I spied your post at about 8:55; and being a fan (not fanatic) of space flight since Alan Shepard, I then went to NASA-TV on line. (No cable TV here - I cannot deal with TV)
After five minutes of capcom calls, with no response, and Houston saying that Meritt Island had no track, I knew she was a goner.
AT 9:15, I went to the kitchen and told Mrs. don-o that we had lost the shuttle.
Thanks for taking the time to post the post that I saw.
And fwiw, I always hope and believe for something good to come out of this. On to Mars!!