It seems that Americans quickly forgot about Columbia almost a full week after it happened. I mean, with the snow and “Joe Millionaire” choosing Zora and all, who really cares? Well, for one, me. Looking at space in general has always been a passive hobby of mine, for it always interests me to see what new planets they’ve found in other solar systems. I dream sometimes that one day humans will go there and look around. It would be kind of cool to write “Robin wuz here” on Martian dust someday. But, I’m really not sure if that will ever happen. Not because of my nonscientific nature, but because of American disinterest in space. When we had the Russians to beat, everything was golden. It was a race to see who could get where first. But then Challenger exploded and Russia fell apart. NASA’s budget shrank to microscopic levels. Now the Columbia disaster.
I heard a comment in passing soon after the accident: “It shows that we’re not supposed to go there.” I thought about that, and it made me very angry. I’m sure that same comment was uttered in the 15th century, when it was clear that the world was flat and you could go over the edge. Why leave Europe? Why explore beyond the 13 colonies? Why go to Antarctica? Because we can. These are frontiers. Just like space. I’m not really trying to sound like Star Trek here, but it’s true. Space is our newest frontier, and just like the old frontiers, risk is involved. Magellan started with 234 sailors and five ships. Only one ship came back with 18 sailors, and Magellan himself died in the trip. The American West had much the same risks, with almost total isolation from society and the danger of Native American raids (by this time, some weren’t too happy with the European people). I’m not trying to get into the moral issues of Manifest Destiny, but needless to say the act of expanding our frontier helped our nation become as strong as it is today.
People die when traveling to dangerous places. It’s a risk. These astronauts took it. They knew NASA, in 1995, put the odds at catastrophic failure at one in 145 flights. In 1998 the odds improved to one in 245 flights. That’s a pretty big risk, statistically. But these people believed in what they were doing. Would they want America to abandon the space program? Would they agree that people aren’t supposed to be up there? No, they wouldn’t. Just like Magellan, they knew they could die and went anyway. That’s why I have a big problem with the inevitability of litigation about Columbia.
Monday, in The Washington Post, an article was written about Houston lawyer Ronald Krist, who stated it was too early for family members of the victims of the Columbia tragedy to file a lawsuit. This same lawyer won three settlements for the Challenger families, and for one man’s family who died in a launch-pad accident. The reason this upsets me is because the astronauts were perfectly aware of the risks of space flight, and yet people are trying to find someone to blame.
Accidents happen, people. It’s sad. It’s tragic. But it’s neither the first nor the last time it will happen. I do not think it is NASA’s fault or anyone else’s. No one wanted that accident to happen or intentionally caused it. Perhaps the U.S. government should receive some blame. After all, they forced NASA to use shuttles from the late 70s and continually cut costs because of a miniscule budget (they just raised that budget 4 percent). These families are not going to be hurting for compensation anyway, why bother with a lawsuit?
But this is America. If you can sue for spilling coffee on yourself, anything is possible. I believe any money won because these astronauts lost their lives should go to what they believed in: the space program.