[OT] Expressing myself about Saturday's tragedy.

[John Crichton]

Re: musings that may be offensive

Its interesting how different people are responding to this... I'm not going to be as rude as a certain other poster in a certain other thread, but this has not had the impact on me that others have talked about. At most it simply reminds me of the event that did have this sort of impact - the Challenger disaster.

> snip <

Where were you when... Pearl Harbour... Kennedy... the Challenger... The World Trade Center... Columbia? I don't know, time will tell on this one.

I'll go ahead and say the Challenger was worse, but I was much younger at the time that it happened. For me, this is a moment in time and nothing more. 9-11 was much worse and contributes directly to my feelings about what happened on Saturday. This is a convergence of events and on a personal level I've had enough. All of these events on an individual basis are bad, but combining them creates something completely different. That's just my take. Everyone's will vary I'm sure.

 

[Henry]

On a side note, I'd like to avoid politicizing this event as much as possible. I respect everyone's feelings in this, but the second someone of differing political views reads some of the opinions expressed here, flames will result. So let's please avoid further intertwining this event into the political arena - in a board as diverse as this one, it makes friendly discussion very difficult.

 

[John Crichton]

On a side note, I'd like to avoid politicizing this event as much as possible.

Not a problem. I shall refrain from further political ramblings. Honestly, I'm not big on political opinions. I just see all this stuff around at the time and I feel bad about it. I don't wish to start a political debate and tread all over Ryan's great post. So I apologize for bringing some of the stuff up that I said.

 

[Arravis]

Thanks RangerWickett, as a member of the Nasa family (at Marshall Space Flight Center) I appreciate your words and the letter you're sending to the President. I think people often forget that the Space Program isn't something America does for America, it's something that's done for humanity. What we learn in space will be used by countless generations, it's impact will echo into the far, far future. In a hundred years, today's political squabbles will be forgotten, but what we learn in from the Space Program will not. There's something to be said for that and I hope it's something the american public keeps in mind. Thanks for all the kind words.

-Arravis

(this is in no way representative or an "official" response from Nasa, just one of their employees expressing his thoughts)

 

[brun]

Thank you RangerWicket.
You kinda made me understand why people refer to these events as a tragedy. I do not want to offense anyone, nor to diminish or disrespect the way people feel, but before reading your post, I did not see why people refered to it as a tragedy.
I am not good with words, so I'll be blunt and hope noone's feelings get hurt. I am Canadian (QC). I do not see America as a great nation. And, prior to reading your post, I did see the Columbia events as any different than a car crash. A very expensive car crash.
But your words made me see it a bit differently, and for widening my horizons, I thank you.