Hey, the Discovery is Down Safely! Yea!

[leftyladyfrommo]

I knew they could do it.

[whistle]

1. Yep, I heard the sonic booms over my home about 15 minutes ago

...here in Orlando, looked very overcast and cloudy, I wasn't sure they would attempt it.

[shain from kane]

2. No Apocalyse today. n/t

[skids]

3. Whew... a problem there...

...would have been a really bad start to the week.

Not that the week hasn't started badly as is, but...

[Orrex]

4. Cool!

I knew that they were landing today, but I didn't know that it already happened.

Nice job, Discovery!

[shadowknows69]

5. Whoo hoo!!!

Our Astronauts rock!!! Despite the fact the rest of NASA wants to do shit in a deadlined and dangerous manor and risk their lives more than they should be.

[Karmakaze]

9. Bullshit

There was NEVER any claim - except from people who had no idea what they were talking about - that there was a threat to the lives of the astronauts. The original misgivings of some engineers had nothing to do with whether the astronauts would be safe - even they agreed they would be, what they were worried about was the possibility the shuttle would have to be abandoned.

The fact is, if they wouldnt fly the shuttle cause they might lose it, then there is no point in having a shuttle program at all because every single flight entails risk to the shuttle itself, even if the astronauts are perfectly safe as they were on this occasion.

Just to make this plain - the engineers that wanted the flight delayed were NOT concerned that the astronauts would be at risk. There were all sorts of plans to ensure their safety, including abandoning the shuttle. THAT was what worried these engineers. They were worried the shuttle itself may be lost if the astronauts had to abandon it.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

6. Finally some good news.

[bdamomma]

7. that is good news

I am glad they are back safely.

[liberal N proud]

8. Relief

We didn't need another disaster

[etherealtruth]

10. For that, I am thankful eom

[Xenotime]

11. It's both good and bad news...

Good that they are back, and safe and the people at the "space station" have supplies.
Bad that now NASA will want to send up more shuttles, which means more spending, more disregard for safety and more future lives lost.

[Karmakaze]

14. Bullshit

utter bullshit.

No one who actually knows what they are talking about said that NASA risked the lives of the astronauts on this flight. In fact even the engineers that were complaining made it clear that the astronauts were perfectly safe (or at least as safe as any flight into space can be)

The only thing those engineers were worried about was that if something did happen and the astronauts were forced to abandon the shuttle, that the shuttle itself would be lost. By that reasoning the entire space program should be shut down right now.

Thats what cowards would want - and it seems many in America have become cowards.

[Xenotime]

15. I'm just pointing out the cycle that building here...

NASA sends up shuttles NASA gets complacent. Then something horrible happens (challenger) New safety measure are put into place.
NASA sends up shuttles NASA gets complacent. Then something horrible happens (columbia) New safety measure are put into place.
NASA sends up shuttles.....

[watercolors]

16. You are very ignorant of the safety of our Space program!

My husband spent 30 yrs as an engineer at the Cape, believe me safety is always a factor! The redundancy of backups are many, the man hours and dedication are huge. People like you make me angry. This program has bought much to this country in many forms. Its our government whole is not brightabout alot of things and the news media who sucks!

[Karmakaze]

12. The US has become...

a land of cowards. Seriously, we are talking about space exploration, of course it is fucking dangerous. Yet so many seem willing to toss the entire shuttle/space program overboard because of the risk to a few people's lives - people who WILLINGLY and KNOWINGLY take that risk for whatever reason they personally choose.

Did you know that a risk assessment was done at the beginning of the shuttle program, and based on the number of flights versus the number of serious accidents, the shuttle is actually SAFER than was predicted by the engineers who designed it? There have been LESS accidents than were expected and less lives have been lost.

The fact is space flight is inherently risky, and involves immense extremes of forces and conditions, form freezing cold to burning hot and massive G's to zero G. The fact that more shuttles haven't blown up is probably a miracle and is solely down to the expertise shown by NASA.

And yet so many (even here) are willing to whine and moan and cower before the very idea of risk. Not only that, but they are willing to denigrate the very people who have made the whole thing as safe as it is, for not beating the odds even more!

[Poll_Blind]

13. Great! This is really some good news for once this last week! n/t

PB