Students in shock, disbelief after Columbia tragedy

Announced at sporting events, over listservs and by word of mouth, news of the space shuttle Columbia's destruction spread rapidly across campus Saturday. Students cited shock, disbelief and sadness among their initial reactions. "You don't even keep up with the launches or anything," Engineering sophomore Andre De Clercq said. "It's only when something tragic happens that you become aware of it again." De Clercq found himself "shocked and upset" by the space shuttle's demise, calling the news "absolutely tragic." He also expressed concern specifically for the loss felt by Israelis, who had sent up their first astronaut on the mission. "It's very sad for their country," De Clercq said. The space flight "was a nice distraction from the Middle East conflict." College junior and Hillel Treasurer Jason Auerbach said he felt much the same way, noting that "the fact that it was an Israeli astronaut" made it that much more of a tragedy. College junior and Hillel Vice President Rebecca Fishman was also "really proud to hear that an Israeli" was taking part in the space mission. It was a "valiant effort, and I was really saddened and disappointed," she said. "Seeing [the Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon's] son on TV was the most disheartening thing," Auerbach recalled. "Anyone who watches the news would be aware of the tragedy, but I don't know if they're aware of the significance of it." But whether they were concerned with the Columbia's geopolitical implications or not, many students said they would probably attend a memorial or commemorative service were one to be held on campus. "It seems like the right thing to do," College sophomore David Brooks said. College freshman Alexandra Sibley, who heard about the shuttle's fate through an e-mail from Campus Crusade for Christ, saw the event as upsetting and disheartening. "I would assume all the Christian groups at Penn will be keeping the catastrophe in their closest prayers," Sibley said. "I was particularly upset because living near Houston -- I grew up with NASA and the space center being right there," Sibley continued. "It was weird hearing the people on TV quoting the [astronauts'] loss of contact with Houston." Wharton senior Jeffrey Miller has always had an interest in space exploration, so he too felt particularly upset by the event and deaths of the "honorable astronauts." "They were really brave people," Miller said. "They knew the risks, but they still did it." Also aware of these risks, Education graduate student Kirsten Engelhardt found the Columbia's destruction "scary to see" because she still remembers the explosion of the Challenger shuttle. "I was just staring at the TV in silence," she recalled. "You just wonder what could have been wrong," De Clercq said. De Clercq had heard that the space shuttle "just evaporated," and as an engineer, found himself wondering about the heat tiles and other theories of the Columbia's destruction which have already been made public, he explained. "I'm so intrigued by what could have happened," De Clercq said. "I really wonder how they're going to figure out what actually happened. "I was joking around the other day that I would like to be an astronaut," De Clercq added, "but they only take the best of the best."

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