Fatal Fire at Indian Space Center

JJP writes "The BBC reports that a fire has ripped through India's main space centre killing at least six people. Apparently an explosion triggered the fire at a solid propellant plant, where advanced rocket fuel is prepared. The fire at Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota is reported to be under control."

Comments

compare it to columbia

[egomaniac]

When the Space Shuttle Columbia broke up, seven astronauts were killed. Brave people who knew the risks they were taking and had at least considered that they might not make it back alive.

Six people died in this fire. We treated Columbia as a national tragedy, yet when six unknown Indians die, most people won't even notice. These were people who didn't expect to die, who hadn't told their loved ones those "Just in case I don't make it back..." last messages and prepared for the worst.

My heart goes out to their families. Please try to have some respect for the dead. They were just as much a part of the space program as the Columbia astronauts were.

Re:compare it to columbia

[p4ul13]

Not sure how to reply without sounding like a complete insensitive jerk, but I'll try:

There is no question that this story is tragic, only a complete asshole would try to say otherwise. Tragic as it is, I think comparing it to the shuttle disaster isn't a good match in that while they're in related fields, they're in very different contexts.

The Columbia explosion was something that we here in America (and elsewhere) were greatly affected by emotionally. It hit a chord with many different people because it involved "heros" and people doing things that most people can only dream about doing right now. This story about the explosion in India wont get as much press, but it isn't because it is any less tragic or any less important. Instead it is because it isn't as highly visible an event as Columbia was.

Here's the point I wanted to make when I started this post, and I only hope folks don't take it the wrong way. People do of course die every day, and most every one of those deaths can be described as tragic to somebody. Every day a car crashes into another and 3-5 people die together. Is it tragic? Of course. Is it wrong that the rest of the world doesn't mourn the death of the people in those cars? No; because the car crash is not nearly as high-profile a story so not as many people hear about it.

The Columbia disaster involved people who are publicly admired. The explosion in India involved people in more blue-collar jobs and hence wont be mourned as widely as Columbia, but that doesn't make it any less important.

Re:compare it to columbia

[tekiegreg]

Well, at risk of sounding like a jerk as well, It only stands to reason that the further the degrees of separation from this incident, the less you'd really notice.

Rocket goes boom in India, I wouldn't be surprised to see most of India mourning. However while I mourn the loss of life, it just doesn't sink in as bad as say Colombia going boom.

On the flipside how many Indians truly stood up and took notice (or mourned even) when Colombia went boom? If I had to hazard a guess, not as many as today with their rocket. While I was probably more mournful of Colombia going boom than I am today.

However this is nothing to be ashamed about otherwise ones life would be very depressing overall :-/. Granted that lots of tregedy happens each day, and the more sensitive you are to varying degrees of separation the more mourning you would do overall.

Re:compare it to columbia

[MasJ]

Not to be harsh, mean or in a way breaking your bubble. But India mourned the Columbia as much, or more than you morons there. Get your facts right before opening your trap. Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian born woman in space was aboard the Columbia. She was as much a national hero to us as were your own astronauts and her loss was a great loss to our country. Sorry if I'm coming off really annoyed here, but it's offensive (atleast to me...) when people measure the value of life by the glamour/glory involved with an incident, and especially when they don't have a clear perspective on the incident because of misinformation... =/

The future

[Tango42]

Firstly, my condolences to all involved. As everyone else has already said, but I'll repeat, this is a tragic event.

However, this hopefully won't be the end of the Indian space efforts. When the SS Columbia was lost it brought NASA's manned space travel to almost a standstill, let's hope the Indians can work out what went wrong, ensure it won't happen again and carry on doing great work. If it all stops, their lives will have been for nothing.

Not only does India need this to bring itself into a greater position in the internation scientific community, but the rest of the world needs it to encourage them to try as well.

May they RIP.

Re:Remember...

[beeplet]

Thanks for the link. That's a fascinating read. The one thing that it calls to my mind, though, is not the inherent risks of flammable materials, but the way in which small problems, ignored by people in charge, can accumulate until the conditions for a disaster are reached... Not so much a lapse in the chain of safety, but a combined weakening of many links...

India may dominate space...

[Anonymous Coward]

If India and Indians have the courage to move on, to come back after a tradegy tomorrow to clean up the pads, bury the remains, and work overtime to make the next launch date, then India will surpass the United States in space.

We should face the unfortunate truth; the United States space program has no courage and no honor. When the Challenger failed, the program stopped for over a year. When the Columbia failed, the program stopped again. People play the blame game, make excuses, the President of the United States makes a speech about a mission to Mars to abandon the ISS and the Hubble Telescope.

The American space program, and to some extent the American people, are cowards.