Shuttle Contact LOST-No Tracking Data During RE-Entry!

Nasa TV | 02/01/03 | GRRRR

[GRRRRR]

Shuttle has NOT been heard from or seen on tracking radar since 0800Hrs CDT. No contact at Merrit Island tracking station, no voice comm...DEVELOPING.

[Spyder]

How revealing. While we don't lack for conspiracy nuts and radicals over here (at FR), fortunately they're in the minority. DU otoh.... sheesh. Thanks for the links. It's unbelievable how hateful they are.

[Coleus]

We need to retire NASA

[JennysCool]

Cheers to you, Inspectorette! Howlin's a champ -- and you are, too. My regards on this sad day.

[prisoner6]

Bubba would have been laughing at the "black humor" of the tragedy, then wiped away a false tear and looked solemn when the media cameras were on him.

prisoner6

[LadyDoc]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/comp/articleshow?artid=36190097

Asian Indian/American astronaut. Not much coverage here, but there is a large Indian American community here who will be in mourning.
.

Kalpana Chawla did India proud

PTI[ SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 01, 2003 09:25:13 PM ]

WASHINGTON: Kalpana Chawla, who is feared to have perished in the Columbia space shuttle mishap along with six others, had done India proud when she embarked on her first space mission on November 19, 1997.

The Karnal-born Chawla, the first Indian American astronaut, began her career at the Ames Research Center at Nasa in 1988.

A graduate in aeronautical engineering from the Punjab Engineering College she began work at the Ames in the area of fluid dynamics.

Following her successful tenure at the Ames, Chawla in 1993 joined the Overset Methods Inc in California as vice president and a research scientist in charge of simulating various body functions for future space missions.

Nasa selected Chawla as an astronaut candidate in 1994 and she joined the 15th group of astronauts in March 1995.

After an year of training and evaluation, Chawla was assigned as a crew representative to work on technical issues for Nasa's Astronaut Office Extra Vehicular Activities, Robotics, dealing in space walks.

She was instrumental in the testing space control software in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory.

Chawla's received recognition here and was assigned as mission specialist and prime robotic arm operator on the STS-87 and was involved in the manual capture of an orbiting satellite.

Born in Karnal in Punjab, Chawla did her schooling from the Tagore School in the city and took a degree in aeronautical engineering from the Punjab Engineering College.

She went on to complete her Masters from the University of Texas in 1984 earned a doctorate from the University of Colorado.

[IronJack]

What would cause the aircraft to yaw so dramatically? It hints at a problem with the vertical stabilizer.

[xJones]

I'm sure you know that Howlin is one of the great ladies of Free Republic - she is our heart and soul. I consider her a friend, even though we're 3,000 miles apart, and we've never met. Please don't hurt her. (I know she can stand up for herself, but please back off.)

I'll second that, 'ette.

TSPR, back off and honor the dead. You're making a very poor showing on this tragic day.

[new cruelty]

Your concern is noted and not without merit, but just keep in mind the time and place.

Saturday morning Feb. 1, 2003- A space shuttle crew is lost and the news is still unfolding, families are in shock, concerned citizens are praying, leaders are rising to the call... and yes of course, someone is shining 'Sunlight' on a large pile of crap.

Sorry to draw more attention to this. In that sense, I am no different, and that bothers me.

[P.O.E.]

I hate to say this, I really do.

But.....

Is it possible NASA spent so much of its focus and energy on the politics (e.g., the "diversity" of the crews) and less on the technicals?

I mean no offense to the crews and their families.

Sorry to have to say it at this time, but the thought did occur to me.

[Terriergal]

You're probably right. And yes I wouldn't be surprised to see some celebrations. Heck, even the ppl at DU are expecting to see footage of terrorists and terrorist sympathizers celebrating. Ony *they* think it will be propaganda.

[justshe]

I will not fuel this....nor will I respond to you again. This thread isn't about YOU.

BTW...it is extremely bad netiquette to offer to share private FRmails without the permission of the person whe sent them.

[GOPJ]

Nomad, how dangerous is the debris field? Any chemicals we haven't heard about? What's the most likely cause of an explosion?

I worked as a mechdebreanical tech for Morton Thiokol in 1987 (post challenger) and spent my last days there working with the External tank crew. The insulation on the tank is very similar to the expandable foam that you can buy at a builders center. It is sprayed on the surface and is VERY sticky. I find it hard to believe that it could "fall off" the tank. More than likely it may have been a piece of ice caused by the loading of liquid oxygen through the "beanie" at the top of the external tank. It is obviously a break up of the air frame (ie structural failure) but until they locate and examine the debris, no one will know what happened. ~nomad

[Wait4Truth]

Please just stop!!!!! This is not about YOU or your freep mails!

[mhking]

I can't get audio on the BBC World feed. Do you know what's wrong?

I left the last letter out of the link - here's the updated list...

Live Video Streams:
BBC World: http://202.174.129.100/bbc300k
CTV NewsNet: http://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/ctvlivehigh.asf
WFAA/Dallas (ABC): http://playlist.yahoo.com/makeplaylist.dll?id=5882
KPRC/Houston (and all IBSYS sites): http://mfile.akamai.com/7882/live/reflector:23961.ram
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

[The South Park Republican]

That is absolute BS. The cockpit was in pieces from 51-L. There was no way a "switch" could have been thrown in the context of the Challenger recovery program and to allege that impropriety exists in the manner of the recovery is outrageous.

I will make this clear...

I am going by memory. Back from a time that I didn't even watch the news. But what I have reported here is true.

That being said...I have no earthly idea if what I have reported is factual.

But I THINK I have seen other reports about "Switches being thrown".

And just so you know...I am about as big of an anti-conspiracy nut as you'll find.

[Alberta's Child]

At least three of the Challenger crew members were conscious after the initial explosion of the fuel tank. The crew cabin was intact after the explosion, and was intact all the way down to the water.

For reference purposes, the Columbia appears to have disintigrated at an altitude of 200,000 feet or so. The Challenger broke up at 48,000 feet, and the crew cabin reached a maximum altitude of 65,000 feet or so before it came back down.

The stories about the surviving voice recorder on the Challenger may have been true, but the "transcripts" you may have read on the internet have been debunked as an urban legend.

[Smile-n-Win]

Thank you for your efforts to expose the DUmmies on this thread. You took a lot of flaming for it, but somebody needed to do it.

[null and void]

Anyone seen any international coverage? Palistine and Pakistan dancing in the streets perhaps?

[George W. Bush]

It was years after Challenger that NASA got back into space.

We'll recover more quickly this time. I'm very confident of that. I just hope we reassess and plan to phase out current shuttles with newer designs for shuttles and heavy-lift rockets.

[Publius6961]

TSPR, back off and honor the dead. You're making a very poor showing on this tragic day.

As are you and everyone else who responds to him.
The best way to bring it to a halt is to stop feeding his ego.

Ignore him please.