I didn’t want to put this into one of the threads where people are upset and in awe of this, but I had to say it anyway. Do we really need to see a constant loop of the fireball on every TV station right now? Isn’t it sad enough without the barrage of this image right now? Show us some launches or pcitrues or something else. In the last 30 minutes this image has been on the TV for at least 20 minutes in a loop.
I guess the networks forgot that there were 7 people dying in that fireball.
Just like the Challenger coverage.
Dirty Laundry - “It’s interesting when people die, give us dirty laundry”
Still bites.
Yes, as a matter of fact, they should.
I stumbled downstairs this morning and turned on the TV, and it’s the first thing I saw: flaming debris falling through the sky, with the subtitle: “NASA loses contact with Space Shuttle Columbia,” and I’m grateful for that. I knew right away what was going on, I knew right away that there was proof.
I can’t look away from it. I’ll never look at a meteor the same way again.
As an aside to this terrible tragedy, this is the first occasion something this media friendly and ‘telegenic’ has occurred since I put a golf club through the teevee in September.
Gauging ones reactions is interesting, it feels – from the ‘outside’ - almost as if the scale of the tragedy is measured by its televisual properties; without a teevee to ‘lead’ my emotive responses, I don’t think of this as any more appalling than the similar number of Africans who died from AIDA in the time it took for the Shuttle to hit the ground, or the people that would have died in Saturday morning car crashes, etc., etc….
Wouldn’t seven people have died in a head on car crash somewhere this morning…. ? Perhaps I’m still forming reactions… in terms of human misery, what is the difference, aside from teevee coverage ?
It’s a breaking news story on its way to becoming a historical tragedy.
Okay, make that ‘AIDS’ before the puns begin…
Actually CNN is now showing the Challenger explosion as well. I assume theres a valid reason for this ? Compare and contrast maybe ?
Bad times, not good times.
Yes. Numerous people are just getting up and turning on the TV. New people will be tuning in all day long. Just because you’ve seen it and now think that no one else should, isn’t a good reason to stop showing it. If you’re tired of it, turn the TV off, or turn the picture off and keep the sound. Or flip around to different channels. Why are you complaining about something that you can easily fix?
:rolleyes: Oh yeah, why don’t you call and remind them.
I am not trying to minimize other peoples shock at this event. It is sad and people are free to feel however they do without being judged for it.
I do not however, see how this is more tragic than a sesna going down in North Dakota with 7 people on board or something similar though. Other than the fact that this was an extremely expensive “plane” it is no more tragic than any other plane crash. People die in both. Both are sad. But I don’t think the fact that this was a space shuttle makes it any more or less tragic than any other transportation accident.
Yes astronauts are brave people, but there are millions of other people who would be willing, and able, to sit in those seats.
I don’t like seeing video of ANYONE dying over and over, which is why I think they need to quit with the steady loop. It’s not just because it was astronauts that died. I feel sorry for the families that are no doubt watching it over and over.
(And before people jump my shit about being insensitive, this is why I did not post these feelings in any of the other threads. People are free to react however they want to and this is how I am feeling about it.)
I agree with Stinkpalm, loss of human life is tragic, and yet, our sensationalist news organizations (especially TV) routinely ignore other losses.
What a sad day, can anyone actually desire to begin a war?
In this context, I’m honestly not sure what ‘breaking news’ means besides prying, ill-considered and voyeuristic. Help me out, beagle, what legitimises this style of coverage besides its entertainment value ?
‘Historic tragedy’ – ‘historic’ in teevee terms ?
The Holocaust was an “historic tragedy”, the AIDS epidemic in Africa is, maybe the destruction of the great libraries is……unfortunately, there have been very many……but this, this is terribly sad (but not historic), isn’t it ?
Okay, I just found a radio station that’s trying to inject pace and urgency into its coverage … Bush returns to Washington (why ?)… has spoken to Mr Sharon……expecting a statement soon……”…. what else can you tell us….”….wow, it just seems inappropriately hasty in a radio medium
Perhaps I’m just getting old….
Here are a few differences between a fatal car crash and today’s tragedy.
The taxpayers have spent billions of dollars over the years developing, building, and supporting the Space Shuttle Columbia.
It was returning from orbiting the Earth, flying through outer space.
While, unfortunately, fatal car accidents occur every day, a Space Shuttle hasn’t been lost since 1986.
People getting into cars know the risks they are taking. Astronauts boarding a spacecraft know the risks they are taking, too, and the risks are considerably higher. When those risks are realized, we are dramatically reminded of their bravery. Every astronaut knows that they have a nontrivial chance of dying. (They have a 1:400 chance of blowing up on launch, IIRC, without even thinking about the rest of the flight.) But they chose to go into space anyway, willing to sacrifice themselves to advance the knowledge and capabilities of the human race.
If a car is involved in a big accident, they don’t withdraw all similar models from service.
Even if all Ford Explorer minivans (for example) were barred from the road, there would be dozens of other types of vehicles that could fulfill the same functions.
That’s all I can think of off the top of my head. Due to the seriousness of the occasion, I am refraining from sarcasm and flames. Apologies to all Pit readers.
Not to hijack my own thread here but do you really believe that these people do not WANT to go into space? Sure they can advance the knowledge of the human race etc… but as I said before there are millions of people who would put themselves in one of those seats and take the chances just to go into space. It’s every childs dream to see earth from above and these people get to do it.
They are brave but its foolish to think they are only doing it to help humanity. Maybe 50/50 at best.
Fifty percent pure motives ain’t bad, folks.
We have to get off this planet. To be more than a temporary accident, a blink in time and space, we need to colonize, expand, explore.
Every wound to the space program brings us closer and closer to nonexistance.
The Earth will survive us. Will we survive what we do to the environment? There’s only one way to be sure.
I’ve spoken personally to astronauts, Stinkpalm. God, yes they want to go into space. As an astronomer, I’m a space junkie, of course, but I got nothing on these guys. They’re space-crazy. They’re willing to ditch promising careers (all astronaut candidates have to be tops in their fields!) and join a very intensive, years-long training program with the full knowledge that they might never actually get picked for a flight. They work unbelievably hard. Their dedication is incredible, because they are nuts for space.
But why?
Do they just think working in a vacuum would be nifty keen? Do they just want to experience the floating sensation of freefall? Do they want to personally see Earth from space? Do they crave speed? Excitment?
Those are all cool things about space, but that kind of stuff isn’t why you join the astronaut corps, work your ass off for five or ten or more years, and risk your life if you are one of the lucky ones who gets a ticket to ride.
They want to go to space because they think space is the greatest venue for human endeavor. They think that we have the capacity to do amazing things in orbit, and beyond. They think that space is the future of humanity.
That’s what makes astronauts crazy for space. That’s what makes them willing to risk their lives. These folks always have their eyes on the future. They’re training to go to ISS, but they’re also thinking about getting to Mars. We haven’t left low earth orbit since 1972, and they’re thinking about exploring asteroids. They know that they probably won’t be the ones to go but they are acutely conscious of the legacy that they’ll be leaving to other astronauts, kids in school today, and future explorers who aren’t even born yet.
My answer to the whole “why do we send humans into space/is the space program worth it?” is a quote from a show written by J. Michael Stracynzski
And another from the 1936 movie, Things to come, written by H.G. Wells.
Podkayne made some good comments.
Well, the shuttle costs billions of dollars. The success of the ISS depends (totally), on the shuttle program. Any future space endeavors depends, for now, on the shuttle. The seven people lost are some of the best pilots and scientists in the world. Debris has showered down all over Texas. We will be finding pieces of the Columbia for decades, possibly centuries.
Oh, and my wife may lose her job. Tens of thousands of people in my area alone are directly affected.
This is sufficiently different from, say, a minivan crash of toddlers I don’t think I need to point out the differences.
I think that many Americans view this as happening to the country and not just to the women and men on board Columbia. Israel may feel the same.
Stinkpalm, I think that you are very sensitive to put this tragedy in perspective the way that you have.
I can appreciate what you said Podkayne but having a passion for something does not in itself make someone a hero or special. There are a bunch of people, just as brave as astronauts, that would go up in a shuttle in a heartbeat if given the chance. The fact that these people may not have the education or physical ability doesn’t change that. Astronauts are no more heroic than any other dangerous profession. There are many jobs where you take your life in your hands every day. There are many jobs that are more dangerous than being an astronaut, and much less rewarding.
It’s kind of like when someone gets crippled during their career in the NFL. It is sad, sure. But they went into the job knowing the risks to their body, and for NFL players the pay off is huge with million dollar paychecks. For astronauts the payoff is huge as well by getting the chance to see Earth from above, which is the dream of any kid, or adult for that matter. I
t doesn’t make you a hero for doing something that you WANT to.
If the average for 2001 still holds, 14 people have died in car accidents since the shuttle went down. (The last three hours.)