The World Mourns - Your Thoughts on the Space Shuttle Columbia Tragedy

Back to Columbia Special

Your comments so far:

Hello Mr. President:

The Shuttle disaster inspection team is way-overloaded with military people.  That can lead to pressure, control and direct orders that could have "special interest" results reported-out, and not the truth.   NASA has been on a better track of telling the truth lately.  Far too many lies and mis-information have rolled out of NASA over the years.  Let's help them be honest, from this point forward.

Also, NASA must continue on itsí central mission to explore!  Explore everything beyond this beautiful blue marble. 

We all must be bold, as NASA pushes forward to Mars, but we first need a power-plant to get us there.  This is where the Project Prometheus comes in.  This nation can only benefit from the R&D, the construction and launching of our next great new adventure in manned space exploration to Mars and beyond.

Please remind everybody that the money spent on these projects is spent here on Earth, building-up our economy, and creating hundreds-of-thousands of jobs.  Project Apollo is your prime example - it created over 300 dollars, for every dollar NASA spent.

We must push forward - to sit still, is to die.

First and foremost I want to say "Thank You" to the family and friends, but mostly to the amazingly brave, unselfish, giving 7 individuals who devoted their hearts, souls, and ultimately their lives to one of the things they admired and believed in the most; Space exploration and NASA! I know that no words or condolences could ever bring your loved ones back, but please don't for one minute think your alone. Even though I didn't know anyone on the shuttle personally, I do feel your loss for I have been there. To the family and friends you will forever be in my prayers as well as the nations prayers. Your loved oned perished doing one of the things they believed in and loved please don't let thier deaths be in vein. NASA and the nation will recover and learn from this and come back ten times stronger. The 7 brave and courageous men and women aboard the shuttle truely are an inspiration for everyone for so many, many reasons. Not only did they love and believe in the work they were doing, but they knew the risks and were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to better the world they and their loved ones lived in and for that they will never be forgotten. God bless the families, friends, and the nation at this great time of loss.

Don't ever give up on your dreams and goals. Keep reaching for the STARS!!!

I was 9 years old when the Challenger disaster happened. I can still see the explosion vividly in my mind. When I saw the video of the Columbia, my mind flashed back to Jan. 28, 1986. I cried at the loss of such extraordinary individuals who were so close to being home, so close. These men and women knew the dangers and still did what they had dreamed about for so long. My thoughts and prayers go out to the crew of the space shuttle Columbia as and their families. Let their families be assured that their loved ones did not die in vain and they are home with our Lord in a better place.

There has been much talk about "the questions that the American people must ask themselves" by talking heads on MSNBC and the like. They're right... but the wrong questions are being posed. The question is... after 9/11... did we stop living in and building skyscrapers? Did we stop flying in commercial airliners? Did we stop having fire departments because the job is too dangerous? OF COURSE NOT! We grieve, we mourn, we pick ourselves up and we continue the fight. And we do better next time.

Words cannot express the feeling of emptyness right now. I did not personally know the astronauts, but I grieve for them and their families. God bless them.

"It is the man in the arena of public life that we honor, whose face is marred by dust and sweat, and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again because there is no effort without error and short-coming; but who does actually strive to do the deed, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumphs of high achievements, and at the worse if he fails at least fails while daring greatly." -- T. Roosevelt

The price of greatness is very often a great price; this is the hard way of mankind's evolution . Condolences to the families of the 7 heroes.

People take for granted and overlook the danger of our space programs.

Challanger: I was a young kid, watching it explode, screaming and crying because I knew what happened immediately. A faulty o-ring. We mourned, we fixed the problem and went on with our explorations of space. Just as our forefathers did hundreds of years ago to explore what now is our great country.

16 years later another tragic loss, not just for our country, but for the world. They did not die in vain, nor did they die for a lost cause, they died doing what they dreamed of. They knew the risks when they stepped into the crew cabin of Columbia and paid the ultimate price for freedom.

Yes it is sad, yes I prayed for them and their families but we must continue and move forward with our path to the stars.

May God be with the Crew of Columbia and their Families and may our country beleive we must go on.

The whole nation and parts of the good world are today feeling a emptiness and loss. These good, brave people dedicated their lives to studing what could bring hope and good will to the masses. The consolation is that they died doing the work they loved - may their loved ones find peace in the legacy of the one they lost.

I write this with tears in my eyes. They are gone but I will never forget them. God Bless them and their families. We will all meet again someday soon. God Bless America.

Having a daughter who is an Air Force pilot, a son an Officer in the Navy, and another "almost" son (who came to dinner and never left), who is also an Air Force pilot and a budding astronaut, this terrible disaster has hit very close to home. My most sincere condolences to, the families of those lost, their countries of origin, and all who have worked on this most worthy project.

A northern brother

I am still in shock that this tragedy has occured. My heart breaks at the pain these families must be feeling. To know your loved ones died doing something so amazing, so beautiful, seeing things that so few of us ever get to see must provide at least an ounce of comfort. To know they died in an effort to advance us as human race is something I take to heart and I thank them for their courage and their bravery. May God find a way to comfort you during these difficult times. The space program is sooo very important and so under appreciated...

Most of the civilized world mourns the death of such fine brave individuals. They were explorers that contribute to the advancement of mankind.

I will keep their memories in my mind always.

It is sad that parts of the world family find it to their benefit to tell us that America was "punished" for its evil ways. These peoples, leaders and nations are those that still live in the "stone" age with intentions of destroying the world.

I am thankful for people who are willing to take risk to advance the future of mankind.

I grieve for the loss of the 7 talanted and unique individuals who perished with the Columbia. I have followed this mission daily and felt connected to them, to their goals, to the sense of pride and happiness that they felt about this mission. I am glad that they got to do what meant so much to them, but heartbroken that it has led to this. What I can take away with me is the great optimism that they felt. For the program and for it's goals. We can not let this wonderful optmism for the future perish with them. For them, we must keep the dream alive.

I am really sorry for talking about space elevators, when everyone here seems to be in grief. I can tell u that I too sheded a tear during this whole tragedy. On a daily basis, I kept checking out on the progress on the shuttle, just to see how things rolling up there. I was really in to this program, and when I heard of what happened, I closed down my TV set, got a bottle of scotch out, and just kepting crying. There was so much in that shuttle... But hopefly their efforts would pave the way for subsequent generations. These brave men would be remembered because they were the 'heroes of today the legends of tommorow'. God Bless the Crew (Alohim Hishmore-Jewish prayer)

As the world mourns the loss of Columbia's crew which was a crew like no other with members from many ethnic backgrounds, it brings us to realize how truly alike we all are and that we all have the same goals...no matter which country we come from. We should all remember that all things happen for a reason...Perhaps the reason for this was to unite all countries in strength and peace instead of war and terrorism. We all come from the same earth and will all return to the same earth in the end. Our prayers are with the families of the Columbia crew at this time...no matter who they pray to or where they are from.

To the members of the Crew...Godspeed my friends. You were an inspiration to us all.

To NASA we will continue our mission.It was just a simple accident I am a friend of kalpana chawla and we lost that great personality. I also want that type of death.