On Saturday 01 February 2003 13:21, Jason Straight wrote: >On Saturday 01 February 2003 11:48 am, J. Greenlees wrote: >> Leon Brooks wrote: >> > Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas during re-entry >> > (200,000ft), lots of links at http://news.google.com/ >> > >> > Interesting that the news is out _before_ the shuttle was due to land. >> > Astronauts almost certainly all dead. >> > >> > That'll knacker NASA for a while too, but maybe they'll try more >> > imaginative launch vehicles now. >> >> maybe they'll get rid of legacy tech and go state of the art in design? >> naw, NASA turned that down when starting the shuttle program, couldn't >> wait for a design that would be able to use any international airport. >> they won't change the attitude now, not after investing 30 years into >> the things > >More imaginative, and high tech would introduce more problems. The reason they >go with legacy equipment is because it's time tested, and works under extreme >conditions that have less failure rate. It's more likely that the parts of >the shuttle that are more high tech could have caused this. Computer fail a >lot more than wires, levers, and other mechanical controls. > Not to sound like an ass, (Though I know that's how most will take it) The Columbia is a nearly thirty year old example of a forty year old design. For an aircraft that has flown in the most imagineably extreme conditions, it is a wonder it lasted as long as it did. The real tragedy is what will happen to the Space Program in the United States. The human loss is unfortunate, but not a single astronaught or cosmonaught has ever had any misconception that their job was a safe one, much along the lines of Firefighters and Policemen, not to mention Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines. There will never be a shortage of people who are willing to do such dangerous work, but it is the rest of the people, the cowards, the lily-livers, and the bleeding-hearts that will do all of the crying about the great human tragedy. And they will balk at funding such dangerous activity regardless of the potential benefit to science, and humanity. THat's the real tragedy.
--Chuck S.
