The Columbia Disaster
I've been trying all day to find words to express my sadness at the Columbia disaster. I was angry but after reading the reports, I realized that my anger has subsided to just plain, organic, sadness. If the early reports are to be believed, the accident looks like it may have been caused by insulation stripping from the solid core boosters (the twin boosters that sit either side of the main tank and the shuttle itself) and hitting the underside of the left wing. This, in turn, probably led to some stripping of the insulation tiles that line the shuttle's body and which protect the aluminium sub-frame from the tremendous stresses of re-entry (typically +3000 degrees at the leading edge of the wing). There's not much else to say except that it seems like we forget just how dangerous spaceflight is and it takes a disaster roughly every 20 years for us to forget and need a reminder (Apollo 1 caught fire on the pad Jan 27 '67, the Challenger disaster was Jan 28, 1986, Columbia was destroyed Feb 1, 2003).

"Sometimes, in reaching for the stars tho we may fall to the ground, we must continue to reach for the heavens, as the souls of those who went before us will hold our hands, lest we stumble again" - Bozz, 2003