Space Shuttle Tragedy

If you haven't already heard, the Space Shuttle Columbia exploded or otherwise broke apart at about 9:00 a.m. EST this morning while attempting to return to Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

• NASA and CNN.com both have information on the tragedy.
• The mission included the first ever space flight by an Israeli. In a sad bit of irony, the majority of the shuttle pieces that have been found have been located near Palestine, Texas.
• Some have suggested the damage that lead to this may have occurred at launching when a piece of shielding from the rocket hit the shuttle.
• The White House believes, due to the space shuttle's height at the time of the event, that it was not caused by terrorism.