Posted on 02/02/2003 7:34:59 AM PST by Mark Felton
Edited on 02/02/2003 12:51:23 PM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
[Your attention please. This thread has generated a ton of abuse reports. Some have been from long established freepers. Others have been from relative newbies. Some have been complaining about the thread. Others have been complaining about the complainers.
Throw on top of it the fact that some of the newbies who showed up on this thread happen to be returning bannees, who before being banned were friendly with some of the very people they are bickering with here, and something is striking us as just not right.
If you are interested in the debris photos, this is the thread for it. If not, don't join in this thread. It is not disrespectful to those who died to post pictures of the debris in our opinion. What they show and where they landed may help piece together what killed these brave people.
If you feel that is the wrong decision, we apologize and mean no harm. But please, no more arguing about it on the thread, and no more abuse reports on the matter.
Thanks, AM.]
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| Sun Feb 2, 1:14 AM ET |
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Fires, believed started by debris from the downed space shuttle Columbia, burn in an area near Dallas, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2003. Seven astronauts perished when the shuttle broke to pieces as it re-entered the atmosphere at the end of a 16-day mission. (AP Photo/Joe Cavaretta) |
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| Sat Feb 1, 9:31 PM ET |
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A video image of a helmet that dropped into a yard in Norwood Community, Texas from the space shuttle Columbia is seen Feb. 1, 2002. Many parts of the shuttle, along with human remains, were found in the area. NASA (news - web sites) officials later removed the helmet. (Rick Wilking/Reuters) |
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| Sat Feb 1,10:35 PM ET |
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A small brush fire started by a falling piece of debris from the space shuttle Columbia outside Athens, Texas after the shuttle broke apart during re-entry over Texas on its way to a scheduled landing in Fla., Feb. 1, 2003. Authorities have not speculated on the cause of the crash. (Jeff Mitchell/Reuters) |
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| Sat Feb 1, 9:31 PM ET |
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A piece of debris believed to be from the space shuttle Columbia is photographed near Lufkin, Texas, Feb. 1, 2003. NASA (news - web sites) lost contact with the shuttle at around 9 a.m., about 16 minutes before its scheduled landing at Kennedy Space Center (news - web sites). (Reuters) |
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| Sat Feb 1, 9:15 PM ET |
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Goldie Hamilton looks at a piece of debris that dropped into her yard in Alto, Texas from the space shuttle Columbia February 1, 2003. Many parts of the shuttle along with human remains were found in the area. Hamilton lives in the house in the background. REUTERS/Rick Wilking |
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| Sat Feb 1, 9:18 PM ET |
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A piece of debris from the space shuttle Columbia dropped into this yard in Alto, Texas, February 1, 2003. Debris from space shuttle Columbia rained down onto fields, highways and a cemetery in Texas on Saturday, sending dozens of residents to hospitals after they handled the smoldering metal wreckage. All seven astronauts on board were killed in the break-up, which scattered potentially toxic debris across a 120-mile (190-km-long) swath of eastern Texas. REUTERS/Rick Wilking |
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| Sat Feb 1, 7:43 PM ET |
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Stan Melasky, left, and his brother Steve Melasky look over a piece of debris, believed to be from the space shuttle Columbia, that fell on their farm near Douglass, Texas, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2003. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam) |
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| Sat Feb 1, 8:52 PM ET |
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An Anderson County sheriff's deputy walks past a piece of debris from the space shuttle Columbia outside Palestine, Texas after the shuttle broke apart during reentry over East Texas on its way to a scheduled landing in Florida, February 1, 2003. Shaken NASA (news - web sites) officials vowed to find out what caused the space shuttle Columbia to break up, saying they would look closely at the impact of a piece of foam insulation that struck the orbiter's left wing at takeoff. REUTERS/Jeff Mitchell |
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| Sat Feb 1, 7:25 PM ET |
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A piece of space shuttle debris sits on the ground outside Bronson, Texas, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2003. Space shuttle Columbia broke apart in flames 200,000 feet over Texas on Saturday, killing all seven astronauts just minutes before they were to glide to a landing in Florida. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) |
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| Sat Feb 1, 7:29 PM ET |
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Searchers mark a small piece of debris while looking for remnants of the space shuttle outside Bronson, Texas, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2003. Space shuttle Columbia broke apart in flames 200,000 feet over Texas on Saturday, killing all seven astronauts just minutes before they were to glide to a landing in Florida. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) |
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| Sun Feb 2,10:11 AM ET |
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Resident Bugs Arriola looks at a piece of debris from the space shuttle Columbia, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2003 in Nacogdoches, Texas. People have been told not to touch any of the debris as there could be toxic chemicals on the material. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam) |
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| Sat Feb 1, 7:41 PM ET |
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Vollunteer firefigher John Berry looks out at small piece of debris believed to be from the space shuttle Columbia in a rural area north of Palestine, Texas, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2003. The shuttle broke apart in flames over Texas on Saturday, killing all seven astronauts just minutes before they were to glide to a landing in Florida. (AP Photo/LM Otero) |
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| Sat Feb 1, 9:23 PM ET |
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A couple looks at a piece of debris from the space shuttle Columbia that dropped onto the highway in Alto, Texas February 1, 2003. Debris fromColumbia rained down onto fields, highways and a cemetery in Texas on Saturday, sending dozens of residents to hospitals after they handled the smoldering metal wreckage. All seven astronauts on board were killed in the break-up, which scattered potentially toxic debris across a 120-mile (190-km-long) swath of eastern Texas. REUTERS/Rick Wilking |
It looks like a spherical metal tank (helium or fuel component) covered with insulation that has frayed badly.
That is why I would think they would take a photo and gps reading for every piece they find. Location has a notable part in figuring out what happened.
I would think that if the reaction control system was still functional they might have been able to correct the attitude; but things may have happened too quickly, and the craft may already have been aerodynamically compromised (e.g., from the purported damage during launch).
And of course, your ship is not designed to take the friction heating in that attitude so it's likely to have a structural failure pretty quickly.
That's what appears to have happened.
Don't know how long you have been around here; but fyi, this thread runs because the FreeperNation comprises thousands of folks of multi expertise.
Any one of whom might see something is a pic that raises a question or supposition that might prove helpful.
16 days in orbit, too.
Some of them are actually rocket scientists (I know of four myself), and others knowledgeable enthusiasts.
Actually, there is a list somewhere of many FReepers occupations.
It's not blue, it's just the unpainted galvanized steel showing up better in one picture than in another. Most likely a camera exposure setting at work here - check out the peak of the barn roof - it's "blue" too. The grass looks different, too.
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