NASA Press Conference Thread

[ksen]

NASA Press conference any minute now....

[PsyOp]

Would any of them have gone if they actually believed they would disintegrate on re-entry?

YES. And you'd know that if your knew anything about the space program and the people in it. They fully know the dangers, just as a soldier knows the risks of battle, but does his job in spite of it.

Your rather base comment imputes cowardice borne of self-deception to these people. Nothing could be further from the truth and you should be ashamed of yourself.

[RobRoy]

>>Of course, I'm sure RobRoy will be happy to provide us with the names and addresses of the 120 people who died in car accidents in the past day so freepers can send their condolences to their families. <<

I did not know them, dor the astronauts and their families. I cannot mourn the death of someone I do not have a personal relationship with, for that is the place from which mourning comes.

I can empathise with the family, since I can somewhat imagine what it would be like to lose RobroysWoman, but I cannot "mourn" with them, because I do not know them.

[RobRoy]

I should have been more specific: Would any of them have gone if the actually believed they WOULD (as opposed to MIGHT) disintegrate on re-entry.

I was just telling my wife that I would go up if A) I thought there was a 33% chance I would fry on re-entry and, most importantly, B) I had no family behind to mourn my death if I should perish. If I ignored B, I would consider myself selfish.

[Stefan Stackhouse]

I hope someone has forwarded this little tidbit to the FBI, and this idiot gets a visit real soon.

[RobRoy]

>>The other people were living their normal lives. These people assumed a risk that most of us will never take, and are heroes. <<

Actually, most of the men I know would take it, except they would be concerned about the future of their family if they were to die.

Death is inevitable. An untimely death is to be avoided, especially if you have a family depending on you.

I most definitely do not consider someone who takes the opportunity to take the ride of their life, offered to only a handfull of humans, who then dies in the event, to be a hero.

Heros are those who sacrifice their "living years," not necessarily their life itself, except in the act of trying to save the life of another, as on a battlefield. I do not believe that is what was going on here.

I'm going to quit at this point since, although there don't appear to be any people on this thread who actually knew any of the victims, there are people who are, for their own reasons, are grieving none the less.

I think this is the wrong venue for my comments so I will cease and desist.

[Stefan Stackhouse]

I've been puzzling over this pic for a while now. It appears that it must have been one of the larger pieces, yet there doesn't appear to be any cratering. Anything that was traveling that fast, from that high up, you would expect to throw quite a lot of dirt on impact. Unless it very non-dense material. The first thought that crossed my mind as to what this debris might be would be some of the ceramic tiles. They are among the few components that very likely would have survived the trip down intact. And they also are of relatively low density, which might explain why more dirt wasn't thrown up. And they certainly would be plenty hot, as is quite evident from the picture.

Anyone else's thoughts?

[tall_tex]

I posted to an earlier thread that my highschool classmate is the Flight Director at NASA.

I sent him my best and told him of the prayers being said for all the people at NASA by us Freepers


I knew he would be busy today, he will be giving the press briefing at 3:15 from Houston. His name is Milton Heflin.

[FBD]

In honor of the Columbia astronauts, would someone please post the official NASA picture of them, on this and every thread about this tragedy? Their faces deserve to be remembered. Thanks...

[Catspaw]

Gee whiz, thanks for sharing.

[ksen]

I believe they were civilians riding the world coolest roller coaster.

I believe most of them are active duty military..........if that matters any.

[ksen]

I think this is the wrong venue for my comments....

I think you are right.

...so I will cease and desist.

Thank you.

[ksen]

Thanks for letting NASA know we are praying for them.

[PsyOp]

I should have been more specific: Would any of them have gone if the actually believed they WOULD (as opposed to MIGHT) disintegrate on re-entry.

First since there is now way to be certain if an accident will happen, your question is moot. No person knowingly commits suicide for its own sake unless they are psychologicaly disturbed.

If, however, they were asked to go on what would certainly be a one-way mission, I am sure they would, if the stakes were high enough. If giving up their lives meant that a significant number of others might be saved, or some other greater good achieved, they would.

A simple reading of this nations Medal of Honor citations would demonstrate that to you. Most of them gave up their lives knowingly to save others, when they could have saved their own by doing nothing.

To Give up one's life for no good reason is foolish. These people were anything but. However, everytime they went on a mission they knew that there were significant risks in spite of every effort to eliminate them. Far greater risks than are involved in driving a vehicle on our nations streets and highways, which are quite safe if you keep your eyes and ears on the road and your wits about you.

People die in auto accidents primarily due to their own stupidity and inattention to what they are doing, not because doing so engenders a high degree of unavoidable risk.

That is the difference between the 150 and the 7 in your calculus. If the risks were the same, and for the same reasons, and they were all fully aware of the risks, most people would walk to the store for a gallon of milk rather than drive their cars. It would not be worth the risk. Advancing human knowledge, which benefits all humanity, is.

In each case the level of risk, the origin of the risk, and the awarness of the risk are entirely different. That is why the grief and honor due those astronauts is greater than that due to someone who wraps him or herself around a telephone pole on the way to get milk because they were: talking on a cell phone, changing the station, sleepy, failed to keep the car in good repair, dropped an ash in their lap, etc.

If you cannot understand that, then I don't know what else to tell you - other than to be thankfull that there are people who are willing to knowingly risk their lives for something greater than themselves.

[ksen]

In honor of the Columbia astronauts, would someone please post the official NASA picture of them, on this and every thread about this tragedy? Their faces deserve to be remembered. Thanks...

I don't know if this is the official picture, but I thought it was a good one.

[HiJinx]

'

On behalf of posters on Free Republic, I post this with deepest sympathy for the crew and their families.

Mission - sts107

Note: I believe it was originally posted by DoughtyOne

[Jonah Hex]

Left wing hosed up!!! (NASA conference)

[ksen]

Thanks HiJinx and DoughtyOne.

[PsyOp]

B) I had no family behind to mourn my death if I should perish. If I ignored B, I would consider myself selfish.

So, by this statement anyone in a profession that engenders a high degree of personal risk (police, firefighters, soldiers, astronauts, etc)., should have families? Because doing so would be selfish? Is that really your view? That is what you are saying by that statement.

I would change my screen name if I were you. From what I've read, the real Rob Roy must be rolling over in his grave at your statements.