I'm curious about NASA's space research. I have no idea why a weightless environment is so important to scientific research that hundreds of millions of dollars and invaluable human life is put at risk for it. Or is it possible that these experiments are just too dangerous to perform here on earth?
Among the experiments still active Thursday were: the Water Mist Fire Suppression Experiment, the Mediterranean Israeli Dust Experiment, and the Advanced Respiratory Monitoring System, or ARMS, experiment. This PDF shows plenty of flammable stuff on the payload list. They even had "Fire balls" on board. Whatever that is.
CNN: "The space shuttle Columbia, carrying a crew of seven, broke up Saturday morning 200,000 feet above Texas." [Scripting News] [Ross Mayfield's Weblog] An image is worth a 200,000 words.