Shuttle explodes Over Texas

USA TODAY ^ | 2/01/03 | AP

[Dave S]

KOOK Alert. What an idiot. God doesnt need people like you writing meaning into the Bible as an after thought to make Him look brilliant.

[Irene Adler]

"That's not really accurate, because the odds of a disaster occurring don't change as time goes on. If you toss a coin 100 times, the odds of it coming up heads every time are incredibly small. However, if you've already got 99 heads in a row and you're flipping the coin for the 100th time, the odds of getting a "head" are 1 in 2."

True, except that the equipment is getting older and suffering more wear and tear (even considering lots of careful maintenance and repair) plus the technology isn't really new, anymore, either. So... perhaps the odds really DO begin to change (worsen) with repeated trials in this situation.

[BrooklynGOP]

Terrorism can't be entirely ruled out, but I think it extremely unlikely.

I don't think its terrorism, but islamists might claim responsibility anyway... Like I said, when Kursk sunk, the Chechen (terrorists) rebel's official web site claimed responsibility.. They claimed they had a mole inside the sub who exploded a torpedo.. I highly doubt that that is true, but it shows their eagerness to be a part of a tragedy.

[ellery]

Thank you and bless you, Michael, for your sympathy. God sustain the victims and their families.

[Positive]

But the Challenger did explode.

An "O ring" on one of the external boosters gave out and a "torch like" side ways flame caused the main rocket to explode.

[XBob]

[Sweet_Sunflower29]

The news is reporting shuttle debris and body parts being recovered in Texas.

Question--Can anyone tell me if finding body parts is really possible?

Are any officials announcing any specific areas within which debris has been found?

[_Jim]

It appears, now, that the Shuttle began to disintegrate before it arrived over the Dallas area -

- a fire reported about 8:04 CDT in the northern suburb of Plano, Tx has been preliminarily attributed to a piece of debris that fell on a complex (apartments/condos) in the Shiloh road / Park Avenue area ...

[_Jim]

I don't think sabotage or terrorism should be ruled out this early.

Of course.

Never mind the damage that occurred from the chunk of ice from the main tank that hit part of the shuttle during takeoff ...

[DonnerT]

No one is even attempting to identify which part a piece might be. It would not surprise me to eventually learn that parts are strewn from california to Florida. Clearly enough heat penetrated the shield during the 4 minute blackout to cause catastrophic failure of communication systems. I don't know just where it was during that period but surely parts were coming off then.

[Thinkin' Gal]

as an after thought

Wrong.

[_Jim]

Are any officials announcing any specific areas within which debris has been found?

Pull up the Shreveport NWS NEXRAD RADAR - the 'track' of suspended 'particles'/combustion products are still visible ...

[Sweet_Sunflower29]

Thanks Jim; I saw that radar image and was wondering if that's what the red area was.

[Sweet_Sunflower29]

Ok...How about the human body parts being reported found on the ground? Do you have any idea if it's possible that any human parts could make it to the ground still recognizable as such?

I hope no one thinks I'm being morbid or anything, I am only curious.

[_Jim]

BTW - visible satellite photos/imagery show the entire area to be clear (clear skies), no cloud-cover whatsoever - so what you see on the NWS NEXRAD is due to something other than (water) precipitation, i.e., the space shuttle ...

[whenigettime]

No way that body parts made it through the intense heat and burnup of the parts.

I wonder if any one was hit on the ground, and possibly killed, by the debris... any news??

[Brian_Baldwin]

Debris fell all the way to Louisiana, it’s falling all over the South, and you will have the Art Bell types with their interviews: “TOXIC DEBRIS CAUSED MY GRANDMA’S EYES TO SWELL UP”. You will have the ambulance chasing lawyers who donate so much money to the Democrats running around with claims of this or that, and of course the Democrats will blame Bush, or blame the Republican “agenda of budget cuts”, it doesn’t matter who may or may not have actually cut any budget of NASA even if it was actually the Clintonistas, the Democrats will still say it’s Republican “tax cuts” that caused it and CNN and the ABC radio news will read us the DNC newsletter to promote this propaganda. Of course, none of this has anything to do with budget cuts, throwing or not throwing more money at it one way or another is inconsequential, but no matter what they say, none of it will be considered outrageous unless you happen to ask anything about illegal aliens. If you ask about that, then it’s outrageous, then you must be put into the gaol.

[Cicero]

There's no way a missile could have done it, but sabotage before the mission took off can't be ruled out. It could have been a bomb, or more likely tampering with something such as the insulation that came loose or a fuel line or the like. In that case it would almost have to be an inside job, because I doubt whether a food-handler or delivery driver would have been allowed near the shuttle, given the increased security.

If it was terrorism, we'll probably never know it, because the government has shown itself determined to cover these things up.

Most likely, however, it was a systems failure or combination of failures--a hidden crack in the insulation, some weakness in the tiles and tile adhesives, or the like.

God rest their souls.

[DonnerT]

As to body parts. That would all depend on the sequence of breakup. If some part were protected from direct exposure to the slip stream by a structural component it might remain intact. Otherwise at that speed air would erode flesh like dust. Some part of the suit might be recognizable.

[Waryone]

May God bless all families who are affected by this tragedy, especially the families of the crew members. They will be in my prayers.

This is so very odd. Last summer, the whole shuttle fleet was grounded for cracks in the fuel lines to the internal fuel reservoirs. Just recently new cracks were in found in shuttle Discovery after the first cracks had been repaired and they had resumed launching in September, I beleive. There was something in the papers here in FL about Columbia's positioning in the Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC making it difficult get to the lines to determine Columbia's condition. However, it was assumed from other testing that there would be no major delays to Columbia's flight and everything still be go for launch. I thought at the time I read about this last month Columbia was pretty old and of all the shuttles it needed to be treated with the most care.

I hope this had nothing to do with this terrible accident. I also hope the media will be thorough in their questioning of Nasa officials.