The outpouring of international sympathy, grief and scientific solidarity for the United States space authorities after the tragic disaster with the Columbia shuttle is vivid testimony to the esteem their work enjoys throughout the world.
Despite its routine nature (as judged by public and media attention) it takes a disaster like this to focus attention on the sheer depth and diversity of the scientific research and economic benefits involved in the US space programme - and to make it clear how risky it is. By its very nature this is not just a national endeavour but one involving international cooperation and competition in equal measure. The space industry is central to contemporary economic innovation and productivity.
Initial investigations point to a failure of the shuttle's heat shield system as the best explanation for the failure. The engineering and flight statistics have reminded us starkly of how much we take for granted after more than half a century of space research and development. Here was a vehicle travelling at 12,500 miles per hour over 200,000 feet above the earth's surface, yet only 16 minutes from its landing site. Its international crew (half of whom were in space for the first time) had been 16 days in orbit. And yet it was designed 30 years ago, with a cost and technology base way behind optimal contemporary standards, largely to suit industrial and political interest groups. Such are the contradictions involved in the space industry.
The 80 pieces of research work the crew was doing, ranging from analysis of Saharan dust to the nature of high altitude flashes in the earth's most upper atmosphere, are reported and commented on in this newspaper today. They draw unusual public attention to a basic feature of the world we inhabit and take for granted. The death of these seven crew members will delay construction of the International Space Station. It is already substantially behind schedule and dogged with controversy; but this tragedy should not stop it.
Yesterday's responses by US political leaders and scientific representatives underlined their determination not to let the tragedy affect their commitment to the basic work involved - nor to let it affect morale in other spheres. Such exploration is very expensive. Nevertheless, the basic research/scientific, practical/economic, and military/security benefits and payoffs involved should ensure the programme goes on despite this grave upset. It is a genuinely international endeavour in a globalising world more and more reliant on space-based research and communications. This work must continue after the Columbia disaster.