Quoting:
I heard that one of the guys on the ship was the first Israeli flight pilot. They were worried about him for some reason. I hope not, but it's possible that the Iraquis (spelling?) sent a missile to kill him and killed everyone.
My prayers are with their families.  :-[End Quote

  Ilan Ramon, was an Israeli air force colonel who is reported to have been part of the Israeli attack and destruction of an Iraqi nuclear facility in the 80's.  Partly because of this, there were hightened security concerns surrounding this mission.
  IMO, this tragedy is not a result of terrorist activities even though the timing is impeccable.

Quoting:
The shuttle Columbia had been meticulously maintained and updated throughout its life.  Astronauts considered it the most reliable, being the oldest.  The insulation that has been mentioned came not from the shuttle, but from the external fuel tank (The big rust colored one that the shuttle was attached to on lift-off), which was NEW, as those are not reused.  Columbia was only on its 28th mission.  NASA reviewed the damage caused by the insulation, and it was deemed not a danger.

Remember, the entire premise of the shuttle program was REUSABLE spacecraft.  Believe me, especially after Challenger, NASA leaves nothing to chance with the Space Shuttles.  
End Quote

Uh-huh. And you believe everything they say? Of course they're going to tell people that it wasn't they're fault.  Reusable shuttles? I'm sorry, but I don't buy that.


Anyways, we think that the system here is perfect, but it's like the saying goes: " there is nothing worse than to have a blind one, who refuses to see and open his eyes."

Quoting:
Now, I'm only referring to Space Shuttle missions, and I'm not referring to minor system glitches, such as the dehumidifiers not working properly.  I'm well aware of many failed missions NASA has had.  But as for the Shuttle program, their safety record is remarkable.  113 missions.  Only 2 have met with fatal failure.  This particular mission is being referred to as "virtually perfect" up to the moment communication was lost.They had descended 20 miles into the atmosphere already, and were becoming a plane rather than spacecraft at the point of the tragedy.
End Quote

Quoting:
I've been hearing that some of the debris has fallen over Arkansas, but I believe it is too far south for southernspitfire to be affected.  (She lives south of Little Rock and west of Pine Bluff.)  And TX, where are you and has any debris fallen around your place?
End Quote

Quoting:
I am sorry, TV9, but 17 NASA deaths as opposed to only 5 for Russia does not give me any solace that 113 were successful (and I don't want more Russians to die in space). This is clearly a waste of money that NASA has done to the Shuttle program. Try telling Christa McAuliffe's family that a great teacher, mother and wife did not die in vain. Or those close to the Israeli astronaut that he was a martyr in space. The recent space "missions" are sad, wasted time and lives better spent on feeding the poor and replenishing our resources.  

End Quote

It is sad that this happened, but are you saying that we shouldn't have a space program because we have lost lives?  Please don't think I am slamming your opinions, I just want to see if I understand what you are saying.  If that is indeed what you are saying, then there are a lot of things that should never be done again because of loss of life.  Airplanes, cars, that kind of thing.

I don't think these 7 people died in vain, they died doing what they dreamed of doing.  

Quoting:
I'm going to say things as is with out stuttering regardless of what everyone else thinks, becuase I'm real and I say the truth.End Quote

Let's remember these are all opinions folks.

By the way....

I didn't see an insulting post from Dude. Where is it?

Quoting:


It is sad that this happened, but are you saying that we shouldn't have a space program because we have lost lives?  Please don't think I am slamming your opinions, I just want to see if I understand what you are saying.  If that is indeed what you are saying, then there are a lot of things that should never be done again because of loss of life.  Airplanes, cars, that kind of thing.

I don't think these 7 people died in vain, they died doing what they dreamed of doing.  
End Quote

Quoting:And some soul searching as to better ways of utilizing NASA other than doing the mindless "research" that they have done recently.End Quote

The "mindless research", as you call it, is what they do in searching, discovering, learning, studying. That is NASA's mission.

Quoting:I do agree with you somewhat that they died doing what they dreamed of, but that was only because they thought it was safer than flying.End Quote

Did they actually say that and is it documented?

How can you know what they thought, each and every one of the Astronauts who chose to be what they became with all of the wonders and risks that come with their job?

Quoting:But I call this particular mission a waste. :(End Quote

That's a darn shame, to read something like that posted above.

I'm sure their families feel quite differently about the excellence and pride in their lost one's tour of duty and last mission.

Quoting:
No Dag, I am not calling for the total collapse of the Space program. I am just calling for a better investigation of the events in Dallas, Texas (which has had it's share of National tragedies). And some soul searching as to better ways of utilizing NASA other than doing the mindless "research" that they have done recently. I do agree with you somewhat that they died doing what they dreamed of, but that was only because they thought it was safer than flying. The astronauts have died doing what they dreamed of, which is more than I can say about the majority of Americans. But I call this particular mission a waste. :(

End Quote

Thanks for clarifying that, IG.  I understand what you are saying.  I think it will be a while before there is another mission, heck it will be a while before they figure out exactly what happened if they ever do.

Quoting:
IG,

My responses above may sound harsh, but know they are not meant to be.
End Quote

Quoting:
But I hope the space program never dies.End Quote

If it does, so will our chance to move into the future.

We would never be able to "boldly go where no man (or no one) has gone before."

Quoting:
As sad as this news is, I don't feel the shock I felt back in '86 with the Challenger. It may be because I'm desensitized to national tragedies at this time in my life. 911 was probably what cinched it. In any case, my sympathies go out to their families.
End Quote

I don't think it's less shocking because of 9-11.

In 1986 the space shuttle program was only 5-6 years old, not 2 decades old.  

And in 1986 it was a BIG, NATIONAL event because civilian teacher Christa McCaluiff was on that launch.

Millions of school children of all ages were watching that launch in 1986.  I was one of those children.

There are big differences in the Challenger explosion and this disaster.  I think this is what makes this less shocking, not because of 9-11, or more violence in the media or video games or whatever.

Quoting:
I was asleep when I heard :(

Y'know...this is only the second shuttle accident in the 20+ years that the space shuttle has been the primary space transportation.  I think that is an awesome safety record.  I may be comparing apples to oranges, but there have been a gazillion car crashes, plane crashes and other nasty accidents that have happened in that same time frame.  Nobody's going to stop driving cars or riding planes because of that.  And I don't expect NASA to stop sending up shuttles.  Of course, they are going to have to retool the shuttle again to make sure nothing like this happens.  But considering all the months of training and preparation that go into each shuttle launch and the hundreds of dedicated astronauts, scientists and engineers who work on the mission, I'd feel more confident riding on the shuttle than in my own car.  Of course that's probably because I'm a maniac of a driver.

I'll give my thoughts to these astronauts today... :'(

But I hope the space program never dies.  I'd like to step on the moon someday ;)  Or maybe even Mars.
End Quote

I agree, after over 20 years of space missions with the Shuttle, NASA has a GREAT RECORD.  Only 2 accidents?  Not bad.  Not bad at all.  It's a freaking fantastic record and a tribute to NASA.    

We speak of how this is less shocking, and I think this is yet another reason why this horrible disaster may be less shocking then Challenger from 1986.  People know that the space shuttle program has been around since like 1980 or something, and there have been only 2 disasters.  They know accidents were bound to happen.  And if you think about, NASA does a fantastic job with their saftey protocols.

Quoting:
I was asleep when I heard :(


But I hope the space program never dies.  End Quote

Me too.  Space has many possibilites, but ending the space program will never allow us to take advantage of them.

Quoting:
This may sound harsh to those who support NASA and it's research, but maybe what people perceive as the future is best left in science-fiction entertainment. And besides, we may never live long enough to see any of NASA's ideas come to fruition. :(
End Quote

Indy Gent, I guess I am having a hard time understanding where you are coming from with some of your statements today.  

You're right, we, as in you and I probably won't be living in space, but who knows what is to come for our children, and their children, and so on and so on...

Quoting:
As sad as this news is, I don't feel the shock I felt back in '86 with the Challenger. It may be because I'm desensitized to national tragedies at this time in my life. 911 was probably what cinched it.End Quote

I posted this as my present, personal feeling and observation.

This is the way I feel.

In my opinion, this tragedy does bear similarity to that of '86 and it is equally distressing, even if no teachers were on board.

But I digress...

Quoting:
Let me ask you, Hairspray. Is there even a slight possiblility that man was not meant to be in space? That this is even a sign of God that we have violated the future He wanted us to have, namely a better one?End Quote

I don't think of this issue along the lines of religion. Sorry.

Quoting:


I don't think of this issue along the lines of religion. Sorry.
End Quote

Quoting:
I'm sorry that you don't, but I hope we can at least agree to disagree.  :-/End Quote

OK!  :)

Quoting:
Let me ask you, Hairspray. Is there even a slight possiblility that man was not meant to be in space? That this is even a sign of God that we have violated the future He wanted us to have, namely a better one? End Quote

puh-lease! was it God's will then that my GTR tape got eaten in my player this week? am I not intended to listen to good music? what a ridiculous thing ot say

Quoting:
puh-lease! was it God's will then that my GTR tape got eaten in my player this week?
End Quote

just out of curiosity, what is a "GTR" tape?

Quoting:


I don't think of this issue along the lines of religion. Sorry.
End Quote

I agree Hairspray.  

If we are going to relate this disaster to religion, oh boy, we would need another thread for that one indeed!

Quoting:


puh-lease! was it God's will then that my GTR tape got eaten in my player this week? am I not intended to listen to good music? what a ridiculous thing ot say
End Quote

Quoting:


I posted this as my present, personal feeling and observation.

This is the way I feel.

In my opinion, this tragedy does bear similarity to that of '86 and it is equally distressing, even if no teachers were on board.

But I digress...

End Quote

Yes I understand that that is your opinion.  And I felt I should state my opinion to your opinion.  But just reading between the lines of your comments (and I understand that perhaps I am way off in reading between the lines of your comments) it just seemed like another post of yours that subtely hinted at the moral superiority of the 1980s which somehow created more of a shock to the Challenger explosion.

I agree with you with the shock value of this, I  too feel less of a shock over the Columbia disaster of today then the Challenger explosion. But again I felt it was necessary to say that IMO, it's not because of 9-11 or violence on TV/movies or violent video games or whatever people may think that is some moral breakdown in society today that creates less of a shock.  The 1986 launch was a BIG EVENT that was watched my millions of school children (I was one of those kids back in '86) because of a civilian teacher, Christa McCauliff, going into space.  The shuttle program was also only 5 years old at that time.

Columbia's mission was another routine trip into space, and hardly anyone was watching or cared.  Not to mention that many people, inlcuding me, feel that NASA has done a great job.  I don't mean to sound cold or callous, but a disaster like this was going to happen sooner or later.  The shuttle program has been going on since 1981, and they have had only 2 disasters.  That's a great record by NASA, IHMO.  

Quoting:
Let me ask you, Hairspray. Is there even a slight possiblility that man was not meant to be in space? That this is even a sign of God that we have violated the future He wanted us to have, namely a better one? This may sound harsh to those who support NASA and it's research, but maybe what people perceive as the future is best left in science-fiction entertainment. And besides, we may never live long enough to see any of NASA's ideas come to fruition. :(
End Quote

It is all ours for the taking. Just like asking if we should do research on diseases. We must know the truth to fulfill ourselves. It is gods work to learn about what he gave us.

As for the shuttle, I am very sad to hear what happened. If anything, NASA is leaving its scientific scope and becomming to militaristic. I was shocked to see that 6 of the 7 on the flight were US military officers.

Quoting:
No, I don't think it's God's will.  He created an entire universe that surrounds us, why do that for nothing?  There is no possibility Man wasn't meant to go into Space.  It's the next natural location for man to go.  Thinking we should remain here, and not explore as much as we can, is what seems unnatural, and against the curiosity and desire to explore that God gave us in the first place.

As for manned Mars mission?  I believe it WILL happen.  Maybe, just maybe, within our own lifetimes as well.  Here's hoping.
End Quote

Quoting:
If anything, NASA is leaving its scientific scope and becomming to militaristic. I was shocked to see that 6 of the 7 on the flight were US military officers.
End Quote

Yeah, and the other one was an ex-Israeli pilot.  What's the point here?  NASA astronauts are essentially military personnel, ever since the beginning of the program.  That's why they have ranks like "Major" and "Captain".  

Quoting:


Yeah, and the other one was an ex-Israeli pilot.  What's the point here?  NASA astronauts are essentially military personnel, ever since the beginning of the program.  That's why they have ranks like "Major" and "Captain".  
End Quote

There is a difference between science for mans advancement and science for military benifits. I support learning more about the world, but I do not support the military placing 100's of spy satelites in orbit.

Plus, there was a time when a teacher nearly made it into space. I have my suspicions about the government and that accident...

Quoting:


There is a difference between science for mans advancement and science for military benifits. I support learning more about the world, but I do not support the military placing 100's of spy satelites in orbit. End Quote

As far as I know, nobody's restarting "Star Wars" up in space.  That shuttle mission was for scientific purposes.  As for the spy satelites, thank goodness for them, because I'd like to know what Saddam and Kim Jong Il is up to...by "I" I mean the government, of course ;)

Quoting:

Plus, there was a time when a teacher nearly made it into space. I have my suspicions about the government and that accident...
End Quote

I seriously doubt the government is going to destroy a billion dollar machine to prove a point.

Quoting:

The shuttle program has been going on since 1981, and they have had only 2 disasters.  That's a great record by NASA, IHMO.  
End Quote

Quoting:
I seriously doubt the government is going to destroy a billion dollar machine to prove a point.
End Quote

I think Bush offered 15 billion to donate to africa to fight aids. A billion is nothing for the givernment. I think those tomahawks they dropped in Yugoslavija cost a few million each, and they must have launched 100's. My point is there was pressure to have civilians and scientists go in space, and after the challanger that issue was dropped.

Quoting:
just out of curiosity, what is a "GTR" tape?
End Quote

GTR was a band from the 80s

Quoting:
In fact, who has tapes nowadays. Doesn't "Ed" know about CDs?

End Quote

yes I know about cd's but I can't find that album on cd

Quoting:
Enough with the conspiracy theories...End Quote

I agree with you on that.

As I was watching the coverage today on TV I was wondering to myself how long it would take before the "conspiracy theorists" started to come out to give their take on today's tragedy.

Quoting:
I do know about GTR. When the band's only hit is "When The Heart Rules The Mind", it's hard to get a CD reissue.

Now back to our regular topic.

End Quote

the GTR answer was for 80srocked but now you know why I had a tape and not a cd d'uh

back to the topic

Quoting:
I've been hearing that some of the debris has fallen over Arkansas, but I believe it is too far south for southernspitfire to be affected.  (She lives south of Little Rock and west of Pine Bluff.)  End Quote

Thanks Don....I am ok.....but I must wonder why you know where I live.... ::)

and for the rest of you that want to argue whatever it is you are arguing....can you not get over all that B.S. and remember what was lost today.....seven people.....seven people that was someones father, mother, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, child, grandchild......stop the bickering and remember that......morn for them and what was lost.....not what this means or doesn't mean to America.  Put yourself in their shoes right now.  To someone today......they lost a person they love very, very much.  And for that...my heart breaks :'(

Quoting:
In fact, who has tapes nowadays. Doesn't "Ed" know about CDs?

End Quote

who insulted who's intelligence?

Quoting:But just reading between the lines of your comments (and I understand that perhaps I am way off in reading between the lines of your comments)...End Quote

Yeah, I plainly meant just what I typed. No reading between the lines necessary.  :)

Quoting:

First my disclaimer: I am NOT a conspiracy theorist-type person!

But I woke up to hearing "anyone who has found debris, please do not go near it or touch it as you will be dead in days.There is probable contamination...." This was playing on my alarm/radio....I had no idea what was going on and when they said it was the Columbia, that it had exploded upon attempted re-entry....well, I will leave you to guess what my first thoughts were. 9/11 must have affected me much more than I had originally thought.   :-/
End Quote

Okay, I finally was able to log in...

Here are my few thoughts. I think it is terrible when people die and I am saddened by what happened.

As for the warning not to touch the Shuttle, all I can say is who knows what they had on board. You would think the 3000 degrees from the atmosphere would have killed anything which could infect a human, but who knows.

In an earlier post, I mentioned I was suprised to see 6 military officers. I believe the original mission of NASA was scientific discovery. The military has one job, to prepare for and fight wars. NASA and the military should not be married the way they appear to be.

I also think part of the problem is funding is too low for this kind of exploration. If I had a vote, I would dismantle NASA and instead fund a group of research universities to carry out the scope of what NASA does. I believe we will learn more with creative post-doc and doctoral students from MIT and Cal-Tech than we will from military officers. It is as simple as knowledge and drive. If you have ever met a physicist from MIT or Stanford or Harvard, you know there minds are 110% glued to physics and math and chemistry. They love it and they have lots of fresh ideas to be tested. If you look at military officers, they have lots of tasks to think about other than physics and engineering, not to mention they come in a command chain where speach is not valued. If we want a military space program, fine, the US should make one and call it for what it is.

What do people think about the idea that the top 10 or 15 research universities should form a space program, and get the funding which NASA gets? We would definetly learn more about space I think.

Quoting:

Okay, I finally was able to log in...

Here are my few thoughts. I think it is terrible when people die and I am saddened by what happened.

As for the warning not to touch the Shuttle, all I can say is who knows what they had on board. You would think the 3000 degrees from the atmosphere would have killed anything which could infect a human, but who knows.

In an earlier post, I mentioned I was suprised to see 6 military officers. I believe the original mission of NASA was scientific discovery. The military has one job, to prepare for and fight wars. NASA and the military should not be married the way they appear to be.

I also think part of the problem is funding is too low for this kind of exploration. If I had a vote, I would dismantle NASA and instead fund a group of research universities to carry out the scope of what NASA does. I believe we will learn more with creative post-doc and doctoral students from MIT and Cal-Tech than we will from military officers. It is as simple as knowledge and drive. If you have ever met a physicist from MIT or Stanford or Harvard, you know there minds are 110% glued to physics and math and chemistry. They love it and they have lots of fresh ideas to be tested. If you look at military officers, they have lots of tasks to think about other than physics and engineering, not to mention they come in a command chain where speach is not valued. If we want a military space program, fine, the US should make one and call it for what it is.

What do people think about the idea that the top 10 or 15 research universities should form a space program, and get the funding which NASA gets? We would definetly learn more about space I think.


End Quote

Quoting:

As for the warning not to touch the Shuttle, all I can say is who knows what they had on board. You would think the 3000 degrees from the atmosphere would have killed anything which could infect a human, but who knows.


End Quote

Hey there, John, glad you could finally log on.  :)

From what I heard the danger was from the fuels and chemicals used to run the shuttle.  They are incredibly toxic.  It wasn't from whatever was outside the shuttle.

In another direction...did anyone else find it incredibly sad that just 4 days earlier the astronauts had a moment of silence to commemorate the lives of the 7 killed in the Shuttle Challenger?

Quoting:



In an earlier post, I mentioned I was suprised to see 6 military officers. I believe the original mission of NASA was scientific discovery. The military has one job, to prepare for and fight wars. NASA and the military should not be married the way they appear to be.

End Quote

Where do you think astronauts have always come from? With rare exception, they have always been military officers.

Quoting:
I was just curious, how long do you think it will be before someone is trying to sell a piece of the shuttle on EBay?
End Quote

MSN had a short news item yesterday (the day of the crash).  E-Bay has already had, and has had removed, auctions for what are claimed to be pieces of Columbia.

Quoting:


MSN had a short news item yesterday (the day of the crash).  E-Bay has already had, and has had removed, auctions for what are claimed to be pieces of Columbia.
End Quote

That is just sick and wrong. >:(  These people should be flogged for trying to sell what they claim to be pieces of the shuttle.

The picture that got me the deepest was the picture of the helmet...no body just a helmet. :'(

Quoting:
The destruction of Columbia is a tragedy. Let's not forget that. Let's also forget conspiracy theories, terrorist plots and other less lucid ideas. Accidents happen. Sometimes for no reason, or no reason we can understand. Seven people died doing what they had always dreamed about; they were also lost taking part in the most significant scientific program in the history of mankind. Make no mistake, the future for humanity is beyond the limits of the Earth. Every step we take towards this is important, even tragedies like this can teach us something. After Challenger, there wasn't a fatal space accident for 17 years, so I'm willing to suggest that someone learned something from that. Now that there's been another one, with some other cause, we'll learn something else. But the space program MUST continue, no matter what. And remember, there's still three guys up there at the moment in the ISS. They were supposed to be coming down on the next shuttle mission in March, but now they'll have to stay there until the remaining shuttles are declared safe or the Russians can send up a rocket to bring them back.

Deepest and most heartfelt sympathies to the relatives and friends of those brave people who were lost in this disaster.
End Quote

Bravo and well said! I hope they get back to scientific discovery. As for the ISS, I read in the news that Russia is not delaying the next launch for supplies. They will send the materials on schedual.

Quoting:

Let me say that for once I was impressed by the major networks. Specifically, I was very impressed by NBC. They had some good stuff going on for a dark day. An interview that caught my ear was with a guy named William Burrows, from an aerospace magazine, talking about the character of the astronauts he's known over the years.

One of the astronauts had apparently hoped for Mars. Anchor Brian Williams asked Burrows about that. Burrows pointed out that Mars is out of reach for the time being, and suggested a return to the moon. A very simple phrase explains it well:

"No place in space is safe forever."

We must get off this rock, and right now the American space program is the best shot we've got. An international cooperative effort would be preferable, and someday that will happen. But astronauts are the last true and absolute pioneers of humankind right now; all else is introspection and refinement. The same rocketry that has brought so much misery to humanity by delivering bombs is also the flare that guides us to perpetuity.

The space program is, in principle, more important than a military. But we choose to make military matters more important.
End Quote

That is exactly why I think we have to hand control over the space program to academia. NASA is beccoming a bloated buraceracy married with the military, and does not have enough funds to do any one job well. Does NASA have one clear purpose? If the purpose is space exploration and knowledge, then research schools are perfectly suited for this kind of exploration. I personally would like to know what is "out there". A few years ago I read they dicovered two new planets beyond Pluto, now they are saying these are two very large meteors. Jupitor is supposed to be one large gasseous mass. We know this from what, pictures? I think we could learn more from detailed exploration. Not just what is there, but how it formed and what may happen to it in the future. I think everyone knows our sun will supernova one day, and that will destroy the earth. Just because it will not happen in our lifetime is not a good reason to pass the buck.

BTW, I think we could end all wars if we got everyone interested in exploration. Put down the gun and pick up a book. We are stuck on this rock, and I for one would like to know how we got here and what else is out there. If we have been here for 1000's of years, I think it is time we do research for research's sake and leave uses aside.

Quoting:


That is exactly why I think we have to hand control over the space program to academia. NASA is beccoming a bloated buraceracy married with the military, and does not have enough funds to do any one job well. Does NASA have one clear purpose? If the purpose is space exploration and knowledge, then research schools are perfectly suited for this kind of exploration.
End Quote

NASA is not an arm of the military. The pilots (astronauts) come from the navy and airforce, many of the scientists also come from a military background, but it's not a military organisation. If it were, I'm sure it would get a lot more money than it does. The reason it is under-funded is because money is diverted away from it and has been since the final days of the Apollo program in the 1970s. No administration has believed space exploration to be as important as when Kennedy decided to race the Russians to the Moon.

Quoting:
A few years ago I read they dicovered two new planets beyond Pluto, now they are saying these are two very large meteors. Jupitor is supposed to be one large gasseous mass. We know this from what, pictures? I think we could learn more from detailed exploration. Not just what is there, but how it formed and what may happen to it in the future.End Quote

Jupiter has been extensively explored by several spacecraft now. Voyager 1 and 2 went past it in the 70s and Galileo recently ended its mission there by dropping into the planet's atmosphere. There are no immediate plans for a mission to Pluto.

Quoting:
I think everyone knows our sun will supernova one day, and that will destroy the earth. Just because it will not happen in our lifetime is not a good reason to pass the buck.End Quote

I don't think mankind ever need worry about this. It isn't going to happen for another 5 billion years. By then, there won't be mankind.

Quoting:
yep i saw that....that was very sad....they kept replaying it....so sad.....i wonder if anyone lived?
End Quote

Only long enough to know they weren't going to live for much longer. It would have been a quick and painless end.

Quoting:
MSN had a short news item yesterday (the day of the crash).  E-Bay has already had, and has had removed, auctions for what are claimed to be pieces of Columbia.
End Quote

I just did a quick search on Ebay to see if anymore scumbags were selling debris from the crash, and it seems evryone and his brother are taking advantage of the crash to sell anything that has to do with the Columbia shuttle(models, photos, etc.)

Quoting:


I don't think it's less shocking because of 9-11.

In 1986 the space shuttle program was only 5-6 years old, not 2 decades old.  

And in 1986 it was a BIG, NATIONAL event because civilian teacher Christa McCaluiff was on that launch.

Millions of school children of all ages were watching that launch in 1986.  I was one of those children.

There are big differences in the Challenger explosion and this disaster.  I think this is what makes this less shocking, not because of 9-11, or more violence in the media or video games or whatever.
End Quote

I don't think it was less shocking because of September 11th either. There were other factors. The Challenger was  destroyed on ascent, and I think there is something more powerful, more disturbing when a mission is disastrous so early.  Columbia was destroyed on descent, coming back from a succesful mission in space.

Challenger went like this:

"And liftoff!  Liftoff of the space shuttle Challenger, the 25th shuttle launch on her mission to....."

And then BOOM!!!!----infront of millions of people (especially children) watching it live because of the big deal made about a teacher going in space.

Columbia went like this:

"She's coming back.  Any minute now.  They should be back.  Where are they?"

The ship then broke up over Texas on a Saturday morning and most people heard about it by tuning into CNN.  The Columbia tragedy was very sad because of the loss of human life and the loss of a powerful symbol of American pride, but I think for most people it didn't have the dramatic sadness that the Challenger did.