched the reports today.
Very sad.
I remember that sad day back in 1986. It's been said that anyone over the age of 5 in 1963 remembers where they were when they heard the news of JFK's assasination or the Challenger explosion. I was just shy of 6 in 1963, and I remember it well. I remember my mother and grandmother just crying and crying.
I think the same will be true of September 11, memory wise.

I just don't know what this world is coming to. :(

Originally posted by Janice
I remember that sad day back in 1986. It's been said that anyone over the age of 5 in 1963 remembers where they were when they heard the news of JFK's assasination or the Challenger explosion. I was just shy of 6 in 1963, and I remember it well. I remember my mother and grandmother just crying and crying.
I think the same will be true September 11, memory wise.

Yeah I think that's true. My mom and dad were both 6 in in 1963 and they remember where they were when they heard about Kennedy. I was 8 when the OJ Simpson trial was going on and I remember exactly what I was doing when the final verdict was given. So there will always be certain events where you will never forget what was going on in your life at that particular moment.

My Mom and i were at Walmart earlier and i was in the Video section and seen everyone crowding up around the TV's. I Went to go see what was going on and seen it. Its A Very Sad day and all of their Familys are in my prayors. :(

Yea I heard. That's so sad :(

Just a terrible tragedy.

I heard at about 10am. Sad.:(

There are now two sad anniversaries for me on this date. My uncle Pete died suddenly of a heart attack three years ago today. He was like a second father to me. I miss him so much :crying: I'll say a prayer for him and the families of the Columbia astronauts tonight.

Originally posted by Janice

I remember that sad day back in 1986. It's been said that anyone over the age of 5 in 1963 remembers where they were when they heard the news of JFK's assasination or the Challenger explosion. I was just shy of 6 in 1963, and I remember it well. I remember my mother and grandmother just crying and crying.
I think the same will be true of September 11, memory wise.

I am old enough to remember just about every significant event in America's space program. I remember when Alan Sheppard became the first American in space - only about a 15 minute flight! - straight up, and right back down. I remember John Glenn's historic 3 orbits around the Earth, and the tragic day when the first Apollo crew - Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee - died on the launch pad while running through some tests in preparation for their upcoming flight.

I, too Janice, can recall that sad day in 1986. That one hit me particulary hard. I remember talking about the Challenger explosion with a coworker the next day, and becoming so emotional when I started to talk about Christa McAuliffe that I couldn't continue the conversation. I have never been able to talk about the Challenger accident with anyone else since then, until today. I called a friend of mine this morning to ask if she had heard the news about the Columbia. She was watching the news coverage on TV when I called, and we began talking about how truly tragic this is, and how bad we both feel for the families of those who perished. I started to talk about the Challenger for the first time after all these years, and still feel the same sense of grief now that I felt that day with my coworker. That same feeling is inside of me tonight as I follow the news coverage of today's tragedy. I feel so sorry for the families. May God Bless them, and comfort them.

Almost everyday we hear some bad news.

Either someone dies or such a tragedy like this. :(

My heart goes out to the families too... :( patriot: patriot: patriot:

Sad:(

I heard about that. Its so sad :(

Originally posted by Jimbo
I, too Janice, can recall that sad day in 1986. That one hit me particulary hard. I remember talking about the Challenger explosion with a coworker the next day, and becoming so emotional when I started to talk about Christa McAuliffe that I couldn't continue the conversation. I have never been able to talk about the Challenger accident with anyone else since then, until today.
Thanks for sharing your personal story with us Jimbo. I've always had a hard time dealing with the Challenger, the Oklahoma City bombing, and 9/11.
It sounds like you were particulary hard hit with the Challenger tragedy.

Originally posted by Janice

Thanks for sharing your personal story with us Jimbo. I've always had a hard time dealing with the Challenger, the Oklahoma City bombing, and 9/11.
It sounds like you were particulary hard hit with the Challenger tragedy.

Oklahoma City and September 11th was also very rough. I live about an hour south of New York City. Many people in my area commute to New York on a daily basis. No one that I know personally was lost in the WTC attack, but many of my coworkers and neighbors had friends or family members that perished. The local newspaper normally devotes about a half page to the obituary section. For several weeks after 9/11, that section of the paper grew to 3 or 4 pages daily, as the remains of more and more people from the area were identified.

Regarding the Challenger, several years ago they built a new Middle School in my township, and named it in honor of Christa McAuliffe. Her mother came here for the dedication ceremony.

Originally posted by Jimbo


Oklahoma City and September 11th was also very rough. I live about an hour south of New York City. Many people in my area commute to New York on a daily basis. No one that I know personally was lost in the WTC attack, but many of my coworkers and neighbors had friends or family members that perished. The local newspaper normally devotes about a half page to the obituary section. For several weeks after 9/11, that section of the paper grew to 3 or 4 pages daily, as the remains of more and more people from the area were identified.


I remember 9/11. I live 20 mins north of the City and you could see the skyline from a hill in the county. That day, we all went up there and all we could see was smoke.

Challenger wasn't my time, but 9/11 is and always will be.

This weekend my brother, 2 sisters, a friend and I went to Washington D.C. We had just gotten off the Metro by the Smithsonian's about 10 am eastern time when our cell phones started ringing. First it was mom mom calling my older sister, then my brother-in-law calling my oldest sister. They both got the news at the same time. We were just all in shock and taken back to that day 17 years and 5 days ago.

See, we were living in Florida at the time and actually saw the Challenger explode over our school. All the nightmares came rushing back. I was taken back to that day on the playground and tears started coming down our faces.

We stood there for a minute before deciding to head to the Air and Space Smithsonian figuring they would have some updates there. As were were waiting for it to open, other cell phones were ringing. You could tell by there expressions that they were just receiving the news. Some stayed there, others left as they were crying.

That day was one of the hardest for us. Just when you think you are over a trauma, you get sucker punched. We stood infont of the Air and Space Smithsonian and had a little prayer for the friends and families of the astraunauts.

Later on in the day, we talked to several friends in Texas and they told us that yes they had heard the explosion and could see the debris raining down all over the place.

I'm thankful that nobody was seriously injured from everything falling. The one thing that annoyed me thoug was the companies that did not have their flags at half staff. I flew back home to Texas today and then drove home. During that trip I saw several major chains that did not have the flags at half staff. The Wal-Mart on South 59 in Houston, EVERY SINGLE McDonalds in the Houston area that we saw, and numerous car dealerships.

It upset me because the accident happened over Texas number 1. Number 2, NASA is in Houston as well, EVERY SINGLE company in the Houston area should have done it without waiting on an announcement from the President or Governor.

Okay, I'm rambling...I'll stop now.

D

Yes i heard about the Space Shuttle went down i feel sooo sad for the Victom's family that lost there loved ones! I turned the TV on Saturday morning and i saw it i'm like OMG...GOD BLESS TO THE PEOPLE ON SEPT 11TH,01, AND FEB 1ST 03,

you know after thinknig about it, I dont see what the point in space exploration is....I mean, I dont really care if there is another moon on Mars or whatever, it has nothing to do with me, there are starving kids and we're spending millions of dollars trying to figure out how many moons Pluto has, and if there are aliens. I can see if there was a meteoroid going to crash the earth but really whats the point in trying to see what's on other planets? Even if there is life on other planets why would it effect anyone unless they're going to attack the Earth or whatever (which if they've always been there, they havent in the bast million years) I dont understand the point in wasting money to see what's on Jupiter and ****, and the teachers at my school are being laid off cuz they dont have enough money! Im just saying ppl are in poverty on earth and they're spending millions up in space looking at rings and moons....

Originally posted by Ags2000
This weekend my brother, 2 sisters, a friend and I went to Washington D.C. We had just gotten off the Metro by the Smithsonian's about 10 am eastern time when our cell phones started ringing. First it was mom mom calling my older sister, then my brother-in-law calling my oldest sister. They both got the news at the same time. We were just all in shock and taken back to that day 17 years and 5 days ago.

See, we were living in Florida at the time and actually saw the Challenger explode over our school. All the nightmares came rushing back. I was taken back to that day on the playground and tears started coming down our faces.

We stood there for a minute before deciding to head to the Air and Space Smithsonian figuring they would have some updates there. As were were waiting for it to open, other cell phones were ringing. You could tell by there expressions that they were just receiving the news. Some stayed there, others left as they were crying.

That day was one of the hardest for us. Just when you think you are over a trauma, you get sucker punched. We stood infont of the Air and Space Smithsonian and had a little prayer for the friends and families of the astraunauts.

Later on in the day, we talked to several friends in Texas and they told us that yes they had heard the explosion and could see the debris raining down all over the place.

I'm thankful that nobody was seriously injured from everything falling. The one thing that annoyed me thoug was the companies that did not have their flags at half staff. I flew back home to Texas today and then drove home. During that trip I saw several major chains that did not have the flags at half staff. The Wal-Mart on South 59 in Houston, EVERY SINGLE McDonalds in the Houston area that we saw, and numerous car dealerships.

It upset me because the accident happened over Texas number 1. Number 2, NASA is in Houston as well, EVERY SINGLE company in the Houston area should have done it without waiting on an announcement from the President or Governor.

Okay, I'm rambling...I'll stop now.

D

Ags2000:

No, you're not rambling. You've made a very valid point about the flags.

If you saw my eariler post, then you know that I, too, was deeply affected by the Challenger explosion. I can't imagine what that must have been like for you to actually witness that terrible accident. Please know that you are not alone in your grief. Our entire country mourns the loss of these brave and dedicated individuals aboard both the Challenger and Columbia.

I was mad that Taco Bell didn't lower its flag like the McDonald's here in town. I wish that people would get a clue and show some respect for these brave souls that died in space. It's hard for me to think they died BARELY INTO EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE. It's horrible.:(

And ANOTHER things that's horrible is that some goob at work was saying, "Gee, that's all they showed on t.v. all day was the Space Shuttle disaster", like it was no big woop and that people should get over it and that there are other things going on in the world...:rolleyes: Yeah, I know we should SLAP HIM SILLY!!!!!:livid: :smash: The lack of concern or compassion from some slimeballs:mad:

Originally posted by BubbleLuvGrl026
you know after thinknig about it, I dont see what the point in space exploration is....I mean, I dont really care if there is another moon on Mars or whatever, it has nothing to do with me, there are starving kids and we're spending millions of dollars trying to figure out how many moons Pluto has, and if there are aliens. I can see if there was a meteoroid going to crash the earth but really whats the point in trying to see what's on other planets? Even if there is life on other planets why would it effect anyone unless they're going to attack the Earth or whatever (which if they've always been there, they havent in the bast million years) I dont understand the point in wasting money to see what's on Jupiter and ****, and the teachers at my school are being laid off cuz they dont have enough money! Im just saying ppl are in poverty on earth and they're spending millions up in space looking at rings and moons....

I agree, BubbleLuv. I don't see the point of space exploration either. Let's take the money out of the space program and use it to feed starving families and create better schools and stuff.

My prayers go out to the astronauts and their families in this really tough time.

Originally posted by WingsFan


I agree, BubbleLuv. I don't see the point of space exploration either. Let's take the money out of the space program and use it to feed starving families and create better schools and stuff.

My prayers go out to the astronauts and their families in this really tough time.

There is still that possibility that we may have to learn all we can before we make our home...OUT THERE..............:ufo:

Just like I read on the cover of Life magazine in 1991, Mars will be our next home in this coming century...after we trash THIS planet up first...

I still kinda wonder, tho'...should we give up ALL expensive projects just to feed the hungry and needy? Should we close down the Guggenheim, the Louvre, the Uffizzi galleries and museums just because they have expensive works of art...that AREN'T feeding the masses (except aesthetically)?:confused:

Originally posted by Captain ABlairica


There is still that possibility that we may have to learn all we can before we make our home...OUT THERE..............:ufo:

Just like I read on the cover of Life magazine in 1991, Mars will be our next home in this coming century...after we trash THIS planet up first...

I still kinda wonder, tho'...should we give up ALL expensive projects just to feed the hungry and needy? Should we close down the Guggenheim, the Louvre, the Uffizzi galleries and museums just because they have expensive works of art...that AREN'T feeding the masses (except aesthetically)?:confused: We've been living on this earth for 545054605 years and it hasnt been trashed.... No offense but what does aliens on other planets have to do with how we're living? what im saying is.....THERE ARE STARVING PPL AND WE'RE WORRYING ABOUT MARS AND LIFE FORMS ON DISTANT PLANETS. MY SCHOOL HAS TO ALTER EVERYTHING FOR THE WORST CUZ WE DONT HAVE ENOUGH MONEY FOR TEACHERS AND THEYRE GOING ON STRIKE AND WE HAVE TO STAY EXTRA DAYS....WHY CANT WE JUST USE THE MONEY FOR A STUPID SPACE EXPLORATION FOR TEACHERS AND THINGS THAT ARE MORE IMPORTANT AND THEN WHEN EVERYTHING IS OKAY WE CAN GO BACK AND EXPLORE!! IM SICK OF THESE EXTRA DAYS OF SCHOOL JUST CUZ TEACHERS DONT HAVE ANY MONEY AND ARE RIGHTFULLY PROTESTING BUT WE HAVE TO GO LONGER DAYS OF SCHOOL CUZ OF IT! IM (im not yelling at you btw lol) And there's no way we can live on Mars, there's no air, and uhhh....why would anyone want to?????? just because????? :confused:

Originally posted by BubbleLuvGrl026
We've been living on this earth for 545054605 years and it hasnt been trashed.... No offense but what does aliens on other planets have to do with how we're living? what im saying is.....THERE ARE STARVING PPL AND WE'RE WORRYING ABOUT MARS AND LIFE FORMS ON DISTANT PLANETS. MY SCHOOL HAS TO ALTER EVERYTHING FOR THE WORST CUZ WE DONT HAVE ENOUGH MONEY FOR TEACHERS AND THEYRE GOING ON STRIKE AND WE HAVE TO STAY EXTRA DAYS....WHY CANT WE JUST USE THE MONEY FOR A STUPID SPACE EXPLORATION FOR TEACHERS AND THINGS THAT ARE MORE IMPORTANT AND THEN WHEN EVERYTHING IS OKAY WE CAN GO BACK AND EXPLORE!! IM SICK OF THESE EXTRA DAYS OF SCHOOL JUST CUZ TEACHERS DONT HAVE ANY MONEY AND ARE RIGHTFULLY PROTESTING BUT WE HAVE TO GO LONGER DAYS OF SCHOOL CUZ OF IT! IM (im not yelling at you btw lol) And there's no way we can live on Mars, there's no air, and uhhh....why would anyone want to?????? just because????? :confused:

Good point there. Teachers are underpaid, education is undervalued, you'd think before we become roomies with the Romulans we'd learn the BASICS of reading, writing and arithmetic...Unless the U.S. Gov't knows something we don't know about starvin' Martians, we SHOULD focus a little more on
people down here. NOW look at the trillion dollar mess it took to get a shuttle up there only to have it frizzle fry on re-entry. AND the wasted lives...:(

Originally posted by Captain ABlairica


Good point there. Teachers are underpaid, education is undervalued, you'd think before we become roomies with the Romulans we'd learn the BASICS of reading, writing and arithmetic...Unless the U.S. Gov't knows something we don't know about starvin' Martians, we SHOULD focus a little more on
people down here. NOW look at the trillion dollar mess it took to get a shuttle up there only to have it frizzle fry on re-entry. AND the wasted lives...:( *nods* Im glad you understand! This state is the 48th in teacher sallary and we're having a whole bunch of protests

Originally posted by BubbleLuvGrl026
*nods* Im glad you understand! This state is the 48th in teacher sallary and we're having a whole bunch of protests

Btw, which state are you in again (other than the state of poverty...:lol: )?

Btw, you ever think that the REAL reason for space exploration is more out of building technology for WAR?? Wasn't THAT the real reason for the Space Race between the U.S. and the Soviets in the 60's?

Originally posted by Captain ABlairica


Btw, which state are you in again (other than the state of poverty...:lol: )?

Btw, you ever think that the REAL reason for space exploration is more out of building technology for WAR?? Wasn't THAT the real reason for the Space Race between the U.S. and the Soviets in the 60's? From Los Angeles.......currently in Oklahoma. :(

Originally posted by BubbleLuvGrl026
Even if there is life on other planets why would it effect anyone unless they're going to attack the Earth or whatever (which if they've always been there, they havent in the bast million years)


If we found life on other planets that were more advanced from us... then we could learn from them...

Originally posted by BubbleLuvGrl026
you know after thinknig about it, I dont see what the point in space exploration is....I mean, I dont really care if there is another moon on Mars or whatever, it has nothing to do with me, there are starving kids and we're spending millions of dollars trying to figure out how many moons Pluto has, and if there are aliens.

Well, there has been many, many inventions and technology we use today which came about because of space missions. One, of course, is computers. Also, what we know today as "cat-scans" was first started from space experiments. ("Cat-scans" are a sohpisticated type of x-ray, which can spot cancer beginning to grow in a person long before a normal x-ray can see it). There have been many medical breakthroughs linked to the space program. I believe cell-phones also developed from NASA, but I'm not sure about that.

This was of course a terrible tragedy and my heart goes out to everyone affected by it.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Fleet
Well, there has been many, many inventions and technology we use today which came about because of space missions.

Excellent point Fleet. I was about to bring up the same basic point, but you beat me to it. I'll add that many scientific experiments occur on every shuttle mission.

*~*~*~*~*
Columbia left earth with over 80 scientific experiments on board. "We'll be doing experiments in fundamental physics, biology, firefighting, medicine, climate ... the variety is amazing," says Charles, who is the STS-107 mission scientist.

"Sometimes people ask me if we couldn't save money by doing the experiments on Earth. So I ask them, 'How much does it cost to run a zero-g lab on the ground?' There's no answer, of course, because a zero-g lab on Earth is impossible."

"We go into space to do things we can't do on the ground," he continues. "Access to hard vacuums, access to the radiation environment of space, access to microgravity. That's why we're there. No one today can predict where microgravity research will lead. It's almost certain that anything we do predict from our rudimentary experience so far will be only a small fraction of the ultimate benefits."
~*~*~*~*~

Even ground researchers have learned from the keen eyes of the shuttles and their crews:

-- Scientists from Humboldt State University and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have used shuttle radar to study movements of the Earth's crust in the quake-prone Kodiak Islands of Alaska.

-- Researchers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena have obtained valuable data to interpret changes in forest cover over Alaska and Northern Canada from a synthetic aperture radar system installed on the shuttle Endeavour.

-- Researchers at Hampton University in Virginia have used the Endeavour's LIDAR, or Light Detection And Ranging, instrument to gather detailed information about a typhoon that hit islands of the Western Pacific in 1994. It marked the first installation of a LIDAR instrument on a space vehicle.

-- Endeavour's superb LIDAR images have also helped archaeologists locate the lost city of Umar, a 4,000 year-old community in the Sultanate of Oman on the Arabian Peninsula, and reveal the sandstone canyon systems of Petra in Jordan, where tombs from the Bronze Age to Crusader times have been located.

The lost shuttle Columbia, like the Endeavour, had been a workhorse of scientific research at the microscopic level. The Columbia played an important role in the work of the Laboratory of Cell Growth at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in San Francisco, where Dr. Millie Hughes-Fulford, a 56-year-old former astronaut, directs a team ferreting out the most intimate secrets of human cells. Hughes-Fulford, a biochemist, first flew aboard Columbia in 1991, gathering 350 urine samples and 200 blood samples -- including her own -- from the crew of five.

Her science teammates aboard included a cardiologist, an astrophysicist and a surgeon, and they learned a great deal about osteoporosis, about the increase of mass in blood cells under weightlessness, and about the loss of muscle strength.

~*~*~*~*~
BubbleLuvGrl, if you think all this still doesn't relate to you in any way, consider this: there were scientific experiments aboard the Columbia that were designed by school kids, like yourself, ranging in age from kindergarten to high school.

In fact, the name of the lost Columbia Mission STS-107 was "Space Research and You"

Maybe you should take the time and effort to learn some facts (after all you have all that time on your hands since you're not in school right now) before unfairly blasting a program that you obviously know nothing about. It seems to me you are simply looking for a scapegoat for your current problems.

You make a valid point that the money could be spent in other ways, but the same could be said of many things, as Captain ABlairica pointed out by pondering whether or not other perceivably "superfluous" pursuits should be ceased.

You wanna talk about wasted money? OK, why not point the finger at Hollywood and its excess? Why not point the finger at monopolous corporations that serve no point on this Earth other than to feul their own greed? I think there are many many things that waste money that should go before we trash the space program. But what do I know?

(by the way, before you try to say that you didn't know all that, or that I'm just being an annoying smarty pants, or whatever else you want to say, I didn't know any of the above about the Columbia until about 15 minutes ago, other than the fact that scientific research is performed in space. It took me all of 15 minutes to learn that on the Internet, from reliable sources.)

umm, I didnt read everything u said but uhh....... ya, sure....

anyway, forget about what i said earlier it's too late to edit it, i was mad yesterday about other stuff

Originally posted by Bootsy Whoosh
This was of course a terrible tragedy and my heart goes out to everyone affected by it.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Fleet
Well, there has been many, many inventions and technology we use today which came about because of space missions.

Excellent point Fleet. I was about to bring up the same basic point, but you beat me to it. I'll add that many scientific experiments occur on every shuttle mission.

*~*~*~*~*


Bootsy:

Thank you for that excellent list of extensive, and in some cases, live saving benefits that have been realized through the efforts of those involved in the space program. There are many people of all ages who think that the shuttle program, and before them, the Apollo, Gemini, and Mercury programs, yielded little in the way of practical benefits. As you have demonstrated, nothing could be further from the truth.

I have seen interviews with a number of the family members of those who tragically perished aboard the Columbia. In each case, despite the deep personal loss they suffered, each have expressed the desire to see this country continue the important work of the space program.

If I may, I'd like to add one more item to your list: The home computers that we are using right now to have this discussion were made possible because of research and development originally begun in support of the space program.

Originally posted by BubbleLuvGrl026
umm, I didnt read everything u said but uhh....... ya, sure....

anyway, forget about what i said earlier it's too late to edit it, i was mad yesterday about other stuff

Right. I should never have expected you to take two minutes out of your terribly important life to educate yourself a little bit.

I guess you're OK with making ignorant comments as long as you can just say "nevermind" later, instead of making any sort of effort (in this case completely minimal effort) to better yourself.

BTW, thanks Jimbo for taking the time to read my post, and it was my pleasure posting it.

I thought I would post a triblute about the Columbia Space Shuttle that I got in an email for all of ya it's really good. <http://www.interviewwithgod.com/columbia/>

That was a nice tribute to the astronauts of Columbia. Thanks JoPol_wannabe for sharing that with us!

Beautiful tribute. Thanks JoPol.

Bootsy--Thanks for posting information about space exploration. It has become common dull-speak that space exploration is a waste of money, without making the case for that reasoning. So, as you pointed out, not only has a lot been accomplished through space exploration, but it's easy to learn about that fact.

Your input on the board has been greatly missed by me in the past few months. I'm glad you drop on from time to time when you can.