Time for a belated tea (I’ve been running on nuts and candybars all day) and the late news is on in a half hour. I’ll be back then with whatever new info I have. The main thing on my mind now is: “where did the crew compartment come down? Did it burn up and break up during re-entry or hit mostly intact?
It’s a pretty sturdy bit of structure and about the only chance they’ll have for… well, humans don’t do so well in a re-entry plasma.
Later.
LATER: Networks seem to be far behind the blogosphere curve. Only thing new is that some partial remains have been found. They also suggested loss of a one of the control surfaces. While that would indeed cause loss of control and breakup, I see no reason for it to occur; and besides which, that port-side tire telemetry tells me a different story. So I’m still standing by my first scenario.
ONE MORE THING: One of the TV shots clearly showed one of the re-entry engines from the back of one of the OHMS pods (those bumps in the back by the tail). So much of the debris came down more quickly than I thought, and that probably means it came down in much smaller pieces than I expected. I also am wondering what portion came down in the smoking field they showed. Nothing there was identifiable from the helicopter overview.
The more I think about it, those people were incredibly brave.
Not for dying, or for risking death, but for engaging an entire pursuit that rubs shoulders with peril.
They are heroes not in the Sontag-ian sense–that wide definition that includes those who declare their death and decide which innocent victims to take with them.
These heroes occupy the higher plane–where free men and women take the risk in spite of the danger, not in pursuit of the devastation.
They are indeed. I may be a harsh critic of NASA and the government space program, but I count many among my good friends. We all share the dream, we only differ on the best way to go about it.
It is something I never forget.
I also never forget frontiers are dangerous. Good men and women will die on them. The sector from which their employment comes has little to do with the price which the frontier extracts as its’ due.
They are indeed heroes, and the way to properly honour their memory is to take stock about what is good and bad about the space program, think about what it should and should not be doing, and find some truly inspiring goals to achieve in their name. Have their successors stand on the surface of Mars, and there dedicate a memorial to them. When I see this happen, I will truly be happy.
Michael.