Prior to these lines being written, NASA have lost communication with the Columbia ~70 minutes ago and there are pictures of the rear part of it exploding and her crashing, no other official statement yet.
The astronauts lives are feared for and I personally find a very scarce chance for them to survive.

We currently know of one part of the shuttle that soared without being taken care of, a metal ball near the power generator (There are 9 at each side) that was apparently not whole on liftoff, but couldn't be taken care of when found because the shuttle was already on the launching mechanism- NASA claimed the Columbia was more than 100% safe. Could this be what led to the shuttle's poor fate?

And of course there is the ever rising question (Which I will not speculate onright now since no evidence had been brought to affect it), since this was the first time an Israeli flew to space, could this be the result of sabotage?

Personally I would say no to that. Do you guys think there is a reasonable probability this is true?

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First of all, my deepest sympathies and condollences to the friends and families of the Astronauts lost on the Columbia today.

However, I have a bone to pick with CNN...what's with all of the Ilan Ramon coverage. Let me begin by saying, I mean NO disrespect to my Israeli TA brothers & sisters...but COME ON CNN. The way CNN covered this story, you'd think Ilan Ramon was the only fu$%ing person on the space shuttle. What about the other astronauts that perished in this horrible accident? Don't you think their lives were as precious as his? Don't you think their families are suffering a tremendous loss as well?

CNN...YOU SUCK

no sabotage, that's just a lame excuse

sometimes it happens, it happened 20 years ago, and it happened again. Probably due to the decreased funding from the US.

Washington also says that it is unlikely that someone sabotaged it

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Alsof Het G*dverdomme Himmel Niks Kost!!!

Kalpana Chawla was a wonderful person. I had the honor to meet her when she came back to UTA to talk about her experiences. She promised me that when she returned safely from her mission today that she would get in contact with me to talk to me about my career as an Astronaut. I have always had a dream of being an Astronaut since I was a very young child. I have models of the space shuttle all over my room. I was looking forward to have the chance to talk to her and continue on with my dream of being an astronaut. But it appeared to me that it all just came to a halt.

I am going to continue on with my dream with her in mind and the crew of the Challenger from January of 1986. I hope you guys understand how important this is to me, and I wish for everyone on here to have her and the rest of the STS-107 crew in your prayers tonight. Here is the link from the Engineering Department at UTA:

http://www.uta.edu/engineering/

In loving memory of Kalpana Chawla, who was on her return flight from her second mission on this 1st of February, 2003. The official mission clock stopped at: 15 days 22:37

Armando Cajide (Undergraduate Aeronautical Engineer at The University of Texas at Arlington)

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Very sad. I only hope this tragedy will at least result in improving the space shuttle's security and technology. It seems to me that partial reason for this was continuous cutting of funds for NASA space program. They are flying with shuttles which are older than most commercial airplanes. Unfortunately this accident may also result in additional decrease to the funding of the space program.

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Last edited by DrUg_Tit0 on Feb-01-2003 at 20:31

you guys have no idea what it's like to be standing outside your house. Seeing the shuttle go by, then completely destroy itself in mid-air. Then 30 seconds later hear a tremendous BOOM that rocks the house and sets off car alarms for a good 2 mins. Not only that, but also knowing that something went wrong, and that you're good friend is on board. I hope they learn their lesson so I don't have to face the same tragedy when I go up into space.

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Its a Sad day for both Israel, and the USA. My g-d rest their souls.
I cant imagine what they we're thinking or feeling as they went down.

Funny thing is, that Palestinians we're dancing in the streets when they heard the news. when i talked to my cousin whos in the army this morning, he said that the IDF was on high alert to make sure the crowds didn't break out into an all out riot. Burning both countries flags in utter disrespect for innocent lives lost. Lives that dedicated their efforts to inproving the future of mankind.

It really is a sad day.


I understand NASA using referbished shuttles and parts due to cutbacks, but i would expect that saftey and inpections would be done 10 times more diligently due to the shuttles' 'old' nature.

I.Y.

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Signature Suspended as it was deemed offensive.

quote:

Originally posted by melech_mike Funny thing is, that Palestinians we're dancing in the streets when they heard the news. when i talked to my cousin whos in the army this morning, he said that the IDF was on high alert to make sure the crowds didn't break out into an all out riot. Burning both countries flags in utter disrespect for innocent lives lost. Lives that dedicated their efforts to inproving the future of mankind.

it is even funnier to know that they dance everytime a jew is killed be it an astronaut or not...

and big kudos for turning this thread into a political one.

anyways, this is a sad day for science, lest not forget that scientists are always pushing the enveloppe of the known at the expense of the unknown and all that while putting their lives on the line for the greater good of Humanity.





P.S.: I have a scoop, the shuttle exploded because there was a hamas suicide bomber on board, he got orders from Al Qaeda which indirectly points to Saddam!! lets bomb the fuka! The CIA has proof, they just found a Saudi Passport that just came down from the sky miraculously intact! ignore this I was just joking

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quote:

Originally posted by ahlamalek P.S.: I have a scoop, the shuttle exploded because there was a hamas suicide bomber on board, he got orders from Al Qaeda which indirectly points to Saddam!! lets bomb the fuka! The CIA has proof, they just found a Saudi Passport that just came down from the sky miraculously intact! ignore this I was just joking

And kudos to you for both continuing the making of this thrread a political one AND making a joke where it was highly unnecessary.

Well, the Irquis (sp) have also celebrated this... Though the sad thing is that formal organizations also think of this in a positive way cause that's god's way to bring revenge on the Americans

I'd like to pose another question: To the reliqous of us, do you think that it's gods way of telling man not to try and live in the sky etc. with the sky being god's "Home"? (I assume the orthodox Jew s in Israel are going to state that soon enough )

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1. once again my condolences
2. dj_cubano I adimre your enthusiasm for space travel, i highly respect any1 in that field and wish that his dream comes true. Im sorry you lost some1 so close to you. I agree on ahlamalek's statment about astronauts being vital for pushing the envelope and brave for risiking self-sacrifice for a higher goal.
3. oDrori I dont think so. I dont like that kind of argumentation...or do u think that sept.11 was god's way to tell us to stop building skycrapers? or that earthquakes or hurricanes are his messages telling us to stop setteling down in coastal areas Although this is a tragic accident it's almost unique in an already quite long history of space travel.
4. i'm convinced that space travel is the key for the long-term survival of the human race. over-population, dseases, exhausted resources, conflicts amongst each other..the demand for Earth-2 will grow and grow in the future. Personally as much as "conquering" and settling in ares throughout the world seems "legitmate" so is the expansion beyond our planet totally justified.

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"Those are my principles, if you don't like them... well, I have others.”

quote:

Originally posted by TranceGiant 3. oDrori I dont think so. I dont like that kind of argumentation...or do u think that sept.11 was god's way to tell us to stop building skycrapers? or that earthquakes or hurricanes are his messages telling us to stop setteling down in coastal areas Although this is a tragic accident it's almost unique in an already quite long history of space travel.

... and school shootings are God's way of telling us to stop having kids.

What a shame....