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News Alert: Space Shuttle Columbia Lost Prior To LandingNews Alert: Space Shuttle Columbia Lost Prior To LandingAs reported by various news agencies, the space shuttle Columbia broke up over Central Texas while en route to it's scheduled landing in Florida.
At this time, it is being reported that debris has fallen over parts of Texas. There has been no official word from NASA or the White House as to the cause of the tragedy. The only official facts are that NASA lost contact with the shuttle Columbia shortly before the apparent break-up, and that the break-up was clearly visible over Texas and the region. Further details will emerge over time as NASA makes it's investigation. It should also be noted that there are no signs of terrorism in relation to this event. The following is the initial report from Reuters news service... Our thoughts and prayers go to the astronauts and their families. Thank you. Gary
Last edited by GaryEA on Feb 10th 2003, 1:46 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Official statement from NASA:
(please note that this is the first statement and may not reflect current developments)
I feel really bad for the people and families in the crew. But I feel even worse for our Space program.
It took us around 5 years to recover from the Challenger. This wasn't what we needed at a time when we were starting to think of going to Mars. Steven Hawking wrote something like this: "I hope that human kind can last another 100 years. Because by then, we should have colonies on other planets, and one single disaster would not be able to wipe the human race out of existence." Things like today push that date further and further back. Maybe I'm being selfish, but things like this make it less possible that I will see man walk on another planet in my lifetime. "Your imagination, like a child, will explode with unrestrained possibilities for adventure."
Words cannot express how I feel at this moment. I just happened to be watching the news this morning when it was reported that NASA had lost contact with the space shuttle. Immediately, I was taken back to 1986 and the Challenger explosion. The crew of Columbia has joined the Challenger crew among the ranks of America's heroes. One day, years from now, when men and women reach out to our solar system and beyond, these brave crews will be remembered as our pathfinders to the stars.
TomSpeed
Patty: If Rayanne's not seeing you, and we're not seeing you, who is seeing you? Graham: And how much of you? Angela: Dad! Graham: Oh, I'm sorry! I asked a question about your life, didn't I? Woah, what came over me? http://www.last.fm/user/TomSpeed/
I, too, thought of the Challenger explosion (and remembered that we had discussed it earlier this week). My thoughts and prayers are with the friends and family of the astronauts, as well as everyone at NASA who are undoubtedly in shock.
Natasha aka candygirl :: MSCL.com
Look, if this is weird for you, being tutored? I don't mind helping you a little longer. You could have sex with me if you really want to help...I guess that's a "no"? columbiaHey all,
I am praying for the crew and the family of the Columbia. NASA financially had been going through some lean years recently. No replacement to the shuttle is on the horizon. I hope that the good comes out of this tragedy, I hope that NASA gets the funding they need to develop the next generation of shuttles. Best, Lance Man My girlfriend and I were both in high school (same one) when the P.A. speaker kicked in and an announcement was made that the Challenger had exploded. I was fifteen, maybe sixteen.
Yesterday, I was still asleep when she called me, yelling into my answering machine to turn on CNN. I felt like a teen again. When I turned on CNN, with Miles O'Brien fumbling his way through the coverage, there was still that vague sense that maybe,maybe, it could be a goof. Communications error, technical problem, that the shuttle was gliding off course. It would still land. But then the Zapruder-like loop of the shooting star that was the Columbia tumbling to earth was all over t.v. Not like 9/11; most stations kept going, but the for the networks ans new channels, the world stopped and the mystery began. I grew up on Carl sagan's Cosmos, and while I royally sucked at math and science, I really wanted to be an astro-physicist. Like Sagan. I wanted to see Mars, whether at JPL or as I touched down. But the government that used the Cold War as a reason to get into space as soon as possible, now chisels off NASA's budget year after year. Ideally, we should be using an advanced design of the shuttle. Yes, they have been retrofitted with great success, but if NASA plans had been funded and space was still a key priority, the shuttles we now see launching routinely would be retired or used as reserves, while a new fleet is used. Will it take 2/1/03 to jolt the US government to fund it with more vigor, or will we shy away? There's a half-built space station floating over our heads, and three people are still on board. Can you imagine hearing the news from up there? NASA says that they will move on. I say "Bravo". I just hope things will move in a way where we progress not in decades, but in years. Gary ChallengerHey all,
When the Challenger exploded I was a freshman in High School. I was at lunch period when school staff rolled televisions into the cafeteria and hallways so we could watch the coverage. In February of 2000 the wife and I went to Johnson Space Center in Houston. We saw a wall where they had posted portraits of all the shuttle crews. They had a special portrait of the Challenger crew. I suppose now there will be a special portrait of the Columbia crew as well. Lance Man
First off let me say that I am deeply saddened by the loss of 7 true American Heros.
But on the strange coincidence meter, see where this ranks for you: Jan 27 1967 - Apollo 1 Fire Jan 28 1986 - Challenger explodes during liftoff Feb 1 2003 - Columbia breaks up on reentery Other bits of trivia: The back up teacher from Challenger Mission was scheduled to fly on the next Columbia mission in November. "When I disagree with a rational man, I let reality be our final arbiter; if I am right, he will learn; if I am wrong, I will; one of us will win, but both will profit." - Ayn Rand
spaceHey all,
As mglenn indicated risk always accompanies our attempts at space flight. Hopefully, NASA can learn what happened and make future missions safer. Best, Lance Man
Here’s a question that’s been bothering me as I have some engineering and failure analysis training.
NASA is saying that the foam insulation was not the cause of the incident. They say this after studying the video of the impact. This video does not show the actual impact because of the angle of the spacecraft. They have maybe six frames of video showing this piece hitting the craft. (The craft is doing 100MPH by the time the tail end passes the top of the tower, when the insulation came lose the craft was doing several times the speed of sound) They make assumptions about the weight of the piece based on the size in the video and what they believe it weights. Yet they have not yet even found out where the break up started. So my question is how can they determine that this did not cause the problem when they have not even determined where the problem started? Failures like this are not caused by one incident, instead its an event chain. They have a few pieces of this chain in the telemetry data. But this only points to the left wing of the craft. There is no specific data that disproves the insulation strike didn't cause this. Instead all I have heard is that they've run simulations that say this insulation could not have caused the extent of damage that would lead to the craft breaking up. But those simulations are based on the engineering specs for the craft and the craft certainly did not meet those specs. It would be like them saying that the 100% O2 under 15psi in Apollo 1 was not the cause of the fire (which maybe they did, I wasn't alive then). True it didn't cause the fire... but it certainly made it a whole lot worse. Just my thoughts that they shouldn't be saying that anything is or is not the cause of breakup until they find evidence as to where and how it started. "When I disagree with a rational man, I let reality be our final arbiter; if I am right, he will learn; if I am wrong, I will; one of us will win, but both will profit." - Ayn Rand
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