After the space shuttle Columbia broke apart as it entered Earth’s atmosphere on Saturday morning, Boston University students reacted with sadness and surprise.

Nicole Rodin, a senior in the College of Communication, did not learn about the Columbia’s destruction until her roommate told her late Saturday upon returning to her apartment.

‘I thought it was just a freak accident,’ said Rodin. ‘It was just a really horrible tragedy.’

The Columbia, the oldest orbiter in NASA’s shuttle fleet, came apart just 15 minutes before it was scheduled to land in Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, scattering fragments from the wreck across Texas and Louisiana. All seven members of Columbia’s crew were killed, including six Americans and an Israeli.

While most BU students first heard about the accident from the news or from their friends, Amy Vlastelica, a College of Arts and Sciences freshman, received a first-hand account from her mother.

‘My mother was in Dallas,’ Vlastelica said. ‘She said that [the explosion] sounded like a sonic boom. She thought that they were being bombed and there were pieces of debris falling all over Dallas.’

CAS senior Alys Ebenhoe said she was saddened to hear of the deaths of the Columbia’s crew, as well as the loss to NASA.

‘Besides feeling sorrow over the loss of life, I’m worried that the space program will suffer because of this,’ she said.

Brent McDonald, a junior in the School of Law, thought the incident would remind Americans of the risky nature of NASA’s shuttle missions, despite the idea that space flight has become routine.

‘Since NASA sends the shuttles so often, you forget just how dangerous something like this is,’ McDonald said.

An accident of this nature has not happened since January, 1986 when the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after take-off from the Kennedy Space Center, killing all seven members of its crew. CAS junior Ellen Glassie said Saturday morning’s incident surprised her mostly because of how long it had been since a space flight had ended in tragedy.

‘I remember I was mostly surprised because no accident like this had happened within recent years, and I was beginning to feel that tragic accidents of this kind might be behind us,’ Glassie said.

Vivek Narayanan, a CAS Masters student in Creative Writing, said he did not realize just how often shuttles have been going to space.

‘I didn’t realize that [shuttles] were going every couple of months,’ Narayana said. ‘Given this fact, [the crash] is a fairly rare occurrence.

While he said he was saddened by the event, he said there are more pressing needs to be taken care of here on Earth and was concerned that NASA would respond by excessively pouring money into future shuttle projects.

‘I hope that they think about what they are doing now that the economy is weak,’ he said. ‘There are social services and other, more useful places to put the money. [This space program] is not as foolproof as they thought it was.’

Other students, like CAS freshman Kelly Coulon, thought the Columbia’s ruin should not discourage NASA’s efforts.

‘I don’t think this should change space travel,’ Coulom said.

Running through the minds of several BU students, as well as minds of Americans everywhere when they heard about Saturday’s events, was whether or not this devastation was an act of terrorism.

Terrorism was what first occurred to COM freshman Theresa Scalera upon hearing the news.

‘The first thought that came to mind was ‘does this have to do with terrorism?” she said. ‘In the first article that I read, I scanned for indications of it.’

There is no evidence that terrorists had any part in the Columbia’s Saturday death, and some NASA experts speculate that explosion was caused by problems attributed to the shuttle’s insulation.

Omar Zeid, a CAS freshman, was surprised by how big of a deal Americans were making out of whether or not there was terrorist action, resulting in the constant assurance by NASA that terrorism was not a factor.

‘It seemed good enough for me for [articles covering the accident] to only say it once,’ said Zeid.

Zachary Hahn, a College of Engineering freshman, gave some insight into why terrorist involvement in the Columbia’s destruction is unlikely.

‘[Terrorists] would have had to sabotage [the shuttle] on the ground,’ Hahn said. ‘They would have had to get clearance to even get close to it.’