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.

[lodwick]

Morning Libby -

You were posting way too late last evening. Goodness. ;-)

[lodwick]

Cheese cake burp!

Dang it.

[snopercod]

My cynicism is real, and based upon the two years I spent sitting on my hands at KSC after the Challenger mishap.

KSC is the red-headed stepchild of the space program. Their workforce consists of some of the most talented people in the program, yet the "pretty boys" in Houston get all the coverage, budget, and respect.

Note for instance that in the press conference yesterday, they said they were sending astronauts out into the woods to identify debris "because they are the people most familiar with the shuttle hardware".

That's total BS; The techs at KSC are way more familiar. But nobody is requesting their help.

They will be the fall guys in this accident. Mark my words.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Yes, it's possible.

Or an in-space collision (with other debris or a meteor) could have damaged part of the wing. Big enough collision to tear things up a lot "probably" would have been felt though, and given some vibration or impact that would have been reported.

[Jim Noble]

>>Do you believe the nation wants to abandon it's leadership role in the ISS program?<<

I believe the nation wants feel-good, multi-culti space TV with no investment in design, engineering or planning for the future of manned spaceflight.

I believe the nation wants a scapegoat for its failure to design and build an adequate reusable earth-to-orbit system, and I agree with the poster who said the KSC boys are the probable target.

I believe (no, I know) the nation wants immunized smallpox response teams but will not tolerate a single case of eczema vaccinatum, to the point that the consent form is >20 pages and over 40% of military vaccine candidates were excluded.

It is a miracle that we have President Bush (really), but we are the same people who elected Clinton (twice), and we haven't changed all that much.

Yet.

[lodwick]

Mash here for a humor break

[LoneGOPinCT]

Glad to hear that you and yours made it through o.k. What a terrible sight it was. It's somewhat sad that these missions are taken forgranted nowadays. Usually limited to a passing mention in the news. Just goes to show that these missions are still teetering on the edge of disaster at any given moment.

[Houmatt]

Some people just don't get it.

And they never will.

[ravingnutter]

I forget the exact words but I awoke with a startle and thought that Columbia had gone down. Moments later, the news announcer continued with the news. Apparently, they were in the midst of replaying audio from the Challenger disaster, when my radio turned on. I was unnerved for hours afterwards.

Strange...when I first heard it I was headed out my driveway and I thought it was some kind of Challenger memorial thing and didn't really pay all that much attention. By the time I got to the end of the driveway, I heard them say "Columbia" and then I panicked. I put the truck in park right where it was at and ran back to the house to turn on the tube. I had followed this flight closely as I have co-workers at JSC who do mission support. I am still in shock, but was relieved that no one was hurt on the ground with all that debris...that was a miracle in itself.

[bonesmccoy]

KSC has launch responsibility. When you're the guy responsible for the launch, the pattern will always trace back to you. The only exception is if the corporation/supplier erroneously manufactured a piece or if the engineers in the contractor team erroneously spec'd the part.

The contractors can not predict when ice debris is going to fall off the ET and the velocity of the shedding. The Boeing TPS guys can be responsible for the orbiter because they are the contractors for the orbiter. If you are from KSC, then you are well aware of the difficulties in managing multiple contractor telecons. Such difficulties are the responsibility of JSC, not the guys at the Cape.

JSC is mourning and griefing, like most of the NASA/contractor team. Whether or not you are still in the program or retired, we should observe a few days of mourning for the families and our nations.

[bonesmccoy]

Clinton destroyed the orbiter manufacturing facilities. Rockwell International in Downey employed thousands of brilliant engineers, craftsmen, and support personnel. In the late 1990's, Clinton chose to eliminate most of the funding to the team. They were slowly let-go and the team downsized until Rockwell International sold the assets to Boeing. Boeing moved the team to Huntington Beach, and essentially scrapped the yard because no construction was going to ever occur again on the STS program.

There will not be a replacement for OV-102.

It is wiser for us to create a new vehicle and a new future that is not so dependent on 30 year old structures.

Our generation needs a new future in spaceflight.

43 must now set that course.

Simply returning to flight is not an option. Too many parts were lost in the accident. When you lose one of a few structual parts and you only have 3 parts left, it tells you that there is a flaw in the government's approach to space.

We should be encouraging commercialization of spaceflight to low-earth orbit. NASA needs to get back to deep-space exploration, aviation R&D, and rocket engine development.

My priorities would be:

1. Complete STS-107 Accident Review
2. Create procedures to safe guard the ISS assets, including exploring use of Soyuz for the next two years as the only vehicle to go to ISS. Downsize crew on ISS to two crew for the next two years.
3. Commit Federal Gov't R&D to rocket engine research and hypersonic technology drivers with intent to build engines capable of accelerating vehicles to low-earth orbit
4. Build a new manned space program based upon effort to commercialize low-earth orbit (private space station facilities and launch capabilities) and government funded exploration into higher earth orbit and even cis-lunar space. This creates private funding to develop vehicles to ISS and the private station. Government funding for "deep" space exploration is needed to research and develop the stages to fly to GEO or cis-lunar space.

[sweetliberty]

Why am I not surprised? Bit then, objectivity was never one of your strong suits.

[Darksheare]

Well, the density of bodies from other alternate planes of existence would be different.
But I doubt that landing a bunch of such people on Iraq would bw cause for alarm there.
Unless they started trying to sell car insurance....
(Kentothe is a fictional place that I thought up for a story, and felt that the bio page would be a funny place to debut it. Did you at least get a good laugh out of it? If so, then it did it's job.;-)..)

I see that you said "Drop Weaponry" would the froggies be better off as missile or projectile weaponry? (Actually a self-effacing joke for me, one of my ancestors was a froggie...)

[MeekOneGOP]

Yes. Usually the danger is in the takeoffs on these flights, unlike airline flights where landings are more treacherous. Liftoffs are the equivalent of riding on a hydrogen bomb I think. I'm sure once the investigations are done there will be even more safety procedures and checks or whatever.

I wonder how long before they will resume the program?

Here is an interesting site that shows the 'knock' on the left wing during the liftoff that may have caused tile damage. Oh, btw...isn't it interesting that it is the LEFT wing that is highly suspect? We on FreeRepublic.com have know the dangers of the Left-wing for a long time ! (Sorry, I couldn't resist that. I've been waiting a couple of days to use that !)

Very close-up, slo-mo of the Columbia launch debris

And here's another video...

Video link: Shuttle over D/FW, Texas

[LibertyGirl77]

I heard on the radio this morning that 1999 was the original timeline for replacement (not retrofitting) of the shuttle fleet, but because of budget cuts, they put the project on the back burner.

[inquest]

The Earth is rotating the ground from "East" to "West" under the vehicle.

I think you may have that backwards, unless I'm misunderstanding you. If you were to look at a map of the U.S., and picture it a great big vehicle, the eastern seabord is the leading edge. Thus the earth would be rotating from west to east. The shuttle, as I understand it, would move in the same direction as the earth precisely because this gives added boost to the shuttle's speed relative to the center of the earth.

The reason for my confusion in my earlier question was that I thought the shuttle was supposed to land in California or somewhere thereabouts (Edwards Air Force Base, IIRC). I was totally unaware that Cape Canaveral had a landing facility. I thought it was launch only. Another poster corrected me.

[sweetliberty]

I expect some of these may have been posted on other threads but I haven't seen them and it seems appropriate to post a few here. I will do them in 2 or 3 posts.

[sweetliberty]