Shuttle Contact LOST-No Tracking Data During RE-Entry!

Nasa TV | 02/01/03 | GRRRR

[GRRRRR]

Shuttle has NOT been heard from or seen on tracking radar since 0800Hrs CDT. No contact at Merrit Island tracking station, no voice comm...DEVELOPING.

[P.O.E.]

The following is a link to the "SOFBALL-2 experiment on "lean-burning" fuel done on this mission. It was located in the middle of the shuttle.

Pure speculation on my part, but this may have been a factor in the explosion?

http://spaceresearch.nasa.gov/sts-107/107_sofball.pdf

[bonesmccoy]

Slightly incorrect reporting
Debris on liftoff hit the leading edge of the wing but the effect of the problem is different than what we saw this AM. Max heating on the wing structure occurs higher in altitude. So, it doesn't make sense that the vehicle was compromised by the impact.

[Howlin]

Where is that radar?

[Admin Moderator]

DU links will be allowed on this thread, but this thread only. May the world see what kind of animals DUers are.

[Teacher317]

I wasn't paying attention to CNN, but I think I just heard that he was one of the pilots who went after Iraq'a nuclear reactor. Is that correct?

[VMI70]

Despite what the usual feel gooders have said about your post, let me say that you are EXACTLY correct.

[July 4th]

Wow - unbelievable.

[Clara Lou]

I hope that we'll finally design better space vehicles. A second failure that kills the entire crew should not be ignored.
There are already newly designed shuttles in use. This was the last of its kind-- the oldest and the heaviest.
We need to stop sending these types of shuttles into space when they've now killed two entire crews.
I remind you that these people, who chose to go on this flight, knew what they were flying and the chances they were taking. People die doing everyday things. People die doing risky things. That's life-- people die. We'll never be able to change it. We can only do the best we can to stop accidents. We are not God.

[DubbleD]

Narrow debris trail on radar...

http://www.wunderground.com/radar/station.asp?ID=SHV19&type=loop

[SamKeck]

Shortly after Columbia lifted off Jan. 16, a piece of insulating foam on its external fuel tank came off and was believed to have hit the left wing of the shuttle. Leroy Cain, the lead flight director in Mission Control, assured reporters Friday that engineers had concluded that any damage to the wing was considered minor and posed no safety hazard.

From an earlier article on Yahoo News.

[My back yard]

Here's what I'm wondering about..I get the NASA space notices in email, and last night's notice said that central California should watch for the shuttle passing overhead, I assume, at a viewable distance. On actual re-entry I wouldn't think it would be viewable, at such an altitude. But it would be viewable at the lower altitude as it coasted acros country to where it would land, decreasing altitude all the way. By the time it reached Dallas wouldn't it be much much slower, and lower?

Pardon if I am not saying it well, still very upset.

[hispanarepublicana]

I don't understand the trajectory of all this. My b-in-law in Cedar Park saw it as he was standing in his back yard.

[sneakypete]

The Shuttle had its first Israeli pilot on this mission, Ilan Ramon, 48. There is no indication that terrorism was involved in this tragedy.

Why the hell would they even mention that? Are they trying to imply he sabatoged the mission and killed himself and the other astronauts? Whoever wrote that needs to sober up before releasing a news story. This is already enough of a tradegy without injecting nonsense such at that into it. They are virtually suggesting that the dead pilot was a terrorist murderer.

[snopercod]

Entry interface is considered to occur at 400,000 feet altitude approximately 4,400 nautical miles
(5,063 statute miles) from the landing site and at approximately 25,000 feet per second velocity.

At 400,000 feet altitude, the orbiter is maneuvered to zero degrees roll and yaw (wings level) and at
a predetermined angle of attack for entry. The angle of attack is 40 degrees. The flight control
system issues the commands to roll, pitch and yaw reaction control system jets for rate damping.

The orbiter's speed brake is used below Mach 10 to induce a more positive downward elevator trim
deflection. At approximately Mach 3.5, the rudder becomes activated, and the aft reaction control
system yaw engines are deactivated at 45,000 feet.

Entry guidance must dissipate the tremendous amount of energy the orbiter possesses when it enters
the Earth's atmosphere to assure that the orbiter does not either burn up (entry angle too steep) or
skip out of the atmosphere (entry angle too shallow) and that the orbiter is properly positioned to
reach the desired touchdown point.

During entry, energy is dissipated by the atmospheric drag on the orbiter's surface. Thus, descent
rate and down ranging are controlled by bank angle. The steeper the bank angle, the greater the
descent rate and the greater the drag. Conversely, the minimum drag attitude is wings level. Cross
range is controlled by bank reversals.

The entry thermal control phase is designed to keep the backface temperatures within the design
limits. A constant heating rate is established until below 19,000 feet per second.

The equilibrium glide phase shifts the orbiter from the rapidly increasing drag levels of the
temperature control phase to the constant drag level of the constant drag phase. The equilibrium
glide flight is defined as flight in which the flight path angle, the angle between the local horizontal and
the local velocity vector, remains constant. Equilibrium glide flight provides the maximum downrange
capability. It lasts until the drag acceleration reaches 33 feet per second squared.

In the transition phase, the angle of attack continues to ramp down, reaching the approximately
14-degree angle of attack at the entry Terminal Area Energy Management (TAEM) interface, at
approximately 83,000 feet altitude, 2,500 feet per second, Mach 2.5 and 52 nautical miles (59
statute miles) from the landing runway. Control is then transferred to TAEM guidance.

During the entry phases described, the orbiter's roll commands keep the orbiter on the drag profile
and control cross range.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!

[WSGilcrest]

I'm done. I read 50 and 100 are posted. God Bless our astronauts. Good night.,

[kcvl]

As much as I can't George Stephanopolous he was treated like crap by the Clintons to the point of taking anti-depressants and seeking professional help. That should tell people more than they need to know about the Clintons. He is just lucky he got out alive. NO KIDDING. Hillary doesn't let many people leave without a HUGE cost to them personally because she NEVER FORGETS. It's like being captured in a spider web, once caught you will be destroyed.

[clintonh8r]

Just checking in to express my regrets. Exploration is dangerous. We must never stop and we must never lose our human curiosity.

[davidosborne]

Knowing how Jim feels about posting DU garbage.. I reluctantly posted that because it shows how a "good" person is demonized for standing up for decency... God Bless FreeRepublic.. God Bless the families of these Heros.. and God Bless the United States of America !!

David