U.S.: No Indication of Shuttle Terrorism

AP | 2/01/03

[dark_lord]

Synchronicity.

Carl Jung defined the term synchronicity (in Synchronicity: An Acausual Connecting Principle, [with input from Wolfgang Pauli, who won the Nobel prize in 1945])to describe what he called the "acausal connecting principle" that links mind and matter. He said this underlying connectedness manifests itself through meaningful coincidences that cannot be explained by cause and effect.

Is synchronicity "real"? Well, the scientific perspective ranges from "its all occult psychobabble and not worthy of one iota of serious scientific study" (and they don't support the idea of teleology) to "it is quite real, but we don't really have a vocabulary to describe it."

My opinion - since I believe in a space-time continuum with more than 3 physical dimensions (aka superstring theory and hyperspace), I am comfortable with believing there is plenty of "space" for God, angels, devils, and other interesting entities. And I believe that some of them take an active interest in our 3-space world. And that synchronicity is easy to understand once that perspective is factored in.

[sheik yerbouty]

Al Qaida probably managed to hack the NASA computers.

[Brett66]

No terrorist could hit it with any kind of missile, but it would be possible to put an explosive device on board. That's not too likely though because security is very tight at the launch site and if it was an explosive device it probably would have detonated shortly after liftoff.

[Steel Wolf]

I agree. The missile theory is absurd, for a variety of reasons. The only way this could be terrorism would be the old fashioned way: sabotage. I'm sure NASA is looking very closely at people who had access to the shuttle prior to launch. It takes very little to cause a catastrophic failure in a complex system if you know what you're doing.

That having been said, this is probably just a case of wear and tear on an old frame. Who here has a car 25 years old? Not many people, I'd imagine. Even with constant maintanence, heavy use will wear out the best of equipment.

[zarf]

When does the first FR conspiracy post happen....any bets?

[weegee]

Another coincidence is that NASA's 2 other flight tragedies occurred around this time of year (Jan 29th 1967 and Jan 28th 1986).

Coincidence does not always point to direct causal links in occurence.

[The Great RJ]

While I think it very unlikely any terrorists groups were involved, I'm sure the Arab and Palestinian radicals and many Islamic fundamentalists will rejoice at the news of this tragedy and use it in their propaganda.

[FITZ]

For this to be terrorist related, there would have to be Muslims working at NASA manning the controls, I'm sure with an Israeli and an Indian on board, that wouldn't have been allowed.

[Pyro7480]

They have an emergency Soyuz capsule docked to the space station if I remember correctly. They can return that way. It seats three, and there are only three up there now.

[Diana Rose]

Amen...If this is terror the time for RAGE will come later.

[BullDog108]

When does the first FR conspiracy post happen....any bets? Already happened above and #42. Idiots!

[Pyro7480]

I'm not so sure about that. The preparations for a shuttle launch take up to 2 years in advance. I'm trying to figure out when they originally announced that there was going to be an Israeli astronaut aboard this mission. NASA's site is obviously running really slow at the moment. If they didn't beef up security until right before the launch, it is possible, though one would have to have the proper security clearance to do so, to either plant a bomb or sabotage a key system needed during reentry (such as the APU (auxiliary power unit). They can rule out a surface-to-air missile hit, but they cannot completely rule out terrorism.

[Diana Rose]

But, but that would be profiling and not nice. </ bitter sarcasm>

[plain talk]

I was thinking the same thing. While we are throwing out possibilities someday we could see a suicide astronaut. I don't know anything about this indian or israeli and throwing out that theory I admit seems somewhat lame. But that would be one way to do it.

[monkeywrench]

From 2002, on security

[Pyro7480]

This mission was supposed to go up LAST YEAR in 2002. This means that preparations for the mission had to take place BEFORE 9/11. Unless someone comes forward or is really stupid, we may never know if terrorism was involved, given the wide area the debris is spread over.

[weegee]

Here's an article about the long range planning for this flight and some of the changes over time:

Shuttle flight almost had all-female crew (CNN:Jan 13, 2003)

[theFIRMbss]

>U.S.: No Indication of Shuttle Terrorism

I believe there are
only four "categories"
of tin foil foul play:

Sabotage on board;
some foreign, high altitude
missles; some foreign

black ops near-space plane;
some foreign black ops high tech
energy weapon.

If it was foul play,
I don't think our government
would say publicly,

because I don't think
anybody would admit
that we have a foe

with the resources
to accomplish any of
those general things...

[observer5]

"They can rule out a surface-to-air missile hit, but they cannot completely rule out terrorism."

That is correct... One or a few loose tiles could do the job?

Wonder how many people had access to this shuttle? Any muslims?

[Paleo Conservative]

Sheppard Smith on Fox kept trying to push terrorism as a cause of the destruction of Columbia. I'm so tired of news reporters who just have a degree in journalism. Why can't news organizations have reporters who have a backgroung in science?