Columbia Discussion thread

Feb 1, 2003

[Flyer]

[rintense]

Again, I agree with you. I just posted what I heard, without any malicious intent... You know, the 'we report, you decide' thing... ;)

[dighton]

And what's with the bonehead Indian gal onboard?

That's moronic even for you, which is no small achievement.

[rintense]

And again, I agree with you on this. :)

[hole_n_one]

I don't know, but it's being reported as a part of the debris field.

[Dog]

If the tiles over the bay that holds the landing gear came off .....this could have caused the bay to overheat and the tires exploded.

[Chad Fairbanks]

Well, I'm glad we agree... ;0)

[Linda]

I heard right after the NASA news conference which is to be at 1:00 eastern time.

[rintense]

WOFL reporter said there was a two year break in the shuttle program after Challenger.

[CyberAnt]

Hmmmm? Maybe the war should begin the day after he arrives there ...???

[Howlin]

Mine, too!

Facts, I love them!

[HighWheeler]

1440 GMT (9:40 a.m. EST)

During a mission status news conference yesterday, Entry Flight Director Leroy Cain was asked about any possible damage to the shuttle's thermal tiles during launch. The tiles are what protect the shuttle during the fiery reentry into Earth's atmosphere.

Tracking video of launch shows what appears to be a piece of foam insulation from the shuttle's external tank falling away during ascent and hitting the shuttle's left wing near its leading edge.

But Cain said engineers "took a very thorough look at the situation with the tile on the left wing and we have no concerns whatsoever. We haven't changed anything with respect to our trajectory design. It will be a nominal, standard trajectory."

-----------------------

I have always wondered why NASA didn't put shields, or pants, on the leading edges of the Shuttle. These shields would be on the nose and leading edges of the wings and tail, and would stay in place during ascent and orbit, then jettisoned just prior to re-entry.

NASA put a full cover shield over the Apollo command module vehicles that was jettisoned just prior to reaching orbit.

[Howlin]

Do you have some links for us?

[Moose4]

Wow...is that a hole punched in concrete pavement?

}:-)4

[justshe]

Morning, Dog. (West Coast shock to wake up to this)

[Peach]

The president has spoken to the head of NASA, Tom Ridge and his national security team. Flag is at half staff at the White House. The President will speak to the nation but a time is not known, per NBC news right now.

[rintense]

Ah... ok, this makes sense. But could an exploding tire cause severe damage to the shuttle? Aren't tiles coming off an acceptable part of the flight?

[Howlin]

Is that when the problem, whatever is was, obviously started?

[mhking]

Updated Live Video Streams:
BBC World: http://202.174.129.100/bbc300k
BBC News 24: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsa/n5ctrl/live/now2.ram CTV NewsNet: http://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/ctvlivehigh.asf
WFAA/Dallas (ABC): http://playlist.yahoo.com/makeplaylist.dll?id=5882
KHOU/Houston (CBS): http://playlist.yahoo.com/makeplaylist.dll?id=206531
CNN: http://www.itcom.itd.umich.edu/streaming/ram/avs03.ram
FOX News Channel: http://umtv-live.rs.itd.umich.edu/itcom/avs01.ram
NBC; NASA TV; MSNBC; KXAS/Dallas: http://www.msnbc.com/m/lv/default.asp?0cv=CA01
WKMG/Orlando-Daytona Beach: http://mfile.akamai.com/7882/live/reflector:23942.ram
WSVN/Miami: http://web2.wsvn.com/video/wsvn_broadband.asx
CNN/Newsnet - Raw Video (IBSYS News Sites): http://mfile.akamai.com/7882/live/reflector:23961.ram