Posted on 12/31/2008 1:34:25 PM PST by BuckeyeTexan
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Astronauts on the shuttle Columbia were trying to regain control of their craft before it broke apart in 2003, but there was no chance of surviving the accident, a NASA report said on Tuesday.
From the crew's perspective, the shift from what appeared to be a normal descent on Feb. 1, 2003, into tragedy happened so fast that the astronauts did not even have time to close the visors on their helmets.
Columbia broke apart about 20 kilometres over Texas as it headed for landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The cause of the accident was traced to a hole in one of the shuttle's wings, which was hit by a piece of falling foam insulation during launch 16 days earlier.
Seven astronauts were killed when superheated atmospheric gases blasted inside the breach like a blow torch, melting the ship's structure.
(Excerpt) Read more at theglobeandmail.com ...
If memory serves me correctly, Columbia was in trouble, and started to initially break up over California.
The astronauts do not intend to die on their missions. They feel they are taking a substantial risk in order to achieve a highly valuable goal. That is not insane or suicidal.
In the immortal words of Joycelyn Elders, "We're all going to die of something, sometime."
Source?
Ya think?
highly valuable?
Seriously, what value is shuttle.
Low Earth Orbit.
We are 15 years behind where we were 30 years ago.
The space station exist to give the shuttle something to do. The shuttle exist to build the space station.
The Space Shuttle serves no needed social benefit, it is murder for the sake of a jobs program, and is the horrible side-effect outcome of super effective public relations by NASA in those programs up to the lunar landings which were genuine scientific explorations. And they were safer!
There were 11 manned Apollo missions, they all brought their crews home alive. A failure rate of 0%. There would have and should have been more Apollo missions,
But socialism won out. The Space Shuttle was a far more effective jobs and contracts program. The Shuttle killed our lunar exploration program. Socialism can't stand competition.
“This particular flight it was ~30%
Source?”
I wish I had something published. I was just at a engineering seminar where the presenter the statistical analysis of the Challenger disaster.
The engineers at Thiokol were scared at liftoff. That is not a 1% expectation of failure.
This is a trivial discussion, but what the hell.
Russian Roulette can be played for many reasons, including money. If a man played Russian Roulette for $250,000 so that his wife could get the medical care she desperately needed, would you consider him to be suicidal?
Of course intent matters.
You are right. I was just curious.
It was a Shuttle live thread posted by Leadpenny with Winodog reporting what he was seeing. Hear is some history for those like to live reporting scoop of AP and a little bit of FR history.
[AP SCOOP] Space Shuttle Columbia Will Be Visible In San Francisco Area (6AM Pacific)
nasa
Posted on Saturday, February 01, 2003 7:38:08 AM by leadpenny
Space Shuttle Columbia is in a decent for the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and will pass over the San Francisco Area around 6:00 AM 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 AM Eastern.
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Heads up on the Left Coast.
1 posted on Saturday, February 01, 2003 7:38:08 AM by leadpenny
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Actually, I believe the Shuttle will cross the California coast a little before 6 Pacific.
2 posted on Saturday, February 01, 2003 7:39:58 AM by leadpenny
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I’m watching on NASA TV but I believe you can also watch at nasa.gov
Just north of Hawaii now
3 posted on Saturday, February 01, 2003 7:42:14 AM by leadpenny
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To: leadpenny
As I write this, the Shuttle should be re-entering the atmosphere of the planet “Earth.”
4 posted on Saturday, February 01, 2003 7:42:30 AM by SamAdams76 (’Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens’)
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To: SamAdams76
We can only hope.
5 posted on Saturday, February 01, 2003 7:44:36 AM by leadpenny
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To: SamAdams76
You were right on - on that call.
6 posted on Saturday, February 01, 2003 7:46:35 AM by leadpenny
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5:51-5:55 will be the times visible over San Francisco area.
7 posted on Saturday, February 01, 2003 7:48:32 AM by leadpenny
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To: leadpenny
This sucker might still be glowing as it passes the cost?
8 posted on Saturday, February 01, 2003 7:49:57 AM by leadpenny
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To: leadpenny
I am up and in vegas. Sounds like I better put some shorts and a t-shirt on and go outside to watch.
9 posted on Saturday, February 01, 2003 7:53:10 AM by winodog
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To: winodog
Just a few minutes away from you.
10 posted on Saturday, February 01, 2003 7:54:15 AM by leadpenny
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To: winodog
45 miles overhead just to the north of you.
11 posted on Saturday, February 01, 2003 7:56:09 AM by leadpenny
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To: leadpenny
Supposed to be passing by around 8:03 here in Dallas.
Getting ready to check it out.
12 posted on Saturday, February 01, 2003 7:56:21 AM by ken in texas
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To: winodog
Wicked!!!! I was just in time to see it streak across leaving a white trail.
13 posted on Saturday, February 01, 2003 7:57:29 AM by winodog
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To: ken in texas
Hope you have clear skies.
14 posted on Saturday, February 01, 2003 7:57:55 AM by leadpenny
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To: winodog
Was it glowing at all?
15 posted on Saturday, February 01, 2003 7:58:36 AM by leadpenny
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To: leadpenny
It came from just north just like you said. I was out looking already. As soon as I read the time it hits SF and touchdown time I knew I better hurry up.
That is on the list of cooler things I have ever seen.
thanks!
16 posted on Saturday, February 01, 2003 8:00:44 AM by winodog
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15 minutes to touchdown. Heads up north of New Orleans.
17 posted on Saturday, February 01, 2003 8:01:20 AM by leadpenny
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To: leadpenny
It wasnt a glow that spread back like a comet but it must have been “on fire” because it was bright and big.
18 posted on Saturday, February 01, 2003 8:03:35 AM by winodog
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...There were 11 manned Apollo missions, they all brought their crews home alive. A failure rate of 0%. There would have and should have been more Apollo missions...”
Apollo 1 is the official name that was later given to the never-flown Apollo/Saturn 204 (AS-204) mission. Its command module (CM-012) was destroyed by fire during a test and training exercise on January 27, 1967 at Pad 34 (Launch Complex 34, Cape Canaveral, then known as Cape Kennedy) atop a Saturn IB rocket. The crew aboard were the astronauts selected for the first manned Apollo program mission: Command Pilot Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Senior Pilot Ed White and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee. All three died in the fire.
Although the ignition source of the fire was never conclusively identified, the astronauts’ deaths were attributed to a wide range of lethal design hazards in the early Apollo command module. Among these were the use of a high-pressure 100 percent-oxygen atmosphere for the test, wiring and plumbing flaws, inflammable materials in the cockpit (such as Velcro), an inward-opening hatch that would not open in this kind of an emergency and the flight suits worn by the astronauts.
That was an unexpected accident, not a reasonably foreseeable risk, and most importantly for this discussion it did not occur during a flight. When the shuttle launches the directors and the astronauts are taking many foreseeable deadly risks, significant risks, significant enough that it makes each shuttle launch the moral equivalent of russian roulette. Murder for one, suicide for the other.
I’ll chalk that post up to New Years Eve “spirit”. It has the moral voice of a drunk.
Thats not socialism, thats corruption.
Moreover that risk, once known, was completely eliminated.
No, it is pure socialism.
You’re up early!
The mortality rate for Air Force and Navy test pilots in the 1950’s was much higher than the the astronauts in the space program have experienced. Consider also the mortality rate for early explores venturing across the Atlantic in the 1500’s from Europe to the Americas or the pioneers moving west in the early 1800’s. There is unfortunately risk in exploring the unknown.
Happy New Year!
I don’t drink so getting up early is easy to do on this fine morning.
I still don’t agree with you though on the whole socialism thing. Thats like saying the Air Force is socialism.
“There is unfortunately risk in exploring the unknown.”
Especially when you do it at 17,500 MPH.
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