Feb. 04, 2003 - 19:39 MST

THE WONDERING JEW

Let It Be

On the back steps and doing some serious personal thinking tonight, trying to get down to basics. I have no real power to solve a darn thing. In fact no power other than my vote. I can though say out loud to all who hear exactly what I think and that is about my limit.

I think that those who are trying to figure out just what went wrong with Columbia should be left alone to do their work rather than being forced in front of tv-cams and interviewers who are at an actual loss as to what questions are pertinent and should be asked. I think it will take much time and investigation to determine the cause, if a true cause is ever found. And more time is needed to decide what measures to use to keep it from happening again. NASA does not need to keep giving news casts, they have much more to do than that.

Sometimes the cause of an accident is easily determined, other times quite obscure is the answer, if one is ever found. One such incident happened at a site which my company had. A test track. Testing for the most part can be easy chair stuff, no strain, no danger just the old clipboard easy chair duty. But testing work at a test track can be the ultimate in danger.

The techs had loaded the rockets on the sled and were in the process of arming it for a run. There was a hard and fast procedure with an attached check list, everyone's position and duties spelled out. Work was proceeding when a tech, who knows why ? Crossed right behind the sled. At that instant there was a misfire, he was killed in a most gruesome way. It is easy to figure what happens to a man who is right behind rockets when they light off.

It was quite easy to decide why the man was killed, he was behind rockets when they fired. I am not sure if they ever found out why there was a misfire. There were others injured as the sled blew by and a man practically sitting in the dummies lap rode the sled clear to the water brake and only ended up being quite bruised.

Much investigation ensued and for the most part all we knew was that new procedures and precautions and of course a new check list were put in place and more sled runs were made after that with no problem. In my mind it seems that it might have been an electrical emanation - thunderstorm brewing, radio waves from an aircraft in the air nearby, some form of unexpected static electrical discharge.

Regardless, there was a family left without a father, a wife without her husband and the burns and mental after effects on the folks working on the site.

But, work on the project went on.

So there will be a period of investigation and determination if possible over Columbia and a long mourning period by relatives and friends as well as the rest of us in this country.

There will be many news pages and news casts, talking heads by the bucketfull on the hour about the terrible tragedy, until the media begins to feel that the situation has been worked for as much as it can be and until they find another thing to obsess about. A lot of this is our fault, the public wants to know and know now ! ! and so the blather continues on to be a blithard.

But to my mind, I think those heros and that shero would want to tell us that the great work must go on.

So for now, I think it is time for me to Let It Be . . . . . . .

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