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As Beyoncé and her self-titled album continue its dominance on music charts and iPods alike, so do the critiques of her every move.

NASA and the families of the crew members of the Space Shuttle Challenger, the orbiter which tragically exploded in 1986 that resulted in the death of nine crew members, have taken great issues with the song and video for “XO.”

Via The Huffington Post:

Former NASA employee Keith Cowing and the man behind NASAwatch.com wants Beyonce to remove the NASA audio altogether. He called it “inappropriate in the extreme” and compared it to using soundbites from Sept. 11 or the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

“Having this audio included in such a song serves to mock the severity of the events and loss that these final words represent,” he wrote on his website. “If this was done with full knowledge of the origin of these words then this is simply repugnant. If this was done without due diligence as to the source of the words being sampled, then this is ignorance. Either way Beyoncé owes the families of the crew of Challenger an apology.”

Beyoncé and George W. Bush may both hail from Texas but she’s not one to let issues fall to the wayside. She quickly issued a statement to ABC.

My heart goes out to the families of those lost in the Challenger disaster. The song ‘XO’ was recorded with the sincerest intention to help heal those who have lost loved ones and to remind us that unexpected things happen, so love and appreciate every minute that you have with those who mean the most to you. The songwriters included the audio in tribute to the unselfish work of the Challenger crew with hope that they will never be forgotten.

For all intents and purposes, the “XO” video is included on the next page. We’ll allow you to decide if its tribute or tragedy.

Photo: YouTube

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