BlackAura wrote:What would be the point in a terrorist trying to destroy a shuttle anyway? The idea is that you try to take out something that, while it may not be large, will cause the maximum possible damage to your target and thier state of mind, and in a fairly easy way. You don't go after things that are well-guarded or too massive or difficult, because it's usually not very effective.
Basically, sabotaging a shuttle would be very difficult to do - you'd have to sneak in undetected, and know it's systems well enough to be able to cause a small, undetectable problem that'll suddenly become a major problem on re-entry, and sneak out again without being detected. And all it might get you is the destruction of one shuttle, and the deaths of the crew which, in terms of wide-scale devestation and panic, is not going to have a major impact. I apologise if that sounds somewhat cold, but the effect would be far too small for the effort involved in making it happen. In other words, is not typical terrorist activity.
Pretty much anything could have caused it though. Loose tiles on the nose, angle of decent was too steep, coming in too fast, a lump of debris from something like a satellite.
What happened to the people on board? Nothing I've seen mentioned anyone apart from the Israeli astronaut, and it wasn't clear what happened to him either. I assume that they didn't make it?
Terrorists wouldn't and couldn't sabotahe a shuttle. It's just a sign of the times that they'd suggest it at all. Didn't they find cracks in one of the shuttle's systems a while ago. Then they found it in all of them. Maybe they thought they'd repaired it. Maybe they didn't do as good a job as they thought...
They're assuming everyone on board was killed. Just for the hell of it, here's some short bios on the crew:
MSNBC wrote:Rick Husband has just one other space flight under his belt and already he?s flying as commander. That?s a rarity. "I think a lot of it has to do with being in the right place at the right time, for starters," says Husband, 45, an Air Force colonel from Amarillo, Texas. The former test pilot was selected as an astronaut in 1994 on his fourth try. Space flight has been his lifelong passion, along with singing. Husband, a baritone, has barbershop quartet experience and has been singing in church choirs for years.
William McCool says one of the most nerve-racking parts of training was learning to draw blood ? from others. Columbia?s two pilots are exempted from invasive medical tests in orbit, like blood draws. That means he and his commander have to draw blood from their crewmates. McCool felt bad practicing on volunteers. "I didn?t want to inflict pain," he recalls. The Navy commander and former test pilot became an astronaut in 1996. This is the first space flight for McCool, 41, who grew up in Lubbock, Texas.
Michael Anderson loves flying, both in aircraft and spacecraft, but he dislikes being launched. It?s the risk factor. "There?s always that unknown," he says. Anderson, 43, the son of an Air Force man, grew up on military bases. He was flying for the Air Force when NASA chose him in 1994 as one of only a handful of black astronauts. He traveled to Russia?s Mir space station in 1998. He is now a lieutenant colonel and in charge of Columbia?s dozens of science experiments. His home is Spokane, Wash.
Kalpana Chawla wanted to design aircraft when she emigrated to the United States from India in the 1980s. The space program was the furthest thing from her mind. But "one thing led to another," the 41-year-old engineer said, and she was chosen as an astronaut in 1994. On her only other space flight, in 1996, Chawla made mistakes that sent a satellite tumbling out of control, and two spacewalkers had to go out and capture it. She realizes some may see this flight as her chance to redeem herself.
David Brown is a Navy novelty: He?s both a jet pilot and a doctor. He?s also probably the only NASA astronaut to have worked as a circus acrobat. (It was a summer job during college.) He says what he learned about "the teamwork and the safety and the staying focused" has carried over to his space job. He joined the Navy after his medical internship, and his current rank is captain. NASA chose him as an astronaut in 1996. This is the 46-year-old Virginia native's first space flight.
Laurel Clark, a Navy physician who worked undersea, likens the numerous launch delays to a marathon in which the finish line keeps moving out five miles. "You?ve got to slow back down and maintain a pace," she says. The 41-year-old Clark was a diving medical officer aboard submarines and then a naval flight surgeon. She became an astronaut in 1996. Clark will help with Columbia?s science experiments, which should have flown almost two years ago. Her hometown is Racine, Wis.
Ilan Ramon, a colonel in Israel?s air force, is the first Israeli to be launched into space. "It?s a very symbolic mission," he says. His mother and grandmother survived the Auschwitz death camp, and his father was a Zionist who fought for Israel?s statehood. The astronaut also fought for his country, in the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and the Lebanon War in 1982. Ramon, 48, was selected as an astronaut in 1997 and moved to Houston in 1998 to train for a shuttle flight. He calls Tel Aviv home.
why would that even be the first thought?
, before you flame it's sartoriol humor)
