Shuttle Contact LOST-No Tracking Data During RE-Entry!

Nasa TV | 02/01/03 | GRRRR

[GRRRRR]

Shuttle has NOT been heard from or seen on tracking radar since 0800Hrs CDT. No contact at Merrit Island tracking station, no voice comm...DEVELOPING.

[AKA Elena]

Years ago, on a brisk morning here in Palmdale ... we stood in our back yard and watched Columbia being trailered from Plant 42 up 10th Street West (now Challenger Way) on its first journey out of the "factory". My husband, me and each of our four children choked up with pride at the sight ... something we would do several more times for Challenger, Endeavour, etc at their roll outs.

One of my children won the Snoopy Award (the highest civilian award from NASA) years later as she worked for Rockwell for all of her working years (when Rockwell was in the Space shuttle mode) as the prime contractor here in Palmdale.

I can't express my sorrow as our family has drawn together this AM, to mourn this loss of human life and the loss of another beautiful "Eagle".

[Treeless Branch]

I am here in Plano. Re the boom, it wasn't a huge boom like the one in Florida when the shuttle passes over for landing (I am from Orlando), but it sounded almost like a car crash or something. The windows in the front of our house took the concussion from the boom and moved in and out slightly.

I did not see it overhead though.

The Sonic Boom in Orlando shakes the entire house, the floors, the roof, all four sides. If you are not ready for it, it scares the piss out of you.

The boom today (or from what I am hearing now, the explosion) only shook the windows on one side of the house.
It did not startle me either. It sounded like an explosion from several miles away.

[valleygal]

NASA lowering flags to half-staff.

This will become NASA's week of mourning.

The Apollo 1 fire (Grissom, White and Chaffee) was Jan. 27, 1967. Challenger was Jan. 28, 1986. And now today. (sigh)

[republicandiva]

Dr. Laurel Clark, one of the astronauts, was a Racine, Wisconsin native. Our first ever astronaut in space, she had become a great source of pride in our community. God bless the astronauts and their families.

[STEAMER]

I just signed my 11 y.o. daughter up for a week at Space Camp in Huntsville for this summer. What seemed like an educational and fun week may turn out be be much more of a life lesson than I could ever have anticipated.

[HighWheeler]

My brother woke me up with a phone call and told me that the Columbia was 5 minutes late on landing. The shuttle runs on a schedule down to no more than 1 or 2 seconds of variation at any moment of the mission. I knew immediately that she was lost. What a horribly sad day.

BTW, the posters at DU are incredibly disgusting. They have a thread up right now saying outright that Bush did this to steer away his problems.

[The South Park Republican]

WOW! That's interesting!

[ClancyJ]

Instead of flushing millions of $$$ down the toilet on AIDS in Africa, why not build a better, safer, Space Shuttle, eh?

What a kind statement. I would suppose your attitude would greatly change if you had the AIDS virus. How very uplifting.

[Howlin]

Another really sad day for us.

[Crusader21stCentury]

God now has seven more brave warriors by his side.

They were our warriors for advancing Mankind to the eventual day when we will touch our Lord without having to pay the high price that these brave individuals had to pay today.

I know that God will bless their families;
it is our job to comfort the families now in their time of loss. These seven brave souls gave their all for us, I just want to say thank you.

[ladysusan]

Local news reporting "small pieces" that have fallen to the ground, and a debris field of pulverized material floating in the atmosphere.

[discostu]

Holy Christ. Thanks for the ping.

[Afronaut]

200,000 miles high And it was over Palestine, TX ? Give me a break. Please use your heads here! How big is your town? 7000000 square miles?

[don-o]

President expected to speak at 11:30

Is that EST?

Yes. That is what I heard

[Howlin]

See 1021.

[bonesmccoy]

IT DIDN'T EXPLODE.
Both this flight and Challenger 51-L broke up from excessive aerodynamic forces.

The pieces you see are the major structural pieces of the vehicle. The problem is that these large pieces have tremendous energy and cause great damage to residential/business areas if hit.

[Michael81Dus]

Israeli fell over Palistine - what an irony.

[Pay now bill Clinton]

hmmm... the Palestinians must be leaking their chops.

Debris reported near Palestine, Texas.