First things first! All astronauts understand that space travel whether it be to eat m&ms in front of cameras for kiddies or place million dollar telescopes in the heavens MEANS RISKTAKING! It is all part of the job. They are heros and shoulld be honored as such. When a hero dies there is always someone to blame. There is always a bad guy. In this case the bad guy is all of us. It is obvoius that we did not make it clear enough to our ignorant lawmakers that the space program is something we Americans take pride in. Why can't these officials multitask like most of our bosses expect us to. Definate thumbs down to elected officials on this one guys. You knew the shuttle was old. You told us it was a temporary fix. A band aid will not fix a stab wound!You knew we were prone to terrorist attacks. Why can't you sew your acts together and do something right for a change? To put it in EASY ENGLISH for all of you Ivy Leauge grads. DO YOUR JOB! Keep this country spending on things that keep us at number one. This means that spending doesn't always involve covering your buddies your butt or your re-election. The biggest legacy in government isn't how many terms you served and how big a check your constituents wrote. It is what you do for this, OUR COUNTRY!