[ SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA ]

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Feb 2, 2003 by Capital-Journal

SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA

After so many successes, we forget that space travel is inherently dangerous, but even so the space missions must continue after we find out what happened to Columbia.

Another tragedy

Just four days after marking the 17th anniversary of the Challenger explosion, Americans --- indeed, the world --- found themselves in shock and mourning for another shuttle crew.

On Saturday, the seven astronauts aboard the Columbia were hurtling home after 16 days in space. Family members eagerly awaited their arrival at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Then, in a flash and a resounding boom, Columbia, the oldest of the fleet of shuttles, and its crew were gone. The unexplained explosion scattered debris over Texas and into Louisiana.

The first hint of a problem came about 8 a.m. Topeka time, when ground control lost communication with Columbia. About 30 minutes later, flags at NASA and other locations were being lowered to half mast for the crew, and NASA officials started searching for answers.

The Challenger explosion occurred just 73 seconds after take-off. The Columbia was just 16 minutes away from returning from its mission. But there are so many similarities, including the indelible vision of a ball of flame and the streaks in the sky, breaking apart and falling to Earth with the awful realization that the seven people aboard were no more.

Last time, the crew included the first teacher to have a chance to go into space. This time, Ilan Ramon was the first Israeli to go into space.

Most of us have been lulled into a kind of complacency about space travel, and it has had a remarkable record. In more than 40 years of space travel, only 22 people have died --- 17 during American missions. The Challenger was the only other tragedy involving the shuttle program out of 113 flights.

In fact, many people who woke up to the news about the Columbia on Saturday probably were unaware of the shuttle mission that was just ending. Although not exactly everyday events --- there were six missions scheduled for this year --- the shuttle missions have become seemingly routine, at least to outside observers.

However, Bill Readdy, NASA's associate administrator for space flight and former astronaut himself, said in a news conference Saturday afternoon that to the astronauts and all the support personnel each space mission is approached as anything but routine.

"Today was a very stark reminder that this is a very risky endeavor, pushing back the frontiers in outer space," he said. "And after 113 flights, unfortunately people have a tendency to look at it as something that is more or less routine. Well, I can assure you, it is not. Each and every time I flew, each and every time my colleagues flew, we treated that with the respect it deserved from a professional standpoint.

"And I have to say that, as the one responsible for shuttle and station within the NASA, I know that the people of NASA did everything possible preparing for this flight to make it as perfect as possible."

Readdy and NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe both deserve thanks for their candor and their promises to provide as much information as possible as soon as it becomes available. As noted at the press conference, the NASA family is a tight-knit group, and the loss of the seven crew members was devastating to everyone.

An intense examination to determine what caused the tragedy began almost immediately.

"We will be pouring over the data 24 hours a day for the foreseeable future," NASA shuttle project manager Ron Dittemore promised at a Houston news conference.

And by afternoon, an independent board was being formed to conduct its own investigation of the disaster. Its members include experts from the Air Force and Navy, which had five of the seven crew members, as well as officials from the Transportation Department and other federal agencies.

The shuttle program no doubt will be grounded until some answers are learned, just as it was after the Challenger disaster. But at some point, the mission must continue. The space shuttles provide unique opportunities for scientific experiments affecting a wide range of knowledge. In fact, the Columbia crew had been working in 12- hour shifts to complete more than 80 experiments. Some of that was lost, but some information had been downloaded and saved.

That information will be the legacy left behind by the crew of the Columbia: Commander Rick Husband, Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, William McCool and Ilan Ramon.

"We trust the prayers of the nation will be with them and with their families. A more courageous group of people you could not have hoped to know," O'Keefe said.

Indeed, our prayers --- and our thanks --- are with them all.