[ale] OT: Space Shuttle Columbia

[James P. Kinney III]

My wife and I are in absolute shock. She was crying earlier. I've been
near it. We know people in the space program. We have family members
that have been involved for decades. An uncle designed the lunar rover
and became Director of Shuttle Safety System and Devices after the
Challenger disaster. He retired about 3 years ago. He is on an airplane
heading the Texas right now.

I was highly influenced by watching Neil Armstrong step of that ladder
onto the moon in 1969. It helped to shape the direction of my
scholastics to eventually head into physics.

We need another ground to space platform other than the shuttle. It was
never designed to be more than a test platform. It is a testament to the
engineering prowess that is found only in the US.  An amazing piece of
technology handled by an even more amazing group of people.

We just lost another 7 of the best and brightest this world has to
offer.

A very sad day, indeed.

On Sat, 2003-02-01 at 09:47, Joe wrote:
> Jeff Hubbs <hbbs at attbi.com> writes:
> 
> > I guess no one else has mentioned it so I figure I should...
> > 
> > This morning at about 9AM, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated on
> > reentry over central Texas.  Multiple video recordings show several
> > portions of the spacecraft.  No survivors are expected.
> 
> I cried when I heard the news. I vividly remember Challenger, and I
> didn't expect to see the loss of a second orbiter in my lifetime - I
> really thought it'd have been replaced by something better by now,
> like Delta. Perhaps this will inspire us to revitalize our manned
> space program, and provide the funding necessary to do it right.
> Unfortunately, without some serious competition in that arena, it
> doesn't seem likely. This might actually herald the end of the US's
> manned spaceflight program.
> 
> A sad, sad day.
> 
> -- Joe Knapka
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James P. Kinney III          \Changing the mobile computing world/
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GPG ID: 829C6CA7 James P. Kinney III (M.S. Physics) <jkinney at localnetsolutions.com>
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