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.

[The South Park Republican]

You go through what they went through to become an astronaut.

I hate politically correct tags as much as the next guy (Like you, I assume) but on this one, you're off.

Do you think a soldier who is shot by a sniper is a hero? Same kind of deal...He may have done something out of his control to die but it was his choice (And strength and determination) to be there in the first place.

[conservativemusician]

Anyone who is willing to leave Earth to explore space in any way is a hero IMHO

[dreamerintexas]

get the feds to give us a chance to donate to the space program on the tax return instead of the $3 going to some slimy democrat. i know it doesn't come off the refund, but would give us a way to support our country and brave astronauts.

[Moose4]

At 86 seconds prior to landing the orbiter is at 425 miles per hour and at 13,000 feet; at this point the autoland sequence begins. Approaching the runway from this altitude, the shuttle has a 22º glide slope and a rate of descent approaching 22,000 feet per minute.

Wow. That bears repeating, right there. A brick with wings, indeed. 13,000 feet in 86 seconds, that's an E-ticket Space Mountain elevator ride.

}:-)4

[OReilly]

Thanks alan...

During the last 16 minutes before landing the orbiter performs four S-turn maneuvers to slow it down.

That is the time of the loss of radar contact and telemetry.

[snopercod]

I was wrong. This was Columbia's second mission after OMDP. STS-109 was last year. Doh!

[RummyChick]

fox not letting the terrorist possibility go ...
bush coming up in 5 minutes

[higgmeister]

Thanks from me also! my wife
hates him. She says,"once a SA
always a SA he can't keep his
stupid comments to himself.

[backhoe]

Just passing it on. I suspect mechanical failure, or more remotely, tampering.

[The South Park Republican]

BTW, how long before the "Pieces"Niks start telling us we can't go to war in the face of such a disaster?

Actually, I hate the fact that this will give them (Or their friends) the ammunition to try and say we can't use nuclear power on space craft in the future because of this...

"THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!! WE CAN'T HAVE NUCLEAR WASTE BEING SHOWERED ALL OVER THE CHILDREN WHEN THE SAME THING HAPPENS LIKE WITH COLUMBIA!!!"

Ugh...Idiots.

[Kip Lange]

Bush to speak at 2 PM EST.

[samantha]

fox news reporting President will speak to the nation in three minutes

[MeekOneGOP]

So very sorry it is taking me so long to get back to you. I'm still in shock. Here is my link and an excerpt from another article:

Space Shuttle Disintegrates Over Texas

The President will be addressing the nation in about 3 minutes, per FOX News...

Space Shuttle Disintegrates Over Texas

Excerpt:

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.  — Space Shuttle Columbia blew up and disintegrated in flames over Texas Saturday morning, just 16 minutes before it was expected to land at Cape Canaveral. A senior U.S. official said the spacecraft was "gone."

Seven astronauts -- six Americans and the first Israeli to go into space -- were aboard the shuttle, which had been orbiting the Earth for 16 days.

NASA lowered its flags at Cape Canaveral at 11 a.m. EST, but no official statement had yet been made about the fate of the crew. Officials at Kennedy Space Center said President Bush would be making an announcement.

The flag was lowered to half-staff at the Capitol in Washington.

White House officials said there were no indications that terrorism was involved. Bush was alerted to the likely disaster at Camp David, and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge went to the White House to monitor the situation.

A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said no threat was made and the shuttle was out of range of a surface-to-air missile.

Columbia was at an altitude of 207,000 feet over north-central Texas at a 9 a.m., traveling at 12,500 mph, when Mission Control lost all contact and tracking data. The shuttle was aiming for a Florida landing at 9:16 a.m.

Television footage showed a bright light followed by smoke plumes streaking diagonally through the sky. Debris appeared to break off into separate balls of light as it continued downward.

Residents of Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana said they saw flames and heard a window-rattling boom at about 9 a.m., the same time all radio and data communication with the shuttle and its crew was lost.

"It was like a car hitting the house or an explosion. It shook that much," said John Ferolito, 60, of Carrolton, Texas.

---

I heard a noise at my house also this morning. (Carrollton is about 20 miles from me). So did my friend in North Dallas, and my Dad in Quitman, Texas (about 72 miles east of Dallas). My Dad said it was so loud at his house he went outside to see if something hit it.

What a terrible tragedy. My prayers go out to the crew/passengers and their families...

[Will_Zurmacht]

abc just had their pentagon reporter metion a "thermal event detected" by a spy satellite used to check for missle launches. I still give almost no creedence to terorism, just struck that the pentagon reporter would mention that the brass were investigating this "incident"

[alancarp]

yes -- and there's a whole slew of sever stresses on the airframe during that time.

My personal suspicions?? (1) Either there really was a tile issue -- maybe 3 or 4 damaged in a single area -- that permitted a whole to be burned through, disrupting the aerodynamics at this crucial stage; or (2) Something simply broke or warped, the computers detected this, and corrected for the aerodynamic error badly enough to tumble the vehicle.

Either way, the telemetry should point to the effects - if not the cause.

[DoughtyOne]

Thank you. I'd be rather surprised if that goes off as scheduled.

[George W. Bush]

What ever became of the Russian Shuttle?

Didn't it get mothballed at that big aerospace museum/graveyard outside Moscow? At least, that was my recollection.

At any rate, it's called Buran. A single flight of two orbits and it landed under autopilot in a 38mph crosswind within 5 feet of a runway center marker.

The Russkies were pretty good with space technology. Never fancy but good results.

Two newer Burans were supposedly dismantled when the program was cancelled. Some Buran shuttle (the original) was displayed in Australia and other places. And there was something about one of the Buran's getting auctioned off in L.A. with a start bid of $6 million.

Bush to address the nation in 2 minutes.

[Smile-n-Win]

I know this is going to start a flame war, but just why are these people heroes?

Because they died? A lot of people die and don't get called heroes.

You raise an interesting question here.

According to my dictionary, a hero is "a man distinguished by exceptional courage, nobility, fortitude, etc." I think astronauts are characterized by both exceptional courage and exceptional fortitude.

Actually, I think there are millions of Americans who fit this definition; in fact, I believe the American nation is a heroic one. (I'm not an American myself, so this is not a self-congratulatory opinion.)

[RadioAstronomer]

I strongly suspect the Soviets discovered something during the Buran test flights that turned them white with fear at what would happen if it actually flew with humans aboard.

I think that cost is what killed it. There may have also been technical issues, however, I did not keep up with them.

[alancarp]

sever ==> "severe"