-for the second time in nasa s history, a space shuttle has been lost along with its entire crew. once again, we are asking ourselves, how could this have happened? -do you have any idea how big that piece of foam was that came off? -we d heard some reports that during launch there had been some concerns that some debris hit the wing. is that true and is that any cause of concern and that could have caused today s problems? -it is true. it was judged that, erm , that event did not represent a safety concern. -this happened under my watch, but i didn t have the answers. in every public forum i m gonna have to be in, how am i gonna explain this to anybody? at this time, we have no indication that the mishap was caused by anything or anyone on the ground. -nasa never wants to look stupid. nasa wants to be the agency with the answers. -my thoughts are on what we missed, what i missed to allow this to happen. -but if you overlook something, it will come to bite you one day or anot
to ensure we could hear dissenting opinions and other information was being communicated in spite of potential management or communication challenges. it s tragic we had to go through the columbia accident to get here. so, i always remind myself of what s at stake if we don t retain those lessons. -as always, nasa s arrow is pointed up towards the stars as it should be. it s about the united states , and our partners, remaining the leaders in aerospace technology and exploration. here in the united states senate, i ve got a little say on some of these programs, and i m trying to make sure that nasa has the resources it needs to fly people in space as safely as possible. american astronauts flying on american rockets from american soil into space once again.
American astronauts flying on american rockets from American Soil Into Space once again. Its a very exciting time for our space program. Sending people into space is dangerous. More dangerous than most things. Its one of the riskiest things that people have ever done. To be able to experience this incredible career of being an astronaut was something that we always called a calculated risk. Rick died doing something that he was very passionate about. In the end, i had to very purposely make a decision that this was not gonna be something that was gonna define me for the rest of my life. I didnt want to go down that path of its your fault or your fault, or im angry about this and i cant let go of it. None of that was a path