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.

[alancarp]

Regarding that "vapor trail" from the south: simply a radar artifcat.

Look at the facts: there is nothing on earth that can fly that high (200,000+ ft - 38 miles) other than a space vehicle. There is nothing on earth that can fly that fast (12,000+ MPH) other than a space vehicle. No missiles. No aircraft. Let's remove the tinfoil hats and THINK, folks.

[RummyChick]

This is a pretty gruesome question..but....how do you find body parts..like hands...when the explosion was so high up in the air and has high temperature.

I remember seeing them after the Twin towers but it was such a lower altitude and not quite the same explosion.

[Timesink]

I laughed my butt of at the title of this thread...

I notice not one of those hate-filled subhumans remembers that Reagan didn't give his speech until prime time. And Reagan's speech was one of the most memorable given by any president in the 20th century.

I also like how the DUh Squad thinks that "Big Dog" never had a single speechwriter.

[Bogey78O]

well with 20 years of service it was paid for.

[GirlShortstop]

"I think the Buran is stripped out and sitting in Gorkiy Park on public display."

That's what I would like to see as the treatment for that a**hole that called MSNBC posing as a NASA official - said something to the effect that Columbia has been lost... and Howard Stern was aboard (click).   I was absolutely shocked and livid!   The phone number of that caller should be made public and that piece of garbage publicly humiliated for the rest of his days above earth!    </rant off>

[virgil]

After the WTC, this does not shock me. I have never liked the shuttle. It just didn't inspire like Gemini and Apollo. There are a lot of strange coincidences on this tragedy. An Israeli and an Indian on board. AOL news says that the Indian lady made a series of mistakes on a previous shuttle flight with a satelite launch. It meant that a subsequent shuttle mission had to go back up and fix it during EVA. Columbia broke up over Texas. Did they say where on the map they lost contact with Columbia? Did they have verbal contact?

[txradioguy]

"I bet they were doing a little intelligence gathering up there."


That was my thought. They said when it launched that it was the first non-science mission in 3 years. My thought at the time was that they might be doing some hi-res imaging of Iraq and/or DPRK.

[aristeides]

CBS Radio: there was a loss of telemetry from the left wing before the breakup.

[OliveBranch]

Thanks. I've lurked at both forums (fora, forae?) and I see both intelligent and outlandish posts in both. I'm glad that the majority of posters can get beyond politics on this one. I appreciate party loyalty. I appreciate differences of opinion. This is, after all, a free country (touch wood).

Today's news is so very sad and should serve as a reminder of the dangers of the space program and the heroes, sung and unsung, that keep it flying. It should never be taken for granted. Reminds me of Apollo 13--nobody seems to pay attention until a tragedy happens.

[AppyPappy]

The news I heard was that the body parts was unsubstantiated.

[Timesink]

did you read the speculation that V.P. Cheney is actually dead and they haven't let us know yet ? Someone quickly pointed out that Cheney (or a fabulous actor playing him) was at the SOTU address -- ROFL

No, that was Darrell Hammond! CONSPIRACY!

[CARepubGal]

You guys may have missed this. Please add the crew and their family to your prayers. Very sad day.

[conservativemusician]

I can't imagine a FReeper would post anything like that.

What I wouldn't give to be next to someone who said that.



It'd be lights out.

[Timesink]

Now they're (DU) pulling the race card. Honor the people of color who were on the flight.

I'll bet none of them call for honoring the JEW.

[NEPA]

He was reading info without pre-screening it. Part of it was about Chawla making serious mistakes on her previous mission which caused a lot of work for others to fix. As soon as I heard it I thought that sucked to dig up old dirt like that at a time like this.

[plsvn]

What ever became of the Russian Shuttle? have they mothballed it? Would they be able to roll it out for use at the ISS or to augment the U.S. Shuttle till we can get another one built?

I don't think so.... I think it was turned into a restaurant (no joke).

[Archangelsk]

Or the code in the onboard computer systems.

[txradioguy]

OH! Ok I remember now....he mentioned in the astronaut's bio on the female from India that on her first mission she was responsible for messing up several experiments and causing a research satellite to launch incorrectly from the payload bay. They had to do an EVA to correct the problem.


Can't ding him too much on that. He was reading live copy as it was handed to him without the benefit of proof reading it before he read it.

[Timesink]

You have to remember, these are the same people who literally believed that Karl Rove personally shot down Wellstone's plane with an anti-aircraft missile. I mean, most of them think he just sent "agents" to do it, but several literally thought he snuck into the woods of Minnesota alone in camo and just waited like a sniper for the Perfect Moment.

[AppyPappy]

At least no one has mentioned Howard Stern. I always cringe when they interview "ordinary citizens" or "local experts".