I know it's subjective but I believe that the reaction in the US to this tragedy is very different and more wholesome and positive than in 1986. We're more accustomed to awful disasters having seen 3,000 ordinary citizens jump to their certain deaths from the WTC in utter despair, burn to death horribly or be crushed to dust. The Columbia deaths were very different in context. In '86 there were intimations, proven true of deeply flawed management practices at NASA and with contractors. NASA was less open. In 2003 NASA is more open even conceding that in retrospect some poor "management" decisions may likely come to the fore. The country seems seriously and positively behind manned spaceflight like never before. Despite all my rants about PC "diversity" I'll admit I enjoyed seeing a mixed gender and multi-racial crew including a immigrant citizen. And yes we had the same in '86 but this "feels" different. There exists the potential for some very positive things to happen as an aftermath. We're starting to ask the right questions on space policy. It may come to naught or it may break the NASA treadmill cycle.

-philw (the touchy feely phil)