This was very sad, and I sincerely hope it wasn't some terrorist act. But it seems like they'd had some minor problems with the shuttle before, so perhaps it really was just an unfortunate accident :(
I'll say a prayer for the deceased tonight.
Printable View
This was very sad, and I sincerely hope it wasn't some terrorist act. But it seems like they'd had some minor problems with the shuttle before, so perhaps it really was just an unfortunate accident :(
I'll say a prayer for the deceased tonight.
I didn't realize the news this morning until I reached work at 9am... I was watching cartoons at home before then. This has all been pretty awful stuff to watch/hear/read about.
...oh my god...
I have nothing else to say.
R.I.P.
Ants in space is BS, BTW. The experiments consited mostly of work on Osteoperosis and long-term space-flight medical issues (specifically, how to convert urine to drinking water).Quote:
Originally posted by ChaoofNee
Hmm... is anybody else wondering now about the worth of NASA?
Not that they don't do their job, but is it worth risking the lives of these people to see how ants work in space. Sure, they know the risks, but just look at this!
I mean, damn, this is terrible...
I doubt the astronauts would like thier deaths be the thing that makes people doubt in the program that they were a part of, KNOWING full well that thier lives were always at risk. If I had the chance, now and before, I would jump at it.
ºTracer
NASA is completely worth it... or at least the goals of NASA's studies are. Even ant experiments are part of the cumulitive goal of getting humanity out among the stars... not just the chosen few, but the whole lot...Quote:
Originally posted by ChaoofNee
Hmm... is anybody else wondering now about the worth of NASA?
Not that they don't do their job, but is it worth risking the lives of these people to see how ants work in space.
I hope that, if anything, NASA gets MORE funding out of this incident, hopefully to the end of mostly unmanned shuttle flights for experimentation, and more manpower for developing the International Space Station further...
This is where I want my taxes to go. Not the Department Of Fatherland Security...
I would like to see alternitive propulsions looked into more, while JPL gets more funding. While I live not far from and have a fondness for the Maned Space Flight Center, I think JPL has been given the financial shaft ever after the triumph of Voyager which too me, is NASA's finest moment.
We need more space funding. If we don't start using outer space and just sit here on this planet, we're dead. "Dead" isn't a euphemism, it's what will happen to us as a species in a literal sense.
Am I the only one appalled at the lack of brain shown in the people wondering about this being an act of terrorism? When did the ravings of the brain-dead and insane start getting so much attention, anyway?
James
One of the first things I saw today on ABC News was Peter Jennings interview someone who said that there was basically no way in hell this could be an act of terrorism. How anyone could think it was is beyond me.
Did anyone else see the Baba Booey call to Ted Koppel?
I'm not appalled at it, just suprised. I would think that it is pretty ignorant to belive such. The odds are really always against space flight. Just because NASA has always done a good job at it doesn't make the amount of energy needed to reach orbit any less or the risk in any was depreciated.Quote:
Originally posted by James
Am I the only one appalled at the lack of brain shown in the people wondering about this being an act of terrorism? When did the ravings of the brain-dead and insane start getting so much attention, anyway?
James
We need more funding for NASA and manned space flight, but we also need much more funding and attention to JPL. When something goes wrong with the probes they send out, little notice is given to them because no lives are at risk from it. There's a good amount of reforms needed, and now more than ever. I don't think it would be called wise to switch to a new manned shuttle just because we have run out of our current ones. Atlantis, Discovery and Endevor aren't getting any younger or safer or more cost effective... just less in every case.
Now there are 3 more astronauts in the unstable space-station MIR who may have to rely on Soyuz which is no better than sending Atlantis up tomarrow for them. I hate when these things have to happen to gat our attention. Now, what else have we overlooked? What's going to wake us all up next?
ºTracer