Final Radio Transmission From Space Shuttle

Drudge | 2-1-03 | Joe Hadenuf

[Joe Hadenuf]

Final radio transmission between Columbia and Mission Control:

Mission Control: 'Columbia, Houston we see your tire pressure messages and we did not copy your last.'

Columbia: 'Roger, uh, ...' (transmission breaks off after the crew member starts to stay a word beginning with the sound 'buh.')

Burn through??

[Las Vegas Dave]

I hope whoever put the flowers there checked first to see if there was any hydrazine present!!!!

[snopercod]

Via the Orbiter S-Band link to TDRSS. All data stopped as soon as "communication was lost" as the orbiter broke up.

I was on console for the Challenger launch and when it broke up, the green little arrow on my screen turned red and pointed down, meaning data was no longer valid. Our screens simply froze while displaying the last valid data.

Houston certainly has a similar system.

BTW, the KSC launch team is on station in the firing room for landing, in case they are needed. My heart goes out to all those good people.

[anniegetyourgun]

Cape Canaveral, FL

[anniegetyourgun]

All seven astronauts aboard the space shuttle Columbia were killed after it broke up just 16 minutes from its scheduled landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on February 1, 2003, the U.S. space agency NASA said. "The loss of this valiant crew is something we will never be able to get over," NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe said at a news briefing. A December 20, 2002 file photo shows (L-R) Mission Commander Rick Husband, Pilot William McCool, Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon (the first Israeli astronaut), Payload Commander Michael Anderson, Mission Specialist David Brown, Payload Commander Michael Anderson, Mission Specialist Laurel Clark and Kalpana Chawla. Photo by Joe Skipper/Reuters

[The Great Satan]

That would be my speculation, too. This recording doesn't sound particularly consistent with the aerodynamic break-up scenario, IMO. Not on the face of it, anyway.

[Joe Hadenuf]

What about telemetry, would they not have almost real time "black box", info if will?

[Normal4me]

I doubt that the pic is of the Columbia's tire. However, I wouldn't be surprised to see flowers next to every piece of highway litter in Texas now. ;)

[TomGuy]

The STS-107 crew (from the left): David Brown; Commander Rick Husband;
Laurel Clark; Kalpana Chawla; Michael Anderson; William McCool and Ilan Ramon

[mewzilla]

Could the area have overheated causing a tire to blow? Wouldn't temp sensors have recored a rise in temp, though, before a tire could get overheated enough to blow?

[anniegetyourgun]

[LibWhacker]

Anyone have the ground track of Columbia's last orbit? I'd like to see what countries it flew over.

[tanknetter]

Not really. The air pressure at sea level is a bit less than 15 psi. If you took a normal 30 psi inflated car tire into space, it would have the equivalent filling of about 45 psi.

The shuttle tires are filled with nitrogen and pressurized to 315psi. At that kind of pressure, they are essentially solid.

[X-FID]

I just heard on the radio that a woman was hospitalized for coming in contact with debris, may be the same person.

[Joe Hadenuf]

No, but I understand from early reports that a group of photographers in Central Cal actually observed debris coming off the shuttle. Haven't heard any further on this.

[unspun]

Copy the "buh"

Doesn't sound like the beggining of the word "burn," more like the beginning of words like "but," etc.

By his inflections, it does seem to indicate that the communication was interrupted before this man in the shuttle was disturbed, though there may have been an unsettled tone; he seems to be a bit busy - distracted - preoccupied.

[Joe Hadenuf]

NASA news conferences has already begun.

[snopercod]

It sounded like "but" to me as well.

[Joe Hadenuf]

I agree with that.

[FBD]

RE: POST#40
Thanks for the profiles of the astronauts, FRiend.

[Joe Hadenuf]

First indication of problem was wing sensor loss, per NASA