Numerous people die daily in car crashes; but there's something horrific about reviewing the two disasters that affected the U. S. Space Shuttle programme, and the sense that people were sent to deaths they had absolutely no chance of doing anything about. This series follows the second, and less talked about, tragedy. The story is that the type of incident that doomed the Columbia could have been foreseen; NASA's management were insufficiently alarmed by the warning signs, and the huge cost of halting the programme was very likely a factor, even if a subsconscious one, in driving what in hingsight was obviously an error of judgement. If the failure was theoretically an avoidable one, it nonetheless does not feel surprising that it happened. One is left with a sense of admiration for the foolhardy courage of those who chose to fly; and wondering how long it will be before anyone follows again in their path.
