Many observers today are pressing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to abandon its Space Transportation System (STS), more commonly known as their "space shuttles," following the loss of two orbiters and crews in the past few years. In fact, as the most complicated machine every built, the opportunities for something to go wrong seem to be almost limitless, and the crew members of current missions are taking their lives in their hands whenever they fly the shuttle. The shuttles were originally designed to be flown as many as 100 times each, and the shuttle program had been intended to reduce the high operational costs of spaceflight into low Earth orbit. The space shuttles' operating costs and the time required for refurbishment between flights have proven to be significantly higher than early projections (Space shuttle, 2006). During the period 1981 to 1985, a fleet of four orbiters, (a) Columbia (the first to fly in space), (b) Challenger, (c) Discovery, and (d) Atlantis, was placed into active service (Space shuttle, 2006).

             Despite its known hazards, the loss of Columbia on its landing approach in 2003 shocked the nation and the world (Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster, 2005). According to Wikipedia, "Challenger was destroyed when it disintegrated during ascent on January 28, 1986, with the loss of all seven astronauts on board. Seventeen years after Challenger, Columbia was lost, with all seven crew members, during reentry on February 1, 2003, and has not been replaced" (Space shuttle program, 2006, p. 5). The space shuttle "Columbia" was launched on January 16th, 2003 at 9.39am CST; the mission, captioned Columbia Flight STS-107, was scheduled to be a normal 16-day science research mission in Earth orbit to perform various experiments in space. In reality, it can be seen how the crew members and NASA may have become complacent about the agency's safety record with the shuttles.