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Meteorite 'May Have Hit Shuttle'
Ananova ^ | 2-5-2003

Posted on 02/05/2003 3:18:21 PM PST by blam

Meteorite 'may have hit shuttle'

Nasa says a small meteorite or piece of man-made space junk may have struck the Columbia shuttle causing it to crash.

Even a tiny scrap of debris grazing the shuttle could have damaged thermal tiles just enough to start a chain reaction.

The comments by Milt Heflin, the space agency's flight director, cast doubt on the lead theory that a piece of foam insulation damaged the craft during blast off.

"Did we take some hit? That's a possibility. Something was breached," he has told the Los Angeles Times.

William Ailor, president of Aerospace Corporation, said Nasa has had to adjust the flight path of shuttles at least eight times to avoid large pieces of debris.

A speck of paint once chipped the windshield of the Challenger during a mission completed before it exploded in 1986.

There are believed to be more than a million objects within 1,200 miles of the Earth's surface.

Story filed: 16:04 Wednesday 5th February 2003


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: feb12003; have; hit; may; meteorite; nasa; shuttle; sts107
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1 posted on 02/05/2003 3:18:21 PM PST by blam
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To: blam
I hate to put too much faith in Ananova. Having said that this story combined with the amatuer photographer's pics may point to a pure accident.
2 posted on 02/05/2003 3:20:37 PM PST by Straight Vermonter (I don't believe in hyphenating Americans)
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To: Straight Vermonter
Having said that this story combined with the amatuer photographer's pics may point to a pure accident.

Coverup! Coverup! (Just thought I'd get the ball rolling). ;-)

3 posted on 02/05/2003 3:23:13 PM PST by TomServo
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To: blam
OK...let's do some probability here.....odds that a meteorite hit the shuttle....million to one, say...odds that a piece of ice or foam hit the left wing.....even money..damaged a tile...2:1...the same left wing had a problem...even money...the problem occured in the 5 minutes when the shuttle first hit the atmosphere and was exposed to heat.......even money.......NASA should buy a lottery ticket...
4 posted on 02/05/2003 3:23:21 PM PST by ken5050
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To: blam
We need to build both ground and space based lasers to blast this junk before it hurts anothert U.S. spacecraft.

Of course the fact that those laser can also blast ChiCom satellites is just icing on the cake : )

5 posted on 02/05/2003 3:25:37 PM PST by Pilsner
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To: blam
Contractor spin ...
6 posted on 02/05/2003 3:25:58 PM PST by 11th_VA
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To: blam
Wouldn't the chances of the shuttle being struck by a meteor be astronomical?
7 posted on 02/05/2003 3:27:25 PM PST by GSWarrior
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To: Pilsner
Of course the fact that those laser can also blast ChiCom satellites is just icing on the cake

Yeah - that'd go real well. Whoops - we missed! So sorry!

8 posted on 02/05/2003 3:27:44 PM PST by TomServo
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To: ken5050
NASA should buy a lottery ticket...

I think that's what they're doing with this statement. It looks like rope-a-dope, stall, and delay to me along with some wishful thinking.

9 posted on 02/05/2003 3:30:44 PM PST by Moonman62
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To: GSWarrior
Wouldn't the chances of the shuttle being struck by a meteor be astronomical?

No, they get hit on every flight, except they are usually microscopic and only cause minor damage.

10 posted on 02/05/2003 3:33:46 PM PST by Moonman62
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To: blam
"Did we take some hit? That's a possibility. Lets pretend we want to do the right thing here.

There's NO question we took a hit on lift off we seen it, we have it on film, we reviewed and discussed it.

To accept the premise that space junk was the root cause, would not only not be believed, it also would be a stretch to determine that from examining the wreckage. It would also not put the proper focus on the ceramic tiles that are glued on to the hull.

11 posted on 02/05/2003 3:34:08 PM PST by chachacha
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To: GSWarrior
Wouldn't the chances of the shuttle being struck by a meteor be astronomical?

Compared to being struck by a chunk of space-debris, yes. IIRC, one of the shuttles got nicked by some debris a while back. Hit one of the windows and dug a large slice out of it. Anyone remember that?

12 posted on 02/05/2003 3:35:02 PM PST by RoughDobermann
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To: Straight Vermonter
Occam's Razor: "One should not increase, beyond what is necessary, the number of entities required to explain anything".

Or, put another way, "The simplest explanation is probably the right explanation."

Insulation breaks off and hits under the left wing near the wheel well. During re-entry, sensors pick up increased heat in those exact same areas. Over 100 successful re-entries unaffected by meteorites or space junk.

C'mon.

Or maybe they're saying a meteorite hit the underside of the left wing near the wheel well, right where the insulation (which caused no damage) hit it. Sure.

13 posted on 02/05/2003 3:36:42 PM PST by robertpaulsen
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To: blam
Bill Ailor isn't the president of Aerospace--Bill Balhouse is. Here's an article with more background.
14 posted on 02/05/2003 3:39:15 PM PST by NonZeroSum
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To: TomServo
What did Bush know and when did he know it!?!
15 posted on 02/05/2003 3:41:42 PM PST by killjoy
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To: GSWarrior
Good wordplay.
16 posted on 02/05/2003 3:46:33 PM PST by Diddle E. Squat
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To: Diddle E. Squat
I thought of that as I was posting....by the way, shouldn't that headline say meteor, instead of meteorite?
17 posted on 02/05/2003 3:49:45 PM PST by GSWarrior
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To: GSWarrior
Perhaps the headline is actually speaking of residents or descendants of Meteor?
18 posted on 02/05/2003 3:53:09 PM PST by Diddle E. Squat
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To: blam
To: NASA
From: Public

OH
YEAH
RIGHT

19 posted on 02/05/2003 3:53:42 PM PST by txhurl
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To: DoughtyOne
ping.
20 posted on 02/05/2003 3:53:47 PM PST by Black Agnes
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