Reactions to Columbia disaster
Thoughts from second and third period Journalism students
and Images from first and second Multi-Media classes

“At first I wasn’t really paying any attention to what the news anchors were saying and I thought they said aliens had crashed into the Texas area. When I sat down to watch the program I realized what had really happened and couldn’t believe it. I really thought that today’s technology would have practically guaranteed a safe return for the Columbia and her crew. My whole family just sat around the TV and stared in disbelief. Then all of the questions started coming, like how did this happen? What went wrong? Could it have been avoided? Were terrorists involved? I could only hope that the families of this tragedy would be comforted by the fact that their sons or daughters had died in an honorable way.”

Sarah Tovar

“It was kind of strange for me. I’d stayed up late the night before hanging out with my friend. I woke up early and left my friend sleeping in my room. I walked to the living room and sat down. I was kind of groggy still, being that I just woke up, so it took me a couple minutes to really grasp what I was seeing on the news. Once I really realized what was going on I was in total shock. It was so incredibly sad!”

Megan Spangler

“It’s just really sad and at a really inopportune time. This is one of the few things the whole world is focused on (the space program) and for it to be the first Israeli in space is even more unfortunate. I just hope the program does continue after this, but I’m not sure what will happen. I think that exploring space is a much better idea than killing each other down here.”

Gary Smith

“To tell the truth I didn’t hear about it until this morning (February 3) and I was shocked. I think it’s a really sad thing that happened. It’s really strange that they don’t know why it just all of a sudden vanished like it did. I heard someone say when they were going off, parts were falling off already. It’s really sad that had to happen.”

Nicole Ruetze

“I think it’s terrible. The worst part is that they were 16 minutes from landing and going to see their families. We don’t know what happened or why, but they’re going to find the problem, fix it and it won’t keep us from going to space again. Seven people died doing what they loved. They knew the risks, but that didn’t stop them. They left behind their families, but they also left behind a legacy. They will always be remembered as brave and known for taking a huge risk for the good of the country. We will go on in space and every time we will fix problems and hopefully have less accidents.”

Alyssa Sayre

“I believe that it’s a very tragic loss, but I doubt that it’s really anyone’s fault. No one could have foreseen the events leading to the end of Columbia and it’s crew and no one even seems to know how it happened and that fact is important to uncover. The future of the NASA program is probably relying on finding out.”

Lucas Papike-Sullivan

“I think it was a tragic thing and it made me remember Challenger. If pieces fell off when it was launched, shouldn’t the mission have been cancelled? I feel bad for the people who lost friends and family. I just hope and pray that something like this does not happen again.”

Rachael Plumlee

 

“The death of seven people aboard that shuttle is such a tragedy. It brings the memories of so many other US disasters floating back. It is so sad to see our heroes killed at any time, much less while they are faithfully serving us, the citizens.”

Amber LeRoy

“The Columbia space shuttle disaster was a huge tragedy. It is very hard to understand what happened because the cause of it is uncertain. We deeply sympathize for the families at loss.”

Marissa Zamora

“I got goose bumps watching Columbia and the crew disintegrate like that. It is still hard to imagine with our growing advancement and knowledge of technology that costly mistakes like this are made. My heart goes out to the families who saw it live from their own eyes. A tragedy like this had to be in the back of their minds – it’s too bad it didn’t stay there.”

Leigh Carter

“I think this is a tragic event. It’s sad that thinks like this have to happen when it could have been prevented by spending more time to make sure this wouldn’t happen. Maybe we shouldn’t get in flying objects any more.”
Jacob Zamora

 

“The events of the recent past on February 1, 2003 brings up the questions: Are we pushing too far too fast or are we not pushing far enough too slow? The Columbia answers that question. We’re not pushing far enough but we’re going too fast. We’re using old equipment to build new 'toys.' Before we go up again we need to build bigger, better, faster, safer shuttles. We need to find the way!”

Daniel Matthews

“I don’t know much about what happened, but it saddens and maddens me. I’m sad for the loss of lives. These were great people who could have done a lot of good, could have done much for the advancement of mankind. I’m mad because they were put in space in unreliable equipment. The government is sending people on missions that in and of themselves are dangerous; but besides that they’ve been sent in faulty equipment. They should make 100 percent certain that every piece of machinery, down to the very last bolt, is in top mint condition before they blast it out of the atmosphere. Apparently we haven’t learned anything from Apollo 13 or Challenger. They’re sending people to their deaths! These are suicide missions. I’d rather never know what the surface of Mars looks like than send people out there in a space shuttle that “might” hold together. My prayers are with the families of those who lost their lives. Hopefully we can learn from this tragedy and avoid any further crisis. There’s no need for this pain. Just give them adequate equipment! People’s lives depend on it.

Courtnie Reist

 

“American citizens, still recovering from the 9/11 tragedy were struck with another disaster on February 1, 2003. After Columbia fell, the nation was left questioning NASA’s abilities. Astronauts on the 1986 Challenger were remembered along with the seven members of Columbia. Personally, I felt sympathetic for the families and worried for my country’s safety. Would the world assume our scientific intelligence was weak? On the news, Iraqi extremists were “happy” about the crash, explaining that Americans think they are superior, but “they are not god.” Not knowing exactly what caused the accident created confusion. After President Bush’s address to the nation, both the painful and chaotic feelings were eased. The event was tragic for the US, but proved once again that we unite in times of crisis.”

Monique Kiviaho

“Saturday morning I awoke to a red strip on the TV. Inside the strip it read ‘Breaking News.’ I thought we were officially at war. But as I kept watching I realized it wasn’t war at all; they said the Columbia had blown up; I was struck with shock. The more I watched, the more I felt sick with sorrow. Those people had families waiting for them in Florida. I felt stupid because I didn’t even know that a space shuttle went into space. I fell very sorry for the families of these seven intelligent people who had no idea what was going to happen when they went up there.”

Anne Conner

 

“On Saturday, February 1, 2003, NASA and the whole world suffered a great loss. Space shuttle Columbia, which first launched in April of 1981, broke into several pieces on descent to Cape Kennedy. When my brother first told me what had happened, at roughly 7:30 a.m. or so, the first thing that popped into my brain was ‘are there any survivors?’ Because I had just been informed, I didn’t realize how high and fast it was going when the tragic incident occurred. I turned on the TV to CNN where I saw the video of the shuttle breaking up. It was then that I realized that the odds of the astronauts living were 0.01 percent, if even that. Not personally knowing anybody in the incident, I really couldn’t grasp the sadness of the event. At the end, after watching the news for roughly 30 minutes, I knew that the incident would be talked about for many months to come and that future space events would be halted for quite some time.”

Matthew Stephens

“I think it’s very sad that seven astronauts died while being so close to home. They were obviously very loved and are now missed terribly. I think this is going to change some people’s minds about going into space.”

Jessica Brannan

 

“I heard about the disaster early Saturday morning at about 6:45. I was in the car on my way to a soccer tournament. I was very surprised. At first when I heard it they weren’t sure whether or not the astronauts had died. All they had said was they had lost contact and pieces of the shuttle had broken off. It’s very devastating and unexpected, I think. It’s really weird that almost exactly 17 years ago the Challenger blew up. I’m very curious about how it blew up. I was trying to think why it did. It was so close to home, too, they were almost there.”

Ericka Young