AP Photo Archive
The space shuttle Columbia lifts off the launch pad Jan. 16, 2003, beginning a 16-day mission that ended in tragedy.

Men in Space

The race in space may have died with the end of the Cold War, but NASA still faces difficulties as it continues to challenge the memory of the Challenger tragedy

Leslie Bardsley BAR04015@BYUI.EDU News Asst. Editor

Twenty years ago, the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff. Seven crew members died on live television and many people’s confidence in the United States’ space program fell as quickly as the debris from the shuttle.

Two weeks ago, many of the families and friends left behind gathered at the Kennedy Space Center to pay their respects and mark 20 years since the tragedy.

The Jan. 28 anniversary has once again placed NASA in the spotlight and brought up the age-old controversy of whether NASA should be taking the risk of sending humans into space.

“Without risk, there’s no discovery, there’s no new knowledge, there’s no bold adventure,” Rodgers said to the Associated Press. “The greatest risk is to take no risk.”

But that is exactly what some people are suggesting.

Alex Roland, a professor of history at Duke University and former NASA historian, is one man who thinks NASA’s manned missions to space are not necessary.

As recently as Feb. 1, 2003, The space shuttle Columbia broke up 15 minutes before the landing at NASA killing all seven crew members on board.

Some experts are wondering if the risks are worth the results.

“If we were to put people on Mars, what could they do there that rovers couldn’t? Nothing. The only thing humans can do better than machines is smell and taste, and no astronaut is going to smell and taste the Martian atmosphere and soil,” Roland said in an article published in Popular Mechanics.

Those against astronaut missions cite the tragedies of Challenger and Columbia.

“One of the greatest tragedies of the Columbia disaster was that it had no mission,” Roland said. “NASA just flew it for the sake of flying it.”

Supporters of men in space point to the countless discoveries that would have been impossible without manned missions for either exploration or maintenance.

According to NASA, 89 scientific investigations have been conducted on the International Space Station and more breakthroughs are to come. New results from early space station research, from basic science to exploration research, are being published each month.

“Manned exploration itself is a noble thing,” said Ken Bowersox, the director of fight crew operations at Johnson Space Center and former astronaut. “The astronauts help to build a road out into the solar system. People are going to leave earth someday with regularity, and we as Americans are taking the baby steps now.”

The debate over human space travel rages on, and the continued reminders NASA’s past tragedies and triumphs will continue to spurn a new generation to search for what they feel is right.