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

This is a pretty sad day today.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

Other gaming websites mentiond this too.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 ...

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To you I say "bah!".

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

You think the US government spends billions of dollars each year on the space program just so it can entertain space enthusiasts? Try educating yourself on an issue before you bash it. You'll save yourself a lot of embarrassment.

Name one thing that we as human beings have benefitted from with the space program. I can't think of anything other than it serving our curiousity. That's not to say I don't respect these people, because I do. Were it not for them I may never have known that a candle could burn upside down in zero gravity. Not only that, but they risk their lives doing something they love, and that's fine, but they're not heroes in my book. Bring home a cure for cancer from the moon and I'll change my opinion.

End of arguement. I don't feel like getting banned over something so stupid.

I'd like to correct Rick here for a moment. Most AMERICAN children want to be astronauts. the Astronaut is the american birthchild. I can't speak for other countries but in Canada, we don't really care for outer space. And if the russian kids dream of anything, they dream of bring Cosmonauts, which is the name of the career in Russia.

Point taken. It must have been my US-centric attitude creeping in there a bit. But Canadians not caring much about space probably explains much of Mojo's apathy.

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.

Mojo, they are trying to make anti-cancer drugs up there along with hundards if not thousands of other projects that can use the micro gravity enviroment to develop new substances that cannot be made on earth. Everything from drugs to building materials and yes seeing if strange things like candles burning upside down in space is true. All that rescreach eventally filters down to you in new products. New drugs that might not have been discovered. Making hardier crops. As a form of expession for humanities urge to grow and expand. These people are like the Columbus, or captain Cooks of our time, exploring chartered lands. Think of what might have happened if Man kind did not explore, did not grow and expand on it's very limited knowlegde of the world. We would all be dead. Died because we did not evole.

As a physicist at heart, I have a standard response whenever somebody states that scientific research is not producing any practical applications:

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

This is BIG news for two reasons (that I can think of at this moment).

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.

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Who wants Mojo to get banned? Just curious.

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Originally posted by: Bloodworth

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Who wants Mojo to get banned? Just curious.

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Asking questions like that is probably the easiest way for you to get banned. Don't be so quick to throw stones.

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It's a matter of overstepping your authority. If you think someone should be banned, you don't take a poll (which is also against the rules) to see who else wants him banned. Instead, you click the little button that says "Report this to a Moderator".

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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.

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The day that occurred was a sad one. Of course it did not strike me emotionally as much as 9-11, but it did affect me. The space program is very dear to my heart. I might be no expert, but I do know something on astronomy, astrophysics, physics, and chemistry. Looking in the sky, reaching for it, . . . This is humans great objective to go into space and colonize. This might not happen today or a century from now, but it will happen. We are humans expanding our minds to new ideas of science, mathematics, technology, philosophy, and all of those other things.

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~~