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More Giffords statements

From AIAA president Mark J. Lewis:

On behalf of the members and staff of AIAA, I condemn today’s senseless tragedy, and express our collective thoughts and prayers for the recovery of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Our thoughts are also with Congresswoman Giffords’ husband, NASA astronaut Capt. Mark Kelly, United States Navy, and her parents, Spencer and Gloria Giffords. There have been few more dedicated to their office or better friends to space exploration and AIAA, than the Congresswoman, and we wish her Godspeed in her recovery. We also extend our sympathies to the families of the other seventeen victims of this senseless act.

From the Aerospace States Association:

“Rep. Gabrielle Giffords serves her constituents and her country with passion and with genuine enthusiasm,” said AIA President and CEO Marion C. Blakey. “Our prayers are with her family and her staff as they get through this difficult situation.”

From the Space Foundation:

“Rep. Giffords is an extraordinary individual, an advocate for space and good friend of the Space Foundation,” said Space Foundation CEO Elliot Pulham. “Our thoughts and prayers are with her and her family, with the others who were injured and with the families of those who were killed in this senseless tragedy.”

From United Space Alliance:

Congresswoman Giffords is an optimistic, dynamic and upbeat Member of Congress. She is deeply respected for her many contributions to our nation on a wide variety of issues including the space program. We join her constituents, her colleagues in Congress and the entire NASA family in wishing Congresswoman Giffords a full and speedy recovery.

And a brief statement from the Planetary Society:

The board members and staff of the Planetary Society are saddened by this attack on Representative Giffords and other innocent bystanders, and offer their best wishes for her recovery and their sympathy to the other victims and their families.

Saturday’s tragedy has also resulted in one postponement: the Space Transportation Association has postponed a reception scheduled for late Tuesday on Capitol Hill. Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX), new chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, was scheduled to appear. That event will be rescheduled to a later, as yet unspecified date.

[Comments for this post are on, but a reminder that, as always, to be respectful and relevant.]

7 comments to More Giffords statements

  • Robert G. Oler

    On a different note…I have noticed that Bill Nelson is starting to back off on the LON becoming a real mission.

    It will be interesting (to me) to see if they can get the current mission off the pad. There is a real process problem at NASA…what you wonder is if the rest of the tanks have the same problem (not necessarily) and even if they do not, one wonders what it says about the process control at NASA.

    My suggestion would be to simply give up and call it even and just start shutting the program down. NOthing that is going up in the next two flights is critical…for the dollars it will take to fix the system and maintain the workforce the payloads could likely transition to an expendable…

    and what would the explanation be if the tank goes “bang” and we lose the vehicle? “We didnt mean to” (a la Linda H)…It is hard to see how one has confidence riding the tank when they are talking about metal 1/3 less strong then expected.

    Robert G. Oler

  • Robert G. Oler

    http://www.wftv.com/news/26434686/detail.html

    here is the link to Nelson’s comments, the link is also up at NASAWatch as well as a statement from an earlier time by Wayne Hale.

    Hale’s statement is entertaining but not very useful in my view.

    The big issue that needs to be resolved before any flight, is how did the “process” fail which resulted in metal that some claim is 1/3 not as strong as expected being put into the tank…

    That is a serious problem and indicates either a breakdown in the process at NASA or the more likely reality that the process was never really that solid anyway.

    Until one knows how the process failed then one doesnt have any assurance that there are not other process failures, including the one that is in theory “fixing” the ET.

    Clearly yet again this is an instant where the same forces that destroyed Challenger and Columbia are well “at work” in the agency…and yet another reason why NASA HSF is not a very good source of credibility when talking about safety. They just got lucky that they found the cracks.

    Its that simple

    Robert G. Oler

  • Rep. Giffords might have had her difference of opinion concerning CxP and commercial space, but her heart is in the right place concerning HSF for the USA and I’m sure I speak for the entire forum in that we wish Rep. Giffords all the best and speedy recovery from her wounds, moral support for her and her family and that she’ll continue to do what she means to do; serve the United States Republic honorably.

  • Aremis Asling

    “that she’ll continue to do what she means to do; serve the United States Republic honorably.”

    Totally agreed. And I wish the best for the others who were injured and the families of those killed.

    It’ll be weeks before we know if it’s possible and months before she’s recovered enough to work if she will at all. The bullet passed through her speech centers and motor control centers for half of her body. She may be entirely alright, as sometimes happens, but she may also be unable to speak or be impared and she may be paralyzed on one side. Additionally, it passed through a portion of her frontal lobe, so there’s a change of personality potential. People with similar injuries have occasionally had changes, sometimes dramatic, to their personality. It’s telling that she’s being treated by a former combat medic using techniques from the front lines. It’s just a waiting game now.

  • amightywind

    That Rep. Giffords and the other victims were attacked doing the kind of honest, down home politics we can all admire is all the more disheartening. God bless them and their families.

  • Das Boese

    I haven’t had a chance yet to express my sincere sympathy for the grief that Americans undoubtedly go through right now.

    But I’d like to say this: Don’t let fear, or anger, rule you.

    It is a horrible, senseless crime that shouldn’t happen in a free and democratic society, yet it did, in your country and mine before, and it probably will happen again because there is no way to prevent it without becoming something else than a free, democratic society.

    You can’t live in fear.

  • E.P. Grondine

    I am watching this assassination attempt turn into a national Rorsaarch test, with many using the occasion either to promote their views or vent their frustrations.

    “It is a horrible, senseless crime that shouldn’t happen in a free and democratic society”

    Right, but undoubtedly, as in the case of Tim McVeigh, the folks in Quantico will finally end up finding that Insanity has a logic all it own. This most likely will not make any sense to any of you now, but based on what has been reported about the shooter, my estimate is that most likely either the trail or the trial will lead to Cottonwood, Arizona.

    Let us hope that this event does not end up discouraging good people from public service.

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