Post by: RickPowers on February 01, 2003, 09:48:51 AM
If you're having a wicked feeling of Deja Vu this morning, you're not the only one. Nearly seventeen years to the date the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded in the early morning hours in front of a startled nation. So many people are wondering if they were watching a history reel when confronted with the news this morning that the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia met the same terrible fate. Many of the circumstances are different, but it is a tragedy of similar proportions, nonetheless.
We'll leave the details to the regular news sites ( CNN, MSNBC, Yahoo News ) but our hearts go out to the families of the crew of Columbia, and to everyone else affected by this terrible accident. God Speed, Columbia.
Post by: Br26 on February 01, 2003, 10:46:59 AM
Post by: Matt on February 01, 2003, 12:50:32 PM
Its a major national tradegy, and my condolences go out to everyone who is affected.
Post by: MH-001 on February 01, 2003, 01:09:44 PM
Post by: PGC-Agent Cooper on February 01, 2003, 01:14:40 PM
Post by: manunited4eva22 on February 01, 2003, 01:50:50 PM
Post by: Matt on February 01, 2003, 04:45:20 PM
For example, that insulation hitting the left wing... if that screwed something up, and NASA said that it wasn't a concern, then that is a big mistake.
Post by: MH-001 on February 02, 2003, 06:11:42 AM
Post by: Mojo on February 02, 2003, 09:35:21 AM
Post by: Matt on February 02, 2003, 09:37:34 AM
Other gaming websites mentiond this too.
Post by: RickPowers on February 02, 2003, 09:56:29 AM
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I agree that it's a tragedy, but not something that needs to be posted on your website. This isn't 9/11. Seven people died doing a job they knew was risky from the get-go. That's something I don't mourn over. I don't see PGC doing traffic accident reports and the like, so why should this be any different? They're not heros, they're astronauts who had an unfortunate accident.
That's a very shallow and sad view of the world, Mojo. I consider everyone that risks their life to travel into outer space to gather even the simplest of scientific information a hero. PGC is a site with a social conscience, and while we're not going to lament every national tragedy on our home page, there are certain ones that we're going to bring attention to. If you don't like it, DON'T READ IT. No one forced you to click that link. You have no one to blame but yourself.
Yes, this wasn't on the scope of something like the attack on the WTC, and we're likely not going to take every February 1st off either. But I'll be damned if we're going to keep from keeping our readers informed on important events just because someone doesn't think it "belongs" on our site. If you want to dictate what does on a website, start your own.
Post by: Mojo on February 02, 2003, 12:57:39 PM
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Originally posted by: RickPowersQuote
I agree that it's a tragedy, but not something that needs to be posted on your website. This isn't 9/11. Seven people died doing a job they knew was risky from the get-go. That's something I don't mourn over. I don't see PGC doing traffic accident reports and the like, so why should this be any different? They're not heros, they're astronauts who had an unfortunate accident.
That's a very shallow and sad view of the world, Mojo. I consider everyone that risks their life to travel into outer space to gather even the simplest of scientific information a hero. PGC is a site with a social conscience, and while we're not going to lament every national tragedy on our home page, there are certain ones that we're going to bring attention to. If you don't like it, DON'T READ IT. No one forced you to click that link. You have no one to blame but yourself.
Yes, this wasn't on the scope of something like the attack on the WTC, and we're likely not going to take every February 1st off either. But I'll be damned if we're going to keep from keeping our readers informed on important events just because someone doesn't think it "belongs" on our site. If you want to dictate what does on a website, start your own.
Why is it "sad" that I'm not going to mourn over something so stupid? Like I said, it's unfortuante that they died, but it's a risk they chose to take. Strapping yourself inside a rocket and blasting into orbit is dangerous, and they knew that going in. I'm not gonna cry when something goes wrong. You can call them heroes if you want, but that's just your opinion. To me they're just scientists who are doing nothing to help anyone but space enthusiests. I don't care if you post a story about it on your site, I just don't think it deserves the attention. If I'm gonna mourn, I'm gonna mourn over police officers or firemen -- the real heroes. These astronauts died in an accident, and it's a shame, but that doesn't make them national heroes, in my opinion. This is really no different than a plane crash or something of that sort (and alot of pilots are up their for the good of science aswell -- are they heroes too?).
Posting it because you want to keep your readers informed is a nice gesture, really it is, but do none of your readers have television? Every self-respecting channel mentioned it atleast once. And they obviously have the internet... most of them are on it 10 hours a day. I clicked on the link becasue I wanted to see what you people had to say about it -- which was generally nothing worth reading.
Again, it's a sad event, but hardly on the scale that you're making it out to be.
Post by: RickPowers on February 02, 2003, 02:17:35 PM
As Mark Twain once said, "Sometimes it's better to remain quiet and be thought a fool, than to speak, and remove all doubt."
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Posting it because you want to keep your readers informed is a nice gesture, really it is ...
Right. And that's where you should have left it. This is the problem with the internet ... some people just can't leave an opinion, however malformed, unspoken.
Post by: Mojo on February 02, 2003, 03:10:09 PM
Post by: MH-001 on February 02, 2003, 04:38:57 PM
Post by: Matt on February 02, 2003, 06:53:45 PM
They put thier lives at risk for things that will benifit the entire world.
Post by: Mojo on February 02, 2003, 08:23:22 PM
Of course it's all part of a larger conspiracy, but I'm not gonna get into that.
Post by: PGC-Agent Cooper on February 03, 2003, 12:09:15 AM
Post by: Rize on February 03, 2003, 03:20:30 AM
I still remember the Challenger. I was about 6 y/o in kindergarden, and we had the dividing wall opened between the classroom so everyone could watch. We were just little kids and I suppose most of us (I did at least) thought it was part of the show. All the teachers were crying though. It's a strange memory.
Post by: Mojo on February 03, 2003, 03:29:24 AM
It's a conspiracy because a French satellite interfered with instruments.
Post by: RickPowers on February 03, 2003, 06:45:44 AM
As for why this is so "important", the main thing is that being an astronaut is a dream of many kids. I remember how scared I was when I was a kid and saw the Challenger explode, and the MAIN reason why we posted the news was to show our respect, and to give people a place to talk about it. Respectfully.
And quite frankly, for someone who doesn't think that this is at all important enough to warrant all this attention, you're doing a pretty good job of keeping this thread bumped to the top.
Post by: Mojo on February 03, 2003, 07:47:13 AM
Why would the French do this? In retaliation for the French 747 that was shot down by Amreican Submarines during the Clinton Administration. That 747 was full of French intelligence operatives and America (ie. Clinton) didn't want French getting ahold of their secrets. Boeing came up with some idiotic reason for the crash, and America got away with one. Of course the French knew about it, and the result is this challenger disaster, which was supposedly caused by two missing tiles. That's of course a load of crap, because shuttles have come down with missing tiles in the past. French is also quite opposed to the war on Iraq, so I'm sure that had something to do with it.
Then again, maybe I've listened to one too many conspiracy radio shows. In that case, I return to my "that's unfortunate, but who really cares" arguement.
Post by: RickPowers on February 03, 2003, 08:08:10 AM
Post by: Mojo on February 03, 2003, 08:37:59 AM
Post by: Quality is Nintendo on February 03, 2003, 10:23:33 AM
Don't get me wrong Mojo I totally understand what you are saying. But the reason this is such a big deal is cause these Brave Souls that died, died in service to humanity. I know that sounds stupid, but it is true.
Their whole lives revolved around exploring the unknown in hopes that the greater good of humanity will benifit from thier findings.
They knew the risk. They took the risk. They died. But they died for you, me, thier families and people that they don't even know exsist.
That makes them Heros. That is why everyone is making such a big deal about it. No one likes to see Heros die.
And if you can't appreciate the loss that we all have experienced, then can you please just say your peace and leave well enough alone.
Thank You
Post by: Jonnyboy117 on February 03, 2003, 10:31:32 AM
Post by: Mojo on February 03, 2003, 11:18:39 AM
End of arguement. I don't feel like getting banned over something so stupid.
Post by: MH-001 on February 03, 2003, 05:59:23 PM
Post by: RickPowers on February 03, 2003, 06:13:56 PM
As for what the space program has done for teh human race right now, not a whole heck of a lot. But saying that's a reason not to explore is folly. We are DESTROYING this planet, and if the human race is going to survive, we're likely going to have to leave it at some point. Every mission to space any country takes gets us one small step closer. I can understand the young not being able to see the larger picture, but that certainly doesn't excuse it. While it may never affect you in your lifetime, it will likely impact your ancestors in some fashion.
Post by: oohhboy on February 03, 2003, 06:14:26 PM
Post by: baberg on February 03, 2003, 07:32:25 PM
When Sir Isaac Newton was working with hand-polished lenses studying optics, do you think he had planned for his discoveries to be used in the Hubble space telescope? Or to make the laser in your CD player?
So when you say "Name one thing that we as human beings have benefitted from with the space program", I say "Name one person from Newton's time who benefited from his optics discoveries." 300 years from now (Newton died in the early 1700s), if there have been no practical applications of the research done in space, then I'll concede that humanity has not benefited from the space program.
Until then, the closing lines of High Flight by John Gillespie Magee, Jr:
And while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of Space
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God
Post by: uniracer45 on February 03, 2003, 10:44:12 PM
Number one, it involved something exploding in the sky. Things that explode in the sky get big news. For instance, the 4th of July fireworks. The national (U.S.) missile defense system. I can't think of anything else, but you get the idea.
Number two, it was UNEXPECTED. This is very important. In the Olympics, unexpected medal winners get more coverage than expected ones (in big events anyway). The Columbine shooting was UNEXPECTED. South Park being so popular (in its first season anyway) was UNEXPECTED, which boosted its media coverage. Stock markets react if the Fed changes the interest rate UNEXPECTEDLY.
Therefore, if both of these things happen, EVERYONE's gonna cover it.
There are many more reasons why it's getting so much media coverage, but there's my two ideas/cents.
Who wants Mojo to get banned? Just curious.
Post by: Bloodworth on February 03, 2003, 11:10:50 PM
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Who wants Mojo to get banned? Just curious.
Asking questions like that is probably the easiest way for you to get banned. Don't be so quick to throw stones.
Post by: uniracer45 on February 04, 2003, 02:30:57 PM
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Originally posted by: BloodworthQuote
Who wants Mojo to get banned? Just curious.
Asking questions like that is probably the easiest way for you to get banned. Don't be so quick to throw stones.
I was just CURIOUS! I would defend to the death the right of free speech. It's just that other people were mentioning it, and I wanted to know if they were a very small minority or not. Talk about throwing stones...
If you do throw stones at me, please throw pumice. It's light.
Post by: Bloodworth on February 04, 2003, 02:45:58 PM
Post by: RickPowers on February 04, 2003, 03:09:49 PM
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It's just that other people were mentioning it, and I wanted to know if they were a very small minority or not.
You can do math, right? Count the number of posts where people use the words "Mojo" and "banned", and subtract that from the number of registered users.
Post by: Dr.Mario on February 05, 2003, 05:46:39 PM
The people that go into space do take a risk. And not only that, but they take it for a reason. To advance human society in the large range; to advance our minds; to advance our understandings of where we came from and our place in it; and we must continue to go back into space as soon as possible.
Is this important? Of course it is! I don't know why someone would think otherwise or be at the negative of this topic on the form.
Carl Sagan; a great scientist & author (example "Contact", a great book! / movie)
"Our loyalties are to the species and the planet. We speak for Earth. Our obligation to survive is owed not just to ourselves but also to that cosmos, ancient and vast, from which we spring."
He also once said
"Instead of acknowledging that in many areas we are ignorant, we have tended to say things like the Universe is permeated with the ineffable. A God of the Gaps is assigned responsibility for what we do not understand."
What has this have to do with this you ask? Much! Well I think you can interpret the quotations of Sagan by your self, but the idealizations and philosophical discussion is the key. Humans want to learn! Space is the step. Unfortunately during this process people die, but they die in a good cause. They die which is very said, but when they, as good people, have helped the human quest to go one step further in the evolution (not really about the theory, but the devolvement of the mind & knowledge) – that is honorable!
Honorable to taking us one step closer to understanding our place in the universe and our quest to seek that, which will never end, but will began. Not finite, infinity! So the quest will never end.
We should honor the crew that lost there lives. These people that died, did die, but also helped humanity in our quest. Our quest to understand and expand into space!
(Just the destruction of the craft for example will help us in making better craft and just that will help us. Not to mention the several experiments they while they were in space.)
~~Dr. Mario At YOUR service~~
