NOW maybe they'll look at their antiquated launch systems with a more pragmatic eye.
But it's a desperately sad day for all concerned. Of course I feel for the astronauts' families, but I also feel very sad for the ground crews and mission control people. Losing a spacecraft on your watch must be as bad as losing a family member.
It's perhaps even more ironic that it happened on ST-107, because it was a pure science mission - no spacewalks, no satellite launches, no hush-hush aspects. Just plain science, trying to expand the boundaries of human knowledge.
It makes me WILD that NASA felt that they had to state that there was no reason to suspect terrorism as almost their first announcement. There are enough things that can go wrong with one of those babies without any outside help, that's for real, and using a 22-year-old prototype is hardly a safe proposition, is it? Having said that if I was offered the chance to go up in a shuttle, I'd be camped at 39B within a day to ensure that I made the flight.
From the news reports, my guess is that the shuttle lost attitude during the reentry phase, because it was far too low when it flew over Dallas and Plano, creating sonic booms along its path. They have an attitude leeway of less than 5deg, and no realistic way of recovering if they get out of shape. I don't have any idea of why it might have lost attitude, though. I hope they can find out.
Damn!
- Pfranz
