Another Space Shuttle Just Exploded

[Imnotdutch]

lol........fucking funny.

Your lack of knowledge is showing. Delta Force is totally different to the SAS. They are equivalent in may peoples eyes but this is totally wrong. The USA has no equivalent to the SAS. The SAS will typically walk for tens of miles in order to reach a destination. Delta Force, and other US special forces, do not do training that allows this; they hitch a lift. In Iraq, the SAS were chosen because they are specialists at staying on the ground for very very long periods of time with NO input. The US has no team that can do this for such long periods of time.

THE TRAINING IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT!!!

Who knows what the SAS would have done in Vietnam (assuming the UK was stupid enough to get involved in such a fight). I'm not sure that they even keep tabs on numbers killed versus own dead. They aren't exactly known for being forthcoming about numbers and wheres and whens.

Gimme a break. They use the same weapons, train in similar manners and have the same mindset. War is about logistics, not about being Rambo. A branch of US special forces (I believe it was the newly created Navy SEALs, formed from the underwater demolition teams from WWII) had something like a 200-1 kill ratio in the jungles and brown rivers of Vietnam. But I'm sure that the SAS would have done a whole lot better right?

 

[TxArmyGuy]

They hitch a lift huh...Well I'm in a Plain jane Airborne Unit and I train to road march over 10miles when I need to go somewhere...My last 24hr excersise was a snowshoe march I was carrying a rucksack 70+lbs including a weapon and we marched through the Mt's here over 15miles after an Airborne insertion into a snow covered drop zone and pulling fire missions. So If my plain jane unit trains like that I would Dare to say that SF and Delta trains to do a hellava lot more then that. What do you know about U.S. Special Ops, doesn't seem like a whole lot if you dont think they move on the ground. Try Asking Big Buck sometime how much Marching he did in Afghanistan and how long he was in the field when he jumped in just after 9-11

Back to the Topic at hand These Astronauts were REAL PEOPLE Some were Neighbors and all were friends to my Stepdad. He saw these people EVERDAY through work and watched the Dedication they put into their Mission, their belief that they were doing the Absolute best they could inorder to accomplish the goals in space that were set. Each one of them Knew the risks they were taking but it doesn't take away from the fact that they died trying to better not only this country but all of mankind.

These people have kids that will never see them again. A few who my Stepbrother hangs out with. How the fuck do you think they feel hearing and reading about their parents death. These kids are going to be haunted by this forever. The Israeli Astronaut has a Son who plays football and goes to school with my little bro.

I can only feel Sorrow and Pitty for them and their loved ones. This is very tragic and should once again make people realize that this is still dangerous and that men and women continue to put their lives on the line to do this dangerous work

 

[Kalashnikov]

lol........fucking funny.

Your lack of knowledge is showing. Delta Force is totally different to the SAS. They are equivalent in may peoples eyes but this is totally wrong. The USA has no equivalent to the SAS. The SAS will typically walk for tens of miles in order to reach a destination. Delta Force, and other US special forces, do not do training that allows this; they hitch a lift. In Iraq, the SAS were chosen because they are specialists at staying on the ground for very very long periods of time with NO input. The US has no team that can do this for such long periods of time.

THE TRAINING IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT!!!

Who knows what the SAS would have done in Vietnam (assuming the UK was stupid enough to get involved in such a fight). I'm not sure that they even keep tabs on numbers killed versus own dead. They aren't exactly known for being forthcoming about numbers and wheres and whens.

U.S. Army Delta Force and Navy SEAL training programs emphasize endurance and physical strength as much, if not more so, that the SAS program. If you read the book "Blackhawk Down", you'll learn of several feats of endurance, marksmanship, and coolness under fire that is typical of Delta troopers. Two Delta Sharpshooters held off hundreds of somali's in a suicidal rescue attempt. They were both given the congressional medal of honor for this, and this is one of the many examples that can be found in this short conflict.

I am not saying that US units are any better than those of the UK. All of these "Special forces" units are similar. If you say that UK units are so much more well-trained and capable, then you've got alot to prove and high standards to measure against.

 

[Delinquent]

India mourns space heroine

NEW DELHI, India --Front pages of Saturday's Indian newspapers carried pictures of Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian-born woman in space, to celebrate her expected return to earth on the U.S. space shuttle Columbia.

But the return never happened, as the shuttle broke apart more than 200,000 feet above central Texas minutes before it was to land in Florida, killing all seven crew members. (Full story)

"What can anyone say except that we are aghast at the terrible tragedy," V. Sundararamaiah, scientific secretary of the Indian Space Research Organization, told the Associated Press.

Pupils at the Tagore Bal Niketan school, in Karnal, near New Delhi, that Chawla attended as a child had gathered for an evening of song and dance to celebrate the expected landing of Columbia.

Principal Rajan Lamba said: "A happy occasion turned into an atmosphere of disbelief shock and condolence."

Press Trust of India had calculated exactly when Indians could look to the skies and wave as the space shuttle carrying mission specialist Chawla flew past in the heavens.

PTI told readers in southern Bombay and Madras which minute of the day they could hail their countrywoman.

The Times of India put her picture at the top of the front page in Saturday morning's editions, saying she and her crew mates were preparing for their homecoming.

In India, which has launched satellites for years and is preparing for a moon orbit this decade, Chawla was a new kind of heroine.

Priot to her departure on Columbia for what was her second trip to space, she told reporters that her inspiration to take up flying was J.R.D. Tata, who flew the first mail flights in India.

She told the Press Trust of India on January 16: "What J.R.D. Tata had done during those years was very intriguing and definitely captivated my imagination."

Following her first space flight, in 1997, she had told News India-Times of seeing India's Himalayan Mountains.

"The Ganges Valley looked majestic, mind boggling," she said.

"Africa looked like a desert and the Nile a vein in it."

Chawla said that as the shuttle repeatedly passed over India, especially New Delhi, she pointed it out to the other crew members and said, "I lived near there."

Chawla, 41, was born in Karnal but emigrated to the United States in the 1980s and became a U.S. citizen.

The town had planned a celebration, but were in shock and mourning on Saturday night.

She became an astronaut in 1994. On her first space flight, she was blamed for making mistakes that sent a science satellite tumbling out of control. Other astronauts went on a space walk to capture it.

India Today magazine reported that NASA had absolved Chawla, rating her a "terrific astronaut," and saying the accident had resulted from a series of small errors.

Thsi is the first thing I have read about her. The media doesn't give a shit about an Indian. It's all about the Israeli's first time in space

 

[Imnotdutch]

Delta Force use vehicles to get in and out as a first option. The SAS usually walk in and walk out. There are accounts of members walking out of a hot zone over distances of a few hundred miles with little or no supplies.

I dont expect you to choose one way or the other because I offer little evidence.......I just think that the majority of the worlds 'special' forces aren't special at all (including one or two units int he UK).

U.S. Army Delta Force and Navy SEAL training programs emphasize endurance and physical strength as much, if not more so, that the SAS program. If you read the book "Blackhawk Down", you'll learn of several feats of endurance, marksmanship, and coolness under fire that is typical of Delta troopers. Two Delta Sharpshooters held off hundreds of somali's in a suicidal rescue attempt. They were both given the congressional medal of honor for this, and this is one of the many examples that can be found in this short conflict.

I am not saying that US units are any better than those of the UK. All of these "Special forces" units are similar. If you say that UK units are so much more well-trained and capable, then you've got alot to prove and high standards to measure against.

 

[Burning_Inside]

of course they are, for bringing up satalites. and that's about it! but for testing dirt, or flying monkeys around. or flying high profile rich celebrity around is all BS. i don't know how many are sent up a year, but i know it's to many. atleast if there is no big purpose. not sending up one of these things would cure the homeless problem in america. or pherhaps you wouldn't have to pay taxes for a year or two. YES they are important for us as a nation to grow in technology. NO they shouldn't send so many up a year.

i on the other hand think it needs to be sped up, because I'llt ell you something, i have a feeling my kids or grandkids aren't going to be ABLE to live on this planet when their time comes. This planet's pollution and all this other shit is just getting ridiculous. IMO, to not want to look out for our next generations is pretty sad. There's no doubt that the answers to many of the the problems down here lie up there, either through aplpied sciences and definately off world colonization.

 

[danielson]

Thsi is the first thing I have read about her. The media doesn't give a shit about an Indian. It's all about the Israeli's first time in space

i had noticed that myself, only a few of the news agencies i saw chose to carry that info, even fewer about the rest of the crew. maybe its morbid fascination, but the fact this was her 2nd space flght and she's india;s first woman was newsworthy to me, just as much so as that israeli dudes

i only hope the news agencies focused on him as they were suggesting terrorism.


either way i hope there isnt a kneejerk reaction to this where everything is canceled. i hope they research what went wrong, but i do think they should learn and press ahead with the science and the space station, im sure its what the crew would have wanted

 

[Frackal]

interesting also how there is so much focus on israeli but none on the indian woman

 

[MFMan]

Its a sad thing.

 

[the nature boy]

how's this for ironic, someone told me that parts of the shuttle landed on a town in texas called palestine.