25 Years Later.....

[AFK]

So I don't know if anyone has caught that today is the 25th anniversary of the Challenger disaster.  I read a piece on it over at msnbc.com which I'll link here:  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41296542?GT1=43001

A particular part of the article that got me thinking was this one:

It was, as one grief and trauma expert recalls, "the beginning of the age when the whole world knew what happened as it happened."

"That was kind of our pilot study for all the rest to come, I think. It was so ghastly," said Sally Karioth, a professor in Florida State University's school of nursing.

So basically, the birth of Cable TV.

Yes, yes, I know CNN and Headline News had already been fairly established at this point.  But I think this particular incident was one that really got the ball rolling as far as non-stop coverage of disasters, and I think we can all agree that this is a basic staple of Cable TV News as we know it today. 

And I have to admit that leaves me with some pretty conflicting feelings.  I actually think the coverage of Challenger was good and important.  Because it eventually shined a light on how the bureaucracy, arrogance, and apathy of NASA basically caused this disaster.  On the other hand, it I think put a fair amount of doubt into the utility and need of the U.S. Space Program, particularly the Shuttle Program.  I think, overall, the Shuttle Program has most likely been a net plus for the country as the science has lead to some significant advancements.  And if for no other reason, it inspired kids like me who had his head stuck in the stars. 

Though, I do have to say, the disaster did have me reformulating my career plans.  I no longer wanted to be an astronaut and decided I'd be fine just being one of those nameless spags at Mission Control. 

I wasn't around when JFK was shot, and I was a bit young to be paying attention when John Lennon was killed.  So Challenger was my first "where were you when..." moments and so it has particular poignancy for me and I can't help but take notice when it's in the news. 

Anyway, I just wanted to throw out these thoughts that were conjured by the anniversary.  Feel free to share your recollections or musings about the impact of this disaster on cable news, or whatever else this makes you think about. 

[Suu]

I was sitting in my living room watching it on TV, not quite grasping what was going on. I knew my dad worked on the Space Shuttles, and he did come home from work early that day. And I remember him saying "The Challenger blew up, I gotta go." And then he left for a week.

It haunted us for years. YEARS. NASA and the FBI were around a lot questioning my dad. They finally cleared him of any involvement in like 1999. It was horrible.

[BadBeast]

I'm surprised that they haven't lost more Shuttles, Astronauts, ICBM's, Orbital Surveillance Sats, Skylabs, Moons, etc. Maybe they have, who really knows?

[Suu]

They lose satellites all the time.

and I'm pretty sure Columbia is what put the nail in the coffin of the shuttle program.

[Jenne]

Totally watched it live as an 8th grader.  National tragedy televised in schools, so awesome.  And the next day on the schoolyard was alive with jokes about Krista MacAuliffe.    Kids are jerks.

Suu, sorry that this is also tied to some personal tragedy for you and your folks.  That must've been awful.

[AFK]

They lose satellites all the time.

and I'm pretty sure Columbia is what put the nail in the coffin of the shuttle program.

That probably played into it, I think they were just basically waiting to get the ISS complete or mostly complete before pulling the plug.  It doesn't seem like there are any concrete manned space flight programs after the ISS anyway.  Everything else can be down with the other rockets they have at their disposal. 

[BadBeast]

End of an era, perhaps

But hey wouldn't have pulled the whole Shuttle thing, unless they had a more awesomely Sci-fi program ready to take up the slack. That we don't know about yet.
Like H.I.M.E.O.B.S, only batting for the opposition.

[Bruno]

Fucking Moonbase Now Motherfuckers.


Also, Fuck Mars. (manned missions, anyway)

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Fucking Moonbase Now Motherfuckers.


Also, Fuck Mars. (manned missions, anyway)

Why bother going into a gravity well?

Asteroid belt.  No shit.  There's everything you need, and you don't have to spend a fortune to get around.

[BadBeast]

Fucking Moonbase Now Motherfuckers.


Also, Fuck Mars. (manned missions, anyway)

Yeah, that shit is so 20th century. Now that we have the Trans-dimensional Gravo-Magnetic Quark drive, we should use the fucking thing to go somewhere, Anywhere! They won't let me near it anymore though, since the last time. Bastards. Why can't they accept the fucking thing goes much better with LSD, and move on?

[Don Coyote]

Fucking Moonbase Now Motherfuckers.


Also, Fuck Mars. (manned missions, anyway)

Why bother going into a gravity well?

Asteroid belt.  No shit.  There's everything you need, and you don't have to spend a fortune to get around.

Ya just go out there, mine shit, build some shit, mine some more or just attach fucking rockets to asteroids and send them back to high Eart orbit for easier processing.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Fucking Moonbase Now Motherfuckers.


Also, Fuck Mars. (manned missions, anyway)

Why bother going into a gravity well?

Asteroid belt.  No shit.  There's everything you need, and you don't have to spend a fortune to get around.

Ya just go out there, mine shit, build some shit, mine some more or just attach fucking rockets to asteroids and send them back to high Eart orbit for easier processing.

There's even a cheap, safe way to drop millions of tons of ore, etc, to Earth.

[Don Coyote]

Fucking Moonbase Now Motherfuckers.


Also, Fuck Mars. (manned missions, anyway)

Why bother going into a gravity well?

Asteroid belt.  No shit.  There's everything you need, and you don't have to spend a fortune to get around.

Ya just go out there, mine shit, build some shit, mine some more or just attach fucking rockets to asteroids and send them back to high Eart orbit for easier processing.

There's even a cheap, safe way to drop millions of tons of ore, etc, to Earth.

I was thinking of that too.
And if we ever build shit on the Moon just mnor detour to the Moon.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Fucking Moonbase Now Motherfuckers.


Also, Fuck Mars. (manned missions, anyway)

Why bother going into a gravity well?

Asteroid belt.  No shit.  There's everything you need, and you don't have to spend a fortune to get around.

Ya just go out there, mine shit, build some shit, mine some more or just attach fucking rockets to asteroids and send them back to high Eart orbit for easier processing.

There's even a cheap, safe way to drop millions of tons of ore, etc, to Earth.

I was thinking of that too.
And if we ever build shit on the Moon just mnor detour to the Moon.

Meh.  There's no reason to go to the moon.  There's nothing there worth having.

[BadBeast]

Fucking Moonbase Now Motherfuckers.


Also, Fuck Mars. (manned missions, anyway)

Why bother going into a gravity well?

Asteroid belt.  No shit.  There's everything you need, and you don't have to spend a fortune to get around.

Ya just go out there, mine shit, build some shit, mine some more or just attach fucking rockets to asteroids and send them back to high Eart orbit for easier processing.

There's even a cheap, safe way to drop millions of tons of ore, etc, to Earth.

I was thinking of that too.
And if we ever build shit on the Moon just mnor detour to the Moon.

Meh.  There's no reason to go to the moon.  There's nothing there worth having.

What about all that cheese?