What the Shuttles have given us. I wasn’t surprised that some webloggers are using the sad loss today of the Shuttle Columbia as yet another excuse to bicker and squabble, or to point to vague hints of terrorism. Too many in weblogging, and elsewhere, have gained their prominance due in equal parts to antagonism, distrust, and terrorism — it’s to their advantage to hint of dark deeds in any event. I was disappointed, though, to read the following from Dan Gillmor’s eJournal: Obviously we need to find out what went wrong, if we can, before sending the shuttles back up. But I fear this accident (assuming that’s what it is, as is almost surely the case) will instead be a justification for paralysis — a halt to U.S. space exploration when the proper response is to redouble humanity’s push into the frontier. It has never been more critical, given the terrestrial threats, to get the species off the planet and to find new resources for those who remain. The space station and shuttle program were under fire for other, good reasons. They do little for true exploration of space. A reexamination of the entire space program — and maybe turning it into a truly global affair… [Burningbird]
What the Shuttles have given us…
