Posted on 01/26/2004 4:38:50 PM PST by Prov1322
EXCLUSIVE EXCERPTS
'Comm Check ... The Final Flight of Shuttle Columbia'
Editor's note: For seven months after the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated over East Texas on Feb. 1, Orlando Sentinel Space Editor Michael Cabbage provided readers with a steady stream of exclusive stories about why the shuttle broke up, the progress of the investigation and how the event exposed serious weaknesses in the "safety culture" of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Shortly after the Columbia Accident Investigating Board came out with its final report in late August, Cabbage and veteran space reporter William Harwood of CBS News began work on a comprehensive account of the tragedy. Titled "Comm Check ... The Final Flight of Shuttle Columbia," the book will be published by Free Press, a division of Simon & Shuster, on Jan. 27.
"Looks like a blast furnace." --Shuttle commander Rick Husband, midway through re-entry
Plunging back to Earth after a 16-day science mission, the shuttle Columbia streaked through orbital darkness at 5 miles per second, fast enough to fly from Chicago to New York in two and a half minutes and to circle the entire planet in an hour and a half. For Columbia's seven-member crew, the only hint of the shuttle's enormous velocity was the smooth clockwork passage of entire continents far below.
Commander Rick Husband knew the slow-motion view was misleading, a trick of perspective and the lack of anything nearby to measure against the craft's swift passage. He knew the 117-ton shuttle actually was moving through space eight times faster than the bullet from an assault rifle, fast enough to fly the length of 84 football fields in a single heartbeat.
And Husband knew that in the next 15 minutes, the shuttle would shed the bulk of that unimaginable speed over the southwestern United States, enduring 3,000-degree temperatures as atmospheric friction converted forward motion into a hellish blaze of thermal energy. It had taken nearly 4 million pounds of rocket fuel to boost Columbia and its crew into orbital velocity. Now the astronauts were about to slam on the brakes.
For Husband, a devout Christian who put God and family ahead of his work as an astronaut, flying this amazing machine home from space was a near-religious experience in its own right, one he couldn't wait to share with family and friends gathered at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. He had served as pilot on a previous shuttle flight, but this was his first as commander, and in the world of shuttle operations, it's the commander who actually lands the spacecraft.
He relished the opportunity. But his life as an astronaut took a backseat to his deep faith in God. Before blasting off on his second space flight as commander of Columbia, he videotaped 34 Bible lessons for his two kids, one each for the 17 days he would be away from home.
"The space shuttle is by far the most complex machine in the world," he had told his hometown church congregation three years earlier. "And inside that vehicle are seven astronauts, each one of which is more complex than this vehicle we went up in," he continued. "And God is an awesome God."
Looking over his cockpit instruments as he prepared Columbia for entry, the 45-year-old Air Force colonel chatted easily with his crewmates, coming across more as an older brother than as the skipper of a $3 billion spacecraft. But underneath the friendly camaraderie was the steady hand of a commander at ease with leadership and life-or-death responsibility.
It was 8:44 a.m. on Feb. 1, 2003, and Columbia was descending through 400,000 feet northwest of Hawaii.
(Excerpt) Read more at orlandosentinel.com ...
I wonder what the author thinks that means - and why he'd put it this way. Oh well.
Only minutes from slipping the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God.
I don't think the author meant to convey anything about gun control. The following passages wouldn't have been included by your typical gun grabber.
For Husband, a devout Christian who put God and family ahead of his work as an astronaut, flying this amazing machine home from space was a near-religious experience in its own right, one he couldn't wait to share with family and friends gathered at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. He had served as pilot on a previous shuttle flight, but this was his first as commander, and in the world of shuttle operations, it's the commander who actually lands the spacecraft.
He relished the opportunity. But his life as an astronaut took a backseat to his deep faith in God. Before blasting off on his second space flight as commander of Columbia, he videotaped 34 Bible lessons for his two kids, one each for the 17 days he would be away from home.
Thanks for the post. I remember hearing the tragic news while attending last year's CPAC. It's hard to believe it's been a year already.
http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-hscov0127,0,442476.story?coll=ny-health-headlines
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