Message posted by Magoo on February 16, 2000 at 22:52:43 EST:
I remember the day Challenger exploded like it was yesterday. I was on my way to work when I heard about it on the radio news. I turned right around and went home to watch it all unfold on a morning TV news show. Don't forget, they have also had alot of failures in the past decade with Titan III, Delta and other launchers, and the ESA had their share of failures with Ariane as well. I wonder if it more related to the size of the payloads they are trying to put up and the huge incremental increases in power and complexity required to do so. You have to admit, a vertically launched rocket is a pretty 'agricultural' and energy intensive way of putting something into space in this day and age. Surely it is almost technically feasible for a re-useable launcher to take off as well as land like a conventional aircraft now. But do you honestly think there is something more sinister behind it all? I mean, whilst life on Mars is theoretically possible and probably likely once upon a time, it really couldn't be much more than microscopic in size if it does exist, and therefore could hardly be considered threatening. I must admit to being somewhat ignorant and ambivalent about alien related issues, unless ofcourse they get to Independence Day type proportions! I prefer to focus on things that fly a little closer to the surface of the earth that I can relate to and speculate on with at least a little bit of expertise. Magoo
In Reply to: Re: NASA posted by Andre' M. Dall'au on February 16, 2000 at 22:37:07 EST:
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