Posted on 02/09/2003 4:02:34 AM PST by leadpenny
From Excitement to Horror: Columbia's Last Flight Online
By TOM KUNTZ
The 1937 Hindenburg airship disaster was carried live to a large radio audience. The 1986 space shuttle disaster happened live on network television before millions of stunned viewers. Almost from the beginning, the 9/11 attacks were broadcast live worldwide.
Last weekend's shuttle disaster also unfolded live, but the primary medium was arguably not radio or television. It was the Internet. A small audience of space enthusiasts learned of trouble in real time by tuning in to mission control in Houston via NASA TV's Webcast (also available via satellite dish and some cable providers).
Some of the shuttle trackers in the western United States also kept an eye on the skies, and shared their impressions online. An illustration of their reactions, moving from excitement to confusion to horror, can be found in an online discussion for shuttle buffs on the Free Republic Web site; it was begun by a reader 38 minutes before the Columbia's scheduled 9:16 landing (www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/833885/posts).
The first sign of something wrong comes at 9:05 — at least 11 minutes before The Associated Press moved the first wire-service alert and the TV networks began live coverage (which had the first video of the breakup, shot minutes before).
Excerpts from the online discussion follow. All times are Eastern unless otherwise noted.
The discussion was begun by "leadpenny" at 8:38 a.m.:
Space shuttle Columbia is in a descent for the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and will pass over the San Francisco area around 6:00 a.m. 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 a.m. Eastern.
From leadpenny at 8:42:
I'm watching on NASA TV but I believe you can also watch at nasa.gov. Just north of Hawaii now.
From SamAdams76 at 8:42:
As I write this, the Shuttle should be re-entering the atmosphere of the planet Earth.
From leadpenny to SamAdams76 at 8:44:
We can only hope.
From winodog at 8:53:
I am up and in Vegas. Sounds like I better put some shorts and a T-shirt on and go outside to watch.
From leadpenny to winodog at 8:54:
Just a few minutes away from you.
From leadpenny to winodog at 8:56:
45 miles overhead just to the north of you.
From ken in texas to leadpenny at 8:56:
Supposed to be passing by around 8:03 [C.S.T.] here in Dallas. Getting ready to check it out.
From winodog at 8:57:
Wicked!!!! I was just in time to see it streak across leaving a white trail.
From leadpenny to ken in texas at 8:57:
Hope you have clear skies.
From leadpenny to winodog at 8:58:
Was it glowing at all?
From winodog to leadpenny at 9:00:
It came from just north just like you said. I was out looking already. As soon as I read the time it hits S.F. and touchdown time I knew I better hurry up. That is on the list of cooler things I have ever seen. Thanks!
From leadpenny at 9:01:
15 minutes to touchdown. Heads up north of New Orleans.
From winodog to leadpenny at 9:03:
It wasn't a glow that spread back like a comet but it must have been "on fire" because it was bright and big.
From ken in texas to leadpenny at 9:04:
Perfectly clear . . . what a sight!!!!!
From leadpenny at 9:05:
Little commo [communication] problem right now.
From leadpenny at 9:07:
Still no UHF commo. They gotta have backup.
From leadpenny at 9:08:
Seven minutes to touchdown.
From leadpenny at 9:11:
No commo for the last 11 minutes. Five minutes to touchdown.
From leadpenny at 9:13:
Don't know if anyone is watching NASA TV but it is awfully quiet.
From leadpenny at 9:13:
By now there would have been cameras on the shuttle.
From leadpenny at 9:15:
Don't know about the controllers but my pulse is going up. They are still seeking tracking data. Going to contingency procedures.
From don-o at 9:15:
Contingency procedures.
From leadpenny at 9:15:
Folks we are at touchdown. Something is wrong.
From ken in texas to leadpenny at 9:15:
An unsettling quiet. I hope all is well.
From nicepaco to leadpenny at 9:16:
Hope they find them soon.
From SMEDLEYBUTLER to leadpenny at 9:17:
No radar track either. Hope everything is all right and this is only a technical snafu. Should be visible from the Cape [Canaveral, Fla.] by now.
From leadpenny at 9:17:
Everyone, check the networks.
From 1john2 3and4 to ken in texas at 9:17:
This really happened: got to this thread, clicked on browser to get NASA TV, heard sonic BOOM, Fort Worth (just after 8 a.m.), run outside, MASSIVE contrail leading right into the eastern sun. . . . . . . awesome!
From SamAdams76 to leadpenny at 9:19:
I hope everything turns out okay.
From leadpenny at 9:19:
It should already be down. Nothing!
From don-o to leadpenny at 9:20:
Folks, I fear the worst has happened.
From leadpenny at 9:21:
The Columbia was making four drastic turns over the Western U.S. to dissipate speed. That's the last they heard from it.
From don-o to leadpenny at 9:24:
Anything on TV, besides NASA TV?
From McGruff to leadpenny at 9:24:
This is scary! I was monitoring your thread when MSNBC started having someone on who was saying: "We should have seen it by now. It should be here by now."
From My back yard to McGruff at 9:26:
Prayers going out. Hope they aren't too late.
From leadpenny to McGruff at 9:27:
They should have had cameras on it about 10 minutes out. I fear the worst.
From 1john2 3and4 to My back yard at 9:28:
Prayers
From SMEDLEYBUTLER to leadpenny at 9:29:
Unconfirmed reports of debris discovered in Texas. Looks as though the shuttle has been lost. God bless the crew.
From McGruff to leadpenny at 9:29:
CNN showing video of it breaking up over Dallas! It's gone!
From leadpenny to ken in texas at 9:30:
You may have been the last to see the Columbia.
From 1john2 3and4 to leadpenny at 9:35:
Dear lord . . . what I heard was the EXPLOSION! not a sonic boom.
From leadpenny to 1john2 3and4 at 9:36:
Are you in Texas?
From 1john2 3and4 to leadpenny at 9:40:
Yes . . . Ft. Worth.
From Molly Pitcher to ken in texas at 9:47:
It's said to have broken up over Dallas. Was it intact when you saw it? Or did you see multiple trails?
From ken in texas to Molly Pitcher at 9:53:
At first I was just in awe of the sight. After it passed from view I realized that something just didn't look right. Instead of just one glowing spacecraft it looked as if there were smaller glowing pieces moving off and away from it. In retrospect, I realize that it was breaking apart.
From Molly Pitcher to ken in texas at 10:10:
Okay. Thanks, the fellow in Vegas just ahead of you probably saw it intact then.
From My Favorite Headache to leadpenny, 1:17 p.m.:
This thread needs to be saved as a piece of symbolic history . . . of the last moments of Columbia.
From seamol to leadpenny; don-o; ken in texas; winodog; 1john2 3and4; all, 11:48 p.m.
Thank you for your contribution to history today.
I have to wonder though if they learned of the FR thread from FR or the DU thread that pointed at it (after the fact).
I expect a surge in traffic once NY Times subscribers read this. And with that, a whole new crop of disruptors. It will be busy enough with war imminent -- I sure hope JimRob and company are prepared! I can't imagine what I'd do if FR were down during the opening hours of the war. I've become spoiled, expecting to read of breaking events within seconds of their occurrence!
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