[Derek Kessler]

This time of year is a rough one for NASA - in the space of the next week three anniversaries of deadly space program accidents will be remembered. Starting today, the 27th, with the Apollo 1 fire in 1967. The 28th of January marks 1986's Challenger disaster, and on February 1 the anniversary of the loss of the space shuttle Columbia will pass. In total, NASA has lost seventeen astronauts in spaceflight, a legacy of which they are not proud. All were accidents, caused by problems the agency did not know it had.

Read the full article here.

I think it's important that we take the time to pay our respects to those who truly are exploring the final frontier. It's dangerous work, and we all benefit from their sacrifices.

[Captain_of_the_Enterprise]

Good article, I pray they will always be remembered.

[Tryjo]

Indeed, the loss of life is a tragic thing, and I only hope that we will one day reap the benefits of the ultimate sacrifice those brave souls made.

While we are on the topic of NASA, here is a bit of news.

NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft has beamed back some surprising new data from the planet Mercury. Highlights include a weird crater nicknamed "the Spider," a planetary tail of hydrogen atoms, and measurements that show giant Caloris basin is even bigger than researchers imagined.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2...tm?list1070763

[Trekkie]

Thank you for the article and the reminder.

[tomalak301]

Godspeed to all Astronauts who go into space. This is a tough week with the three tragedies but hopefully in years to come (And if Obama is president) the space program can be an issue again.

[HRH The KING]

NASA has blood on it's hands, or rather charred remains, with Challenger and Columbia.

Pure arrogance, costing 14 people their lives and far too easily dismissed as "space exploration is dangerous".

Yes it's very dangerous when the management of NASA ignore warnings and problems they already knew about.

[Derek Kessler]

Originally Posted by HRH The KING

NASA has blood on it's hands, or rather charred remains, with Challenger and Columbia.

Pure arrogance, costing 14 people their lives and far too easily dismissed as "space exploration is dangerous".

Yes it's very dangerous when the management of NASA ignore warnings and problems they already knew about.

Agreed. They got lazy and lives were lost... sad how often that happens in other enterprises worldwide.

[CaptainJamesTKirk]

I remember the day this happened. President Reagan's speach after te tragedy was quite moving. I heard it the other day and it brought tears to my eyes.

[BX XI]

I think at the very least the people that have died deserve a permanent memorial site

[SiskoNX01]

There is a very nice memorial, a very moving memorial to those who have given their lives in the furtherance of space exploration at Kennedy Space Center.

Reagan said that "The future doesn't belong to the faint hearted. It belongs to the brave."