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I think this is very instructive in how some people, sitting in the comfort of their computer rooms with scant information and NO accountability, immediately attack NASA like piranha on a beef carcass.

Now, I ask you, what will happen if there are casualties during the coming war with Iraq? Will they immediately tell us that General X should have known, and was irresponsible? Will they call for immediate replacement of officers and Rumsfeld? Will we be treated to unending speculation of what strategy would have been better, in hindsight? Silly theories based on incorrect information?

I think we all know the answer to my questions, and I am not pleased to say this, but someone has to point this out.

My goodness! If some of the posters on this thread (of supposedly intelligent FReepers) reflects the thinking of the larger population, NASA is in for an incredibly rough go. Many will never hear their struggle as they work through to find the the answers, will never hear their pain as they discuss it, and will never accept the answers when they come.

It is amazing how they will pounce on a biased media report, but many people are reading this thread. This was not possible 7 years ago when places such as Free Republic were not around.

Places like Free Republic gives a person to hear the other side, basically that a rescue would have been nearly impossible, and to hear voices that say that NASA isn't the evil entity as being purveyed by some on this thread, but a place filled with people who try to do their best in a business where disaster lurks around every corner.

Good points. One of the many great things that FRee Republic can do is inform and educate the masses, if they are willing.

This tragic event is an opportunity for less technical folks to gain some insight into the technologies involved in space flight and the inherent risks. I have tried to post informative and not inflammatory threads. Some use this occurrence to advance their own agendas.

We can pound the heck out of NASA, second guess their decision making process, but remember who decides what gets funded and who held the purse strings when the shuttle program began and as it matured (or did it mature?).

You can have the best scientists and pilots in the world, but if you don't have a solid, well-thought out approach with contingency plans in case of potential failures, all is for naught.

Apollo 1 was an eye-opener. 35 years later, this happens.

Those quick to judge yesterday and today, will you be so quick to judge when the final conclusions are drawn after all the data and debris is analyzed?

My bet is it won't matter to some. But that won;t stop me and others from continuing to educate and inform, rather then point fingers and whine or make light of our shortcomings as we struggle to reach for the stars.