Author Topic: BREAKING: Space Shuttle Columbia Destroyed (Read 12608 times)

RickPowers · « **on:** February 01, 2003, 09:48:51 AM »

In eerie similarity to the Challenger disaster nearly seventeen years ago, Columbia falls apart 38 miles above Texas during re-entry.

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.

Br26 · « **Reply #1 on:** February 01, 2003, 10:46:59 AM »

This is really unfortonate, and it is just too eerily like the Challenger crash. I wish the families of each member best of luck...

Matt · « **Reply #2 on:** February 01, 2003, 12:50:32 PM »

This is a pretty sad day today.

Its a major national tradegy, and my condolences go out to everyone who is affected.

MH-001 · « **Reply #3 on:** February 01, 2003, 01:09:44 PM »

While it is a bay day today because of this event, i'm curious as why PGC has reported it. Maybe if there was a nintendo worker on board or something then i'd understand it, but I don't understand why a Nintendo gaming site would be reporting news on disasters.

PGC-Agent Cooper · « **Reply #4 on:** February 01, 2003, 01:14:40 PM »

We posted our condolences. It's a tragedy. We care.

manunited4eva22 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 01, 2003, 01:50:50 PM »

We all feel for the crew, even the hatred the palestinians have for the Israel's was overcome today, as Arafat sent his condolences to Sharon.

Matt · « **Reply #6 on:** February 01, 2003, 04:45:20 PM »

I think that there will be a lot of backlash if this accident could of been prevented.

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.

MH-001 · « **Reply #7 on:** February 02, 2003, 06:11:42 AM »

Yes, yes, we all care. That's understandable. but that's what forums are for.

Mojo · « **Reply #8 on:** February 02, 2003, 09:35:21 AM »

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.

Matt · « **Reply #9 on:** February 02, 2003, 09:37:34 AM »

This was a major national tragedy, and PGC wanted to say something about it.

Other gaming websites mentiond this too.

RickPowers · « **Reply #10 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.

Mojo · « **Reply #11 on:** February 02, 2003, 12:57:39 PM »

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Originally posted by: RickPowers
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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.

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.

RickPowers · « **Reply #12 on:** February 02, 2003, 02:17:35 PM »

No one is asking you to mourn. One is asking you to show some damned respect, though, which you can best do by keeping insensitive comments like those to yourself. If you don't think it deserves the attention, fine. The last thing others want to hear when they are trying to show their respects is some insensitive jerk saying "What's the big deal?"

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.

Mojo · « **Reply #13 on:** February 02, 2003, 03:10:09 PM »

To you I say "bah!".

MH-001 · « **Reply #14 on:** February 02, 2003, 04:38:57 PM »

MMMKAY, calm down, kiddies. Is it really worth it to brawl over a level of sensitivity?

Matt · « **Reply #15 on:** February 02, 2003, 06:53:45 PM »

People, at the LEAST show some RESPECT to these people who died on the mission.

They put thier lives at risk for things that will benifit the entire world.

Mojo · « **Reply #16 on:** February 02, 2003, 08:23:22 PM »

It's not like I said I didn't care. I said it was a sad, unfortunate event that shouldn't be getting as much press as it is. That's plenty respect in my books.

Of course it's all part of a larger conspiracy, but I'm not gonna get into that.

PGC-Agent Cooper · « **Reply #17 on:** February 03, 2003, 12:09:15 AM »

Conspiracy...god I should blast you off in a death rocket.

Rize · « **Reply #18 on:** February 03, 2003, 03:20:30 AM »

Ever wonder how many people die each day in various accidents in our country alone? I don't have statistics, but it's probably more than seven. In that light, it's hard for me to understand the way the world handles this kind of tragedy. I don't understand how these deaths are more tragic than any other (which is not to say that it isn't tragic at all, just that I'm numb to it now).

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.

Mojo · « **Reply #19 on:** February 03, 2003, 03:29:24 AM »

This guy has the right idea. Why are their deaths any more important?

It's a conspiracy because a French satellite interfered with instruments.

RickPowers · « **Reply #20 on:** February 03, 2003, 06:45:44 AM »

Are you frickin' kidding me? I should ban you until you get a frickin' clue. It was an ACCIDENT. There was no French satellite that interfered with the instruments. Don't beleive everything you read on the internet. While they can't state positively that it was the cause, the leading theory right now is that during launch, the piece of foam that broke off and hit the left wing and damaged a piece of heat shielding. Not a big deal during a launch, but on re-entry, the velocity and heat broke off more pieces of shielding, and the shuttlee just broke up. It has absolutely nothing to do with any French satellite, because the shuttle was already in our atmosphere.

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.

Mojo · « **Reply #21 on:** February 03, 2003, 07:47:13 AM »

I do think it's a significant event, but not because of the unfortunate deaths. It's a significant event because it's a message from the French government that is telling America to watch what it does. The fact of the matter is, the French have satellite technology capable of scrambling signals aboard American space craft. The French deliberately did this to Columbia, which resulted in erroneus calculations in the decent -- thereby increasing the velocity (and therefore heat). This is also the reason communinaction was lost "almost like a wire was cut".

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.

RickPowers · « **Reply #22 on:** February 03, 2003, 08:08:10 AM »

You know, I didn't think it was possible, but I now feel more sorry for you than I do for the crew of Columbia, Mojo.

Mojo · « **Reply #23 on:** February 03, 2003, 08:37:59 AM »

Bah. I hate news in general. Making everything art of a larger conspiracy makes it interesting.

Quality is Nintendo · « **Reply #24 on:** February 03, 2003, 10:23:33 AM »

You are right Mojo. There are tons of people who die everyday. Then after that you go pretty much astray.

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

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Author Topic: BREAKING: Space Shuttle Columbia Destroyed (Read 12608 times)