Posted on 02/01/2003 6:16:05 AM PST by 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.
Spoken like a true...
Never mind.
There is enough mindless drivel posted inappropriately.
I don't know if it is someone's idea of a bad ...something, but that charred field being shown on FOXNEWS does look very unusual.
And if God wanted man to fly, He would have given him wings.</bitter sarcasm>
More notable is that the space program will continue in spite of the inherent danger. As to what comes next, I would assume that the Space Shuttle is about done. The next generation spacecraft is about to receive major push from the White House and Congress.
Here is a detailed timeline of today's entry activities (in EST):
Orbit.........255
dT............02:38 (deorbit burn duration)
dV............176 mph (change in velocity)
Freefall......35:47 (time to discernible atmosphere)
Range to KSC..5,113 sm
Crossrange....Left-14 sm (distance from normal ground track)
Turn..........Right-213 degrees
Runway........33
TIME..........EVENT
05:45:00 AM...Mission control 'go' for OPS-3 entry software load
05:55:00 AM...OPS-3 transition
06:20:00 AM...Entry switchlist verification
06:30:00 AM...Deorbit maneuver update
06:35:00 AM...Crew entry review
06:50:00 AM...Commander/pilot don entry suits
07:07:00 AM...Navigation system (IMU) alignment
07:15:00 AM...Commander/pilot strap in; others don suits
07:32:00 AM...Shuttle steering check
07:35:00 AM...APU hydraulic power system prestart
07:42:00 AM...Toilet deactivation
07:50:00 AM...Payload bay vent doors closed for entry
07:55:00 AM...Mission control 'go' for deorbit burn
08:01:00 AM...Astronaut seat ingress
08:10:00 AM...Single APU start
08:12:34 AM...TDRS-West comsat acquisition of signal
08:15:18 AM...Deorbit ignition
08:17:56 AM...Deorbit burn complete
08:43:53 AM...Shuttle hits discernible atmosphere
08:49:26 AM...23-degree right roll command
08:56:15 AM...63-degree roll reversal
09:09:29 AM...Velocity less than mach 2.5
09:11:38 AM...Velocity less than mach 1
09:12:39 AM...Shuttle turns to line up on runway
09:15:50 AM...Landing on runway 33
The Columbia astronauts closed the shuttle's payload bay doors around 5:45 a.m., preparing the ship for re-entry and landing back at the Kennedy Space Center to close out a 16-day science mission. Forecasters are keeping close tabs on area fog and lower-than-expected clouds, but conditions are expected to improve as the morning wears on and flight controllers are optimistic about an on-time landing. "We've just been watching the weather at the Cape," astronaut Charles Hobaugh radioed from mission control. "This morning when we got in it looked pretty gruesome. There was some fog and low layers. The T-38 has already done its first weather (observation run) and the weather has improved greatly. ... We're expecting those patches of thin layers to clear up as the sun comes up." Flying upside down and backward over the Indian Ocean, commander Rick Husband and William "Willie" McCool plan to fire Columbia's twin orbital maneuvering system braking rockets at 8:15:18 a.m. to begin the hourlong descent to Earth. The rocket firing will last for two minutes and 38 seconds, slowing the shuttle by 176 mph and dropping the far side of its orbit deep into the atmosphere. Following that new trajectory, Columbia will fall for 35 minutes and 47 seconds before entering the discernible atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean around 8:45 a.m. Range to touchdown at that point will be 5,113 miles. Columbia's flight path will carry it over the coast of California near San Francisco at 8:55 a.m. EST (5:55 a.m. PST), an hour before sunrise. Weather permitting, early risers may be treated to a spectacular sky show as the space shuttle streaks across the predawn sky. Husband will take over manual control of the spacecraft 50,000 feet above the Kennedy Space Center, guiding the ship through a sweeping 213-degree right-overhead turn to line up on runway 33. At touchdown, Columbia's seven-member crew will have completed 255 full orbits and traveled 6.6 million miles since blastoff Jan. 16 from nearby pad 39A.
Never mind. There is enough mindless drivel posted inappropriately.
Agreed...thanks for your restraint, even when some people deserve a pummelling.
If he's reading this, I would like it to be known that I fart in his communist direction.
There. I feel cleansed.
Then shame on Shep. Even if the astronaut in question (Interesting...I don't know her name but know I WILL know it and probably never forget it shortly) made the mistake he spoke of, that fact has NOTHING to do with what happened today.
FOX did the right thing.
Manned space flight is the collective future and collective dream of humanity. Would that we were all forced to view Earthrise for some perspective on the insignificance of all of our petty concerns. Manned space flight *transcends*.
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