[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.

[Joe Hadenuf]

I did, and the early-on observations from FReepers were stunning.

Thanks....

[alisasny]

I hope Abner is ok. She has not posted all day.

[Lancey Howard]

This thread sends shivers down my spine.
God bless the astronauts and their families.

[My2Cents]

"God wants to show that his might is greater than the Americans."

Reason enough to turn them to dust...Break them of their theological errors.

[afuturegovernor]

What an unbelievable thread this has turned out to be.

[Jael]

I just had to bump this again

[ppaul]

:

:

[God luvs America]

This was an amazing yet bone chilling post.

I was reading it out loud to my wife when her sister called on the phone with an important message; my wife just let the answering maching pick up the message then called her back when I finished reading the first page of posts.

[WomanofStandard]

leadpenny, thank you for starting this thread. I found it late but it touched me deeply.

I know my feeble attempts hardly qualify as poetry but I am going to post this anyway. I feel like I just have to give tribute in some way.

Columbia Prevailed

There are no words
nothing to say
That can describe my heart today
Yet I try, to release the grief
In words...insufficient
Words to speak.

My heart's pain is rich
It's deep
And still there are no words to speak
David Brown, Laurel Clark
I knew them not
Now, they're in my heart.

Rick Husband, Kalpana Chawla, weren't my friends
Meant nothing to me yesterday
Today, I mourn them.

William McCool, Michael Andersen
You went where few have ever been
Not only out in outer space
But,now in the hearts of men.

Ilan Ramon, our honored guest
You made your country proud
I join them in regarding you
As a hero in the clouds.

All 7 patriots to me
My heart mourns, yet still a joy abounds
That such as these had ever lived
And served us well
And made us proud.

You are what America is all about
And Israel too, Our Friend
I know had each of you known
You'd do it all again.
That's who you were, that was your heart
Your DEDICATION is what you taught
It's what you did impart.

May we be, each day we grow
More and more like you
And may God bless you all in heaven
As is His will to do.

Thank you from a Very Grateful Citizen

[leadpenny]

Thank you so much, WoS, for those beautiful thoughts in words. I feel a connection to the wonderful people on FR and, in a way, a closeness to the Seven Astronauts as they lived out the final moments of their lives. An older gentleman called into C-SPAN from Texas yesterday just after the NASA News Conference. He was crying and he had seen it all as he was on his way to church. He said he was just thankful that he was able to say goodbye to the astronauts as he prayed for them a few minutes later while he attended a church service.

It is just by chance that I remembered the Columbia was coming home yesterday AM and switched the TV to the NASA channel to watch. Being as addicted to FR as I am, I had to see who else was up along the final approach route. Little did I know.

I will probably send the link to this thread to family and friends today. I know there are other places on the net to get the news, see what others are saying and thinking, and interact with like-minded people - - but, as of yet, I haven't run across any of them.

[leadpenny]

Future reference:

Timeline of last flight of space shuttle Columbia

[tomkat]

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 ...

quote of the day ?
(sadly)

[Joe Brower]

A-yep. Our Muslim enemies are nothing if not predictable. This is a good thing, especially on the battelfield when we roll over Iraqi.

[abner]

Thanks for your sentiment. We were at CPAC. We heard about the tragedy while at Taxman's getting ready to go to the convention.

[Indy Pendance]

Free Republic Scoops AP

The Web Gets a Scoop - scroll down a little

[TLBSHOW]

BUMP

[Allan]

Bump

[ladyinred]

Congrats to you for posting the thread the scooped the AP!
FreeRepublic is the real breaking news!

[McGruff]

This is scary.

Somebody at the Wall Street Journal quoted your thread:

The Web Gets a Scoop
It's said that journalism is the first draft of history. If so, the Internet sometimes affords us a glimpse at history's rough outline. At 8:38 a.m. EST yesterday, a reader of the Free Republic Web site started a discussion thread for shuttle enthusiasts:

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.

Other Freepers joined in, describing the view of the descending shuttle from the West Coast--then gradually realizing something was amiss. Someone asks at 8:58 a.m. EST, "Was it glowing at all?" The first clear sign of trouble comes in a post at 9:05 a.m. We won't quote any more than this, because you really have to read the full thread to appreciate the drama. But it's worth noting that the first word of trouble didn't come across the Associated Press wire until 9:16, the scheduled landing time. Free Republic scooped the AP by at least 11 minutes--which is an eternity in the competitive world of wire-service reporting.

[glock rocks]

you heard it here first.