They were up there for 16 days and were coming home to see their loved ones......Very sad. May God be with them and their family.

Yea, very sad.. God Bless them and there loved ones..

big bang..hopefully they went quickly.

Their last views were some beautiful ones.

very sorry for their families.

MAY GOD BLESS ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE PEOPLE ON BOARD THE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA AND THE PEOPLE OF ISREAL FOR THERE LOSS OF THERE ASTRONAUT AND THE UNITED STATES FOR THE LOSS OF OUR ASTRONAUTS R.I.P.

I feel very sorry for all of them and their families. My God bless and help them all.

Ditto on everyone's comments.

Some people make me sick though, just read the AOL message boards. People blaming Israel, Bush, Republicans. Its a horrible tragedy and some people are truly morbid.

Seems like we can't wake up to good news anymore, trly a sad day. I saw this launch after abstaining since the Challenger tragedy. I was at my Ford dealer getting serviced and the launch was on television, which reminded me why I hadn't watched at first and then as it progressed without a hitch it reminded me of how excited I would get at every space launch I witnessed since childhood. Waking to these news today was really painful for me.

My condolences to the families of the astronauts all those involved with the Space Program all Americans that care about the Space Program and the people of Israel for whom this mission was particularly special.

I hear here and there people putting the blame on the NASA, I think people should try to understand what is a space shuttle, it's an assembly of thousands of parts coming from hundreds of suppliers on a tight (well relatively) budget, with economy in mind, now you take that assembly and you throw it into space at tremendous speeds, exposed to the lowest and the highest temperatures, then go back through the atmosphere, land, and once it's done, you do it again, what do people expect??? The space program is EXPERIMENTAL, remember the russian shuttle Buhran, one automated flight and it was a wreck, how many times Columbia (the oldest shuttle) was sent up there?
Also people who are sent to operate them are among the finest athletes, able to perform that task puting the mission before everything inclding their lives and they'd still be able to explain you quantum physics.
Everything up there is very tight, very dangerous and there's little if no room for mistake, I hate to sayit, but **** HAPPENS and the space conquest will kill more of those exceptional people in the future, since they're trying to go higher, faster and further every time.
My thoughts are for the famillies of those exceptionnal people, Challenger didn't knock the program down, I hope, and know what happened today won't knock it either, since there will always be some exceptional people to build shuttles, space crafts and space stations and even exceptional people waiting in line to pilot them.
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[ 02-01-2003: Message edited by: 11 ]

[ 02-03-2003: Message edited by: RIVA CREW ]

I cried today...I can't remember the last time I cried before today...its been a while...

God bless their souls...

11, like you said, and as everyone understands this stuff is on the envelope... and the astronuats know this and take that risk.

Its pretty clear (too most intellectual people) what is possibly the main cause for this accident.

And to think the next space lauch had a teacher lined up,

My stomach did not feel well after first learning about it this morning, this is a terrible tradegy.

I wish their families and friends will be able to handle the pain of their significant loss with all the hopes and prayers around the world. They have mine, and also my respect due to the life-path that they have chosen.

The job they were doing, is something that the average person can only dream about. If we had the ability to ask them if they would take the chance again, risking life and limb, we might all be surprised to see them answer emphatically.... YES!!! "Hero 101."

If anything positive can come from this, I hope that Nasa uses this accident to looks closer at the actual age of the shuttles airframes and design. I think the "hundred mission" theory may not be such a great idea.

Godspeed.

May God bless them and their families, this is a tragic loss for all of us.

yes may GOD bless their familys and our nation in this time. how can u even begin to try and explain why something like this has to happen

God Bless them and thier families !! If I could give up my life like they did for the good of the world I would. I would loved to have been an astronaut and see the big blue marble floatin in space. The fastest ride around gettin off and comin into Earth gravatational feild. Mann what a ride
May their loved ones be taken care by the USA and NASA foreever. They are fallen heroes.

It s just like 7 people dying in a car wreck nothing more nothing less, I dont understand why people make a big deal when a cop or fireman dies, it is no diffrent than when a guy fliping burger dies. Why should we put these people on a higher standard than the rest of the public? If i died at work tommorow there would be no huge media event so why should these people? MB

Bomb I kinda agree no life is worth more than another one, but some people die doing exceptional thngs, some die like ordinary people.
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maleboom i can tell u are from philly peace ,but my work and your work and rivas work combined could not even compair to the skills these people have. its not every day the shuttle disapears into a fireball . not a lite matter in my book.

RayInJapan i can 9-11-01

It is a shame that they had to die and my prayers go to their families.
But why does NASA have to push it to the limit just to meet their deadline? When Challenger blew they knew they had a problem with O-rings yet to make the dead line for the launch, they said no problems and people lost their lives.
Then Columbia had problems on take off with tiles falling off and hitting the wing and again no problem and seven people lost their lives.
We all know that NASA has dead lines and wants to have the launch on time, but come on it's time that they admit a lil defeat and say we have a problem, hold off till it is ready.
Remember all that an accident does not happen it is caused and every time it can be avoided.