[AP SCOOP] Space Shuttle Columbia Will Be Visible In San Francisco Area (6AM Pacific)

nasa

[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.

[HughMungus]

If that had been to the west, all of the debris would have been hitting downtown Dallas (where I live). Here's a local news clip.

http://www.wiredvideo.com/public/video/clips/shuttle.asf

[mhking]

Live Video Streams:
BBC World: http://202.174.129.100/bbc300k
BBC News 24: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsa/n5ctrl/live/now2.ram
CTV NewsNet: http://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/ctvlivehigh.asf
WFAA/Dallas (ABC): http://playlist.yahoo.com/makeplaylist.dll?id=5882
KHOU/Houston (CBS): http://playlist.yahoo.com/makeplaylist.dll?id=206531
NBC; NASA TV; MSNBC; KXAS/Dallas: http://www.msnbc.com/m/lv/default.asp?0cv=CA01
WKMG/Orlando-Daytona Beach: http://mfile.akamai.com/7882/live/reflector:23942.ram
WSVN/Miami: http://web2.wsvn.com/video/wsvn_broadband.asx
CNN/Newsnet - Raw Video (IBSYS News Sites): http://mfile.akamai.com/7882/live/reflector:23961.ram
WHDH/Boston - http://www.whdh.com/video/
CBS News - http://cgi.cbs.com/video/video.pl?url=/broadcast/*/livenews.rm&plugin=1&proto=rtsp
StarNews India: http://www.ndtv.com/live/livevideo.asx

[McGruff]

This thread even got the attention of the evil ones.

[The South Park Republican]

This is a very important thread. Very tragic for you Freepers who actually saw this, I am sure, but also an example of what makes Free Republic so cool.

Some of us where "There" and we have a record of it.

[Palladin]

What a chilling and tragic thread! Eyewitnesses to history. What started out as a routine viewing of the shuttle changed in moments to terrible despair.

May all seven aboard rest in peace.

(BTW...this thread is reminiscent of the radio reports on the VonHindenberg disaster, decades ago.)

[GRRRRR]

Yes indeed, I was reading this thread at exactly 8am...I flipped over to NASA TV...my blood ran cold. I have watched many shuttle landings on NASA TV and could tell right away something was wrong. What a morning here on FR...kudos to you guys for being right on top of it, as usual, FR is the best.

[Joe Brower]

Lord almighty. I just got word of this.

Prayers for all concerned. Let's see... the first Israeli in space and it exploded over Texas, the President's home state.

I predict the Islamikazi propaganda machine will have a field day with this.

[GRRRRR]

FROM REUTERS----


Iraqis Call Shuttle Disaster God's Vengeance
Sat February 1, 2003 02:08 PM ET
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Immediate popular reaction in Baghdad on Saturday to the loss of the U.S. space shuttle Columbia and its seven-member crew -- including the first Israeli in space -- was that its was God's retribution on Americans.
"We are happy that it broke up," government employee Abdul Jabbar al-Quraishi said.

"God wants to show that his might is greater than the Americans. They have encroached on our country. God is avenging us," he said.

Car mechanic Mohammed Jaber al-Tamini noted Israeli air force Colonel Ilan Ramon was among the dead when the shuttle broke up shortly before its return to earth.

"Israel launched an aggression on us when it raided our nuclear reactor without any reason (in 1981), now time has come and God has retaliated to their aggression," Tamini said.

[McGruff]

Text of president Bush's speech on loss of Columbia.

My fellow Americans, this day has brought terrible news and great sadness to our country. At 9:00 a.m. this morning, Mission Control in Houston lost contact with our Space Shuttle Columbia. A short time later, debris was seen falling from the skies above Texas. The Columbia is lost; there are no survivors.

On board was a crew of seven: Colonel Rick Husband; Lt. Colonel Michael Anderson; Commander Laurel Clark; Captain David Brown; Commander William McCool; Dr. Kalpana Chawla; and Ilan Ramon, a Colonel in the Israeli Air Force. These men and women assumed great risk in the service to all humanity.

In an age when space flight has come to seem almost routine, it is easy to overlook the dangers of travel by rocket, and the difficulties of navigating the fierce outer atmosphere of the Earth. These astronauts knew the dangers, and they faced them willingly, knowing they had a high and noble purpose in life. Because of their courage and daring and idealism, we will miss them all the more.

All Americans today are thinking, as well, of the families of these men and women who have been given this sudden shock and grief. You're not alone. Our entire nation grieves with you. And those you loved will always have the respect and gratitude of this country.

The cause in which they died will continue. Mankind is led into the darkness beyond our world by the inspiration of discovery and the longing to understand. Our journey into space will go on.

In the skies today we saw destruction and tragedy. Yet farther than we can see there is comfort and hope. In the words of the prophet Isaiah, "Lift your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? He who brings out the starry hosts one by one and calls them each by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing."

The same Creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today. The crew of the shuttle Columbia did not return safely to Earth; yet we can pray that all are safely home.

May God bless the grieving families, and may God continue to bless America.

[ladyinred]

My best friend lives in the Bay Area and she and her hubby went out early to see the shuttle pass over. At 630 she called me and told me to turn on the television. She was so upset after just having seen the shuttle pass over. She is also a former employee of NASA.

[Darnright]

Here's a thread documenting the Iraqi response. Superstitious monsters!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/833996/posts?q=1&&page=101

[listenhillary]

"God wants to show that his might is greater than the Americans. They have encroached on our country. God is avenging us," he said.

Just keep saying this over and over while your dying from Saddam's funny gas.

[leadpenny]

These people don't realize they are about to wake a sleeping giant.

[eddie willers]

I bookmarked this thread and am bumping it for fellow freepers.

(but please leave political comments for the other, more appropriate threads)

[spectre]

Am bookingmarking this thread.

Leadpenny, so sorry. It is clear you were a huge fan of this mission.

sw

[don-o]

Thank you for your contribution to history today.

Were it not for this wonderful and amazing forum, such would not be possible. Freepers are the best; so much knowledge and intelligence distilled into one place.

Leadpenny posts a seemingly ho-hum post about the shuttle over San Francisco, which interests me. Then I am at NASA-TV awaiting the touchdown which never happened. All the while, reacting with the Freeper family.

Shameless beg: If FR has been a valuable resource this day, consider becoming a monthly donor, so it is always here for us.

[Bubba_Leroy]

"High Flight"

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

John Gillespie Magee, Jr.


High Flight was composed by Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee, Jr., an American serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was born in Shanghai, China in 1922, the son of missionary parents, Reverend and Mrs. John Gillespie Magee; his father was an American and his mother was originally a British citizen.

He came to the U.S. in 1939 and earned a scholarship to Yale, but in September 1940 he enlisted in the RCAF and was graduated as a pilot. He was sent to England for combat duty in July 1941.

In August or September 1941, Pilot Officer Magee composed High Flight and sent a copy to his parents. Several months later, on December 11, 1941 his Spitfire collided with another plane over England and Magee, only 19 years of age, crashed to his death.

His remains are buried in the churchyard cemetery at Scopwick, Lincolnshire.

http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/history/prewwii/jgm.htm

[McGruff]

This maybe just speculation from SpaceflightNow but:

Debris appeared to strike wing on launch
Posted: February 1, 2003

This animated image shows two frames of video from shuttle Columbia's launch on January 16. A white puff between the orbiter's left wing and external fuel tank (circled) appears to be a piece of debris that struck during the climb to orbit. In a pre-landing briefing entry flight director Leroy Cain said engineers "took a very thorough look at the situation with the tile on the left wing and we have no concerns whatsoever

[MattAMiller]

A heartbreaking read. But piece of history as well, I'm marking this one for future retreival

[McGruff]

Hope you don't mind but stole some of your observations from other threads.
They belong here too.

Columbia Discussion thread ^
			Posted by winodog to Yaelle On News/Activism ^ 02/01/2003 1:30 PM EST #593 of 900 ^ Columbia left a huge contrail behind it. I watched it fly over the vegas valley. I saw one bright red spot in the middle of the huge bright light that I assumed must be the ship itself. Then the entire "glow" of the ship seemed to diminish for a second. I did not think much of either things at the time but it was right after this that they lost communication. Post Reply | Private Reply | To 460 | View Replies
Space Shuttle Columbia Will Be Visible In San Francisco Area (6AM Pacific) ^
			Posted by winodog to leadpenny On News/Activism ^ 02/01/2003 10:25 AM EST #74 of 139 ^ The time they say they lost contact would fit that scenerio but I was not paying real close attention. I did notice that one spot seemed brighter then the rest. Another thing seemed strange. After it passed overhead it seemed to lose the "glow". At the moment I thought it must have something to do with it having passed over but it "brightened" back up. It would appear something was wrong before it got to Dallas area. I must go do some work for a couple hours. I will check back in soon. Again prayers for all involved, including our soldiers around the world.