Archives for February 2003

Bush Leads Memorial in Houston for Seven Columbia Astronauts. As the search for remnants of the Columbia spacecraft continued today, President Bush led thousands of mourners in Houston. By James Barron. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

I was thinking the same thing as Dave was when he wrote “Moon Missions.”  It was: weren’t those guys lucky to have participated in the space program.  Sure, they took a risk (a known risk), and they ended up paying for it with their lives.  However, they accomplished something that so few of us will ever get to do.  Would I take a 2% risk (there is probably a higher risk if the right statistical approach is used) of catastrophic failure to go to space?  In a NY minute.  After listening to the relatives of the astronauts that died on STS-107, one thing stands out: its clear both they and the astronauts knew the risk involved and accepted it as part of doing something that was truly exceptional. A true hero mindset.

There is something we can do to help make going to space both safer and more economical:  build a new space transportation system with modern technology.  The shuttle was designed with early 1970’s technology.  There is reason to speculate that we have made as much technological and scientific progress in the last 25 years than we had made in all the years before that.  Our inability to find it in our national will to apply that new technology to one of the few great human endeavors continues to astound me. [John Robb’s Radio Weblog]

Washington Post: Today, control of space is as important militarily as control of the seas. [Adam Curry: Adam Curry’s Weblog]

Rock legend charged with murder. Legendary US record producer Phil Spector is charged with murder after a woman is found shot dead at a house in Los Angeles. [BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition]

Search Continues for Remnants of the Shuttle. Officials are investigating the possibility that damage to heat-resistant tiles might have caused the disaster. By James Barron. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

Loss of Shuttle a Serious Blow to International Space Station. Experts said today that there was a real danger that the space station may have to be shut down at the end of the current mission. By Barry James, International Herald Tribune. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

A simple statement of law regarding Shuttle debris –  Selling debris from the space shuttle constitutes a federal crime. See 18 U.S.C. sec. 641. [via How Appealing] [Ernie the Attorney]