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.

[Valin]

I am stunned at the loss of a former classmate and friend, feel for the families of all, and feel a great sadness inside myself as the Shuttle program was a great inspiration for me in my own career.

We're all stunned. But if this I am sure we will go on.
My prayers to families and FRIENDS.

[IFly4Him]

It looks like west central Louisiana will have the bulk of debris... what a sad day...

[Howlin]

Absolutely!

[ARA]

False... They are all inspected and replaced prior to being put back on the pad... Your friend is wrong... Physicist or not...

[Moose4]

The round area on the radar screen is ground clutter around the radar unit itself. Weather radars in "clear air" mode turn the sensitivity up, and so they'll pick up reflections off close objects, or perhaps clouds or smog in the atmosphere.

}:-)4

[rintense]

I swear if I see any Paletinians dancing in the streets rejoicing about this... (and you know some kooks over there will)

[AF68]

I just lowered my flag to half-staff, too.

[GRRRRR]

That's ground clutter around the radar site...the long streak is where it's all at...

[Texas_Jarhead]

Thanks JA, that radar image is very telling

[Arkinsaw]

Howlin...Back off. If you would stop trying to start flame wars you wouldn't get into so many of them.

Gonna call me a "Disruptor" or something now?

I can't say I've ever been on Howlin's side on any argument....ever. But I am on this one.

This is like someone driving by a funeral and throwing a dirty diaper amidst the mourners.

[Zviadist]

Agreed, let's not give then real time distribution. Gather them up for a single "look at these clowns" post later.

Yes. This is not a time for political fighting or pointing fingers. It is time to mourn the dead. We should be better than those people, not wallowing in the mud with them...

[operation clinton cleanup]

Even if they did, there is nothing NASA could do about it. The only option was to bring the vehicle down regardless of the damage.

Could they have hung out in the ISS for a couple weeks?

[Teacher317]

He just said that Ilan was the son of holocaust survivors, and that he brought a picture drawn in a concentration camp by a 10-year old boy who was later killed in the camp. He brought it into space to demonstrate that Life will prevail over Death.

Very sad.

[McLynnan]

Still falling? I'm in McLennan County and we have helicopter traffic. They are apparently flying in widening rings looking for debris.

[Henk]

Note that in these radar images, the town shown appears to be Nacogdoches, not Palestine.

[ladysusan]

Yesm NBC is reporting the large round area south of tyler etc as a debris field. the large round area north west of tyler is ground scatter from dfw.

[OReilly]

If the shuttle re-entered sideways, it was more than likely spinning out of control before it re-entered.

There was an eye-witness report of a streak that was not going straight (but rather a spiral) The report was by a person that had seen previous Shuttle re-entries...

[bonesmccoy]

nah rintense...the vehicle in the CNN video from WFAA showed an intact vehicle and then a breakup of the vehicle as it tumbled.

The media is starting to SPIN this as an EXPLOSION.

IT is NOT an explosion.

The wide debris field is due to pieces of the vehicle having different kinetic energy profiles (caused by different amounts of drag on the pieces).