[Frank_Discussion]

That's one of the most tragic things about the loss of Columbia; despite all the complaints about mere;y circling the Earth, this mission was pure science. It was exploration, not so much of space as a place, but as a tool for very special research.

And now we lost a bunch of the data, along with some great human beings.

[Alberta's Child]

That was one of the author's points -- 99% of the "research" that is done in space can be done just as easily without humans. In fact, I believe the only research that requires humans is the research on the effects of space travel on humans.