[AP SCOOP] Space Shuttle Columbia Will Be Visible In San Francisco Area (6AM Pacific)

nasa

[leadpenny]

Space Shuttle Columbia is in a decent for the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and will pass over the San Francisco Area around 6:00 AM Pacific Time. Route will take the Shuttle over Las Vegas, Flagstaff, etc. NASA has still not decided which runway will be used. Landing will be at 9:16 AM Eastern.

[steve-b]

Trying to sell souvenirs and advertise the commission of a Federal offense on the Internet. These pinheads give ghouls and idiots a bad name.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Perhaps that's because "something" did happen closer over Hawaii, as the Nasa spokesman alluded to and few picked up on. We thought he had misspoke.

It's my understanding that reentry occurred over Hawaii around 5:45 am as you quoted Nasa.

[valleygal]

This thread was mentioned this morning on our local talk radio, KFYI 550 in Phoenix, AZ. Barry Young mentioned the fact that FreeRepublic had a thread going that(my words) was basically a play by play of the shuttle's homecoming, reentry and disaster.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Thanks for the explanation, LP. You are the only person that I have read that made that comment about these turns - but I have not read all the threads.

What heroes our Astronauts are - all of them!

[Dr. Eckleburg]

I'm in Saudi Arabia.

Welcome to your first day on Free Republic, Juke2. Your perspective will be valuable.

[McGruff]

More kudos from Lucianne.com

Yellow Ribbon Overload: James Taranto in his always meaty collection of wazzup on the web emphasizes the point that the national reaction to the Columbia disaster is more grown-up than reactions in the past and points to 9/11 for having produced a certain amount of scar tissue.

He also mentions the Free Republic eyewitness thread on the shuttle's problems that scooped the big guys at the wire services by eleven minutes. Congrats to The Other Site. Way to go, guys.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Heavy hearted bttt.

[ken5050]

Just checked out this thread.......you were spot on, and first, perhaps in the whole country.....suggest you clip this thread and send it to media with your resume.....

[wrcfanintx]

A little info and a couple of points from a newcomer:

I found this forum by reading James Taranto's Best of the Web. Anyway, I live in the DFW area, and was totally unaware that the shuttle was coming down Saturday, until a friend that lives in Knoxville, TN called with the bad news. Our next door neighbors, who have three small kids, were out watching with binoculars, and saw the breakup, not realizing until later what they had seen. My older brother lives in Dallas, and watched it as well. From seeing the multiple trails in the sky, and the noise, he knew immediately that something was wrong.

A couple of points:

1) Human remains surviving reentry - if the astronauts had remained in a relatively intact crew cabin throughout reentry, remains could have survived with burns similar to those sustained in a house or car fire (IMHO).

2) Reentry path - WFFA-TV here in Dallas had two news photographers shooting video of the descent. One of them, Timb Hamilton, is an amatuer astronomer and shuttle buff, and was shooting from his backyard. He pointed out in an interview on WFAA that it's been unusual lately for shuttles to reenter over DFW, as missions to the Intl Space Station normally pass over Cancun and Cozumel, Mexico, rather than DFW.

3) People celebrating in the Middle East - According to Saturday's and Sunday's special editions of BOTW, under the heading "Palestinians Whoop It Up?", some Iraqis, Palestinians and Jordanians were quoted as being pleased about the Columbia breakup. From The Jerusalem Post: "They were sent to space to spy on the Arabs and Muslims," Ramallah schoolteacher Rudainah Salman tells the paper. "I have no sympathy for the astronauts because they were doing something bad to us. Allah punished them because of their bad intentions. I hate the Americans and the Israelis because of what they are doing to our people."

How some things never change.

[McGruff]

Thanks for your personal observations and welcome to Free Republic.

We are normally a conservative political news and commentary site, but our founder Jim Robinson allows us the freedom to off topic like this.

This thread started out as a heads up to others that the shuttle would be visible to those who were interested. No one knew it would turn out this way.

[sissyjane]

Our local NBC affiliate showed video that was taken from Mt. Hamilton-near San Jose-California as the Columbia passed over.I could clearly see "sparks" coming off of it and trailing away.

[sissyjane]

God Bless You Gracey and your NASA family.You are all in my thoughts and prayers.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Congratulations. Your "eyewitness" post is mentioned on Lucianne this morning and also in a national news story (New York paper, I think.) Free Republic is the best place for news.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Thanks for that input. In the days ahead - I am sure someone will put together a total compendium of when the first signs of trouble could be seen - and that report you mention certainly is one of them.

[ambrose]

ping

[McGruff]

I've been looking for a graphic showing Columbia's flight path for
reference. This is the best one I've found so far.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

try his one:

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2003/Feb-02-Sun-2003/photos/shuttle.jpg

FWIW, the early NASA graphics on 1-31-03 showed the landing path farther south, out over the Gulf, if I read them correctly on their site.

[jdontom]

Wanted to BookMark this page, Oh the Irony of our deeds, you should be commended for a job well done Sir.

[ken in texas]

Thanks for the info, and welcome to FR.

[ken in texas]

Thanks for the graphics.