they are complicated vehicles and they need to be tough too. the challenger disaster was the result of incorrect control programming from what i heard, but this was on its way back down to earth, yes? so it was more likely some engineering or structural fault, so?
it's a damn shame. yes i feel the same way as when i saw the challenger disaster on TV way back when (i feel old now you said it was 17 years ago!)
with the challanger, they reckon the 7 inmates were alive and burning to death for a further five minutes after the explosion, but they didn't say so until a good few years later.
it's a good safety record yes, like planes and trains, but when there's a big disaster on one of these things, people really take it to heart.
what's a bit of a shame is, now there's been this disaster, NASA will be really set back in funding and so on, just like after the appollo 13 near miss and the challenger disaster.