"In the skies today we saw destruction and tragedy": the Columbia and its aftermath

Saturday, February 1, 2003

Salon
First find out what happened -- then find out why
By Andrew Leonard

Unlike politicians and the public, people working on the shuttle know it's still experimental, an expert on the Challenger disaster says.

Salon
Astronauts and pilots
By Patrick Smith

The shuttle -- part spacecraft, part plane -- transformed flight forever. Even tragedy can't change that.

Slate
God on Our Side?
What does Bush's religious talk mean?
By William Saletan

TeeVee
Death in the Family
Columbia.
By The Vidiots

Monday, February 3, 2003

Slate
Did Witnesses Really Hear the Columbia Split Apart?
By Brendan I. Koerner

Slate
Could Ejection Seats Have Saved the Columbia Astronauts?
By Brendan I. Koerner

Slate
The Columbia Shuttle Disaster: An Internet Guide
By Chris Suellentrop

The New Republic
When Challenger Fell From the Sky
From the February 17, 1986, issue
By the Editors

Saturday's space shuttle catastrophe brought home both the striking symbolism of manned space flight and the media's unseemly tendency to fetishize tragedy. TNR first commented on the contrast between the two in the following editorial, written shortly after the tragic explosion of the Challenger in 1986.

Tuesday, February 4, 2003

Slate
NASA, Spinning
Was the space shuttle useful? Not really.
By David Owen

Wednesday, February 5, 2003

Salon
Spaced out
By Patrick Di Justo

Critics of manned spaceflight say the Columbia disaster means we must retreat from space. But what they're abandoning is the future.

Thursday, February 6, 2003

Slate
Astronauts
Why they shouldn't be heroes.
By Chris Suellentrop

Slate
Does the Space Program Have a Future?
By Gregg Easterbrook and Nathan Myhrvold