[Choose Ye This Day]

"It's depressing how many people there are in this country who think - more accurately, feel - that we need "healing" after the crash of a spacecraft. Yeah, it was a tragic event, but I didn't lose any sleep over it."

My feelings exactly. It's sad for the 7 families involved, obviously. But why are there no nation-wide periods of mourning, flags at half mast, banner headlines, and mandatory "times of healing" called for everytime a military helicopter crashes near Fort Campbell, or servicemen are mercilessly gunned down by terrorists in Kuwait? Aren't our men and women in uniform--who are serving their country nobly and bravely--every bit as worthy of our honor and admiration as a handful of scientists? Or maybe...more so?

[Mr. Mojo]

You hit the bullseye, amigo. I think it's because the space program has always been viewed as sacred here in the U.S. Certainly the lives of our astronauts are no more important than those of our military personnel. I think we blow it out of proportion because deaths of the former are such rare events, and they die exploring "the final frontier" ....which, as I noted, holds a sort of mystical significance for a lot of Americans. I'm just speculating, but I think that's the reason.

[Tall_Texan]

Aren't our men and women in uniform--who are serving their country nobly and bravely--every bit as worthy of our honor and admiration as a handful of scientists?

True but the soldiers aren't pre-fitted with personalities and storylines. They're grunts. The astronauts are marketed beforehand. That makes their deaths more "personal".

Besides, if we had paused to have a Columbia-like memorial for every American soldier killed in WWII, we'd all be speaking German right now. From my own perspective, Columbia's sad fate was historic. I can't recall another time in all of civilization that we've been allowed to study the effects of human beings hurled to the earth from 200 miles up. Scientifically speaking, Columbia's remains will be studied for decades to come.