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.

[RummyChick]

I bet the AQ play it up too .On their websites they will put something up like it was the will of Allah..etc. The free arabic translator turned into a pay site and I haven't been able to read their sites in awhile...but I am sure this will show up there.

[Kip Lange]

That doesn't look like a "couple of kids" to me...

[GirlShortstop]

A couple of kids with a dog are walking all around that smoky field. I wonder if they're in any danger since people were told to stay away from the stuff.

I see them as TX police officers and canine.

[OReilly]

NC is now showing a large charred area in a field

The charred area is in the shape of a Pine Tree (the only reference that come to me at the moment)

[Lady Jag]

Adults? It's a couple people and a dog...

[The South Park Republican]

Yes...They are "All alike", aren't they? They just can't help it, can they?

[alancarp]

Agreed - if anybody wanted to try and shoot down the shuttle, the best/only opportunity would have been during takeoff -- not landing. Or at least not while over Texas. MAYBE Central /East FLorida.

[conservativemusician]

I was watching that day and nearly fell off my chair.

I couldn't believe what I'd heard.

[Timesink]

Another wonderful DU post:

Reagan/Bush lost 2 space shuttles, Dems lost 0. spin that.

I'm not sure what's sadder, the inherent hatred in the idea, or that the poster actually thinks it's a logical argument.

[txradioguy]

They obviously didn't get the message to stay away. I just got it in my e-mail from emergencymail.om

[Smile-n-Win]

Personally, I would leave ALL the decisions up to those who actually go up into space.

Definitely. I'm sure that even after this tragedy, there will be many brave Americans--and Israelis, may God bless and comfort them--willing to take the risk and help us explore space. Why deny them the opportunity to do this great service?

[OReilly]

They obviously didn't get the message to stay away. I just got it in my e-mail from emergencymail.om

At Least they are upwind...

[Kip Lange]

They looked like authorities to me. And you know why the dog would be there.

[Jhoffa_]

Yes... after the big hoe-down they had when the trade center collapsed, I think that's a safe bet..

That just amazed me. I can't imagine cheering the death of innocent Muslims.

It really shocked me to see the reverse was true in some parts of the world.

[Loyalist]

Audio from Columbia playing now on the radio, I think.

[backhoe]

Impossible. There is no technology in existence that can hit an object at such an altitude and speed

Just FYI, FWIW, I just ran across this:

---

What they'll never tell you.......

ARMY TO TEST SATELLITE KILLER A decision to grant the Army permission to finally test their million-watt laser "satellite killer" is near, reports Paul Richter in Monday's LOS ANGELES TIMES. The White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico is home to the project that creates "a white-hot, 6-foot-wide laser beam, generated through a complex reaction." It's housed in a complex that looks like a utility plant. Richter writes: "The Army is poised to fire up a furnace in the New Mexico desert, collect the raging energy on mirrors and focus it into a laser beam aimed to cripple a satellite... A successful trial of the laser would give the military at least theoretical dominance over the realm of satellite reconnaissance." The test would be the most dramatic use of a weapon that was born in the Reagan administration's Star Wars program; it could be used to destroy enemy satellites monitoring U.S. and allied troops and weapons in future wars. The test proposal has reached the Pentagon for final approval and a decision appears to be near, says the paper.

9-21-97.

Six years later, guess who also has them......

China

599 posted on 02/01/2003 1:32 PM EST by USABLUE (And so it begins..........)

---

Located here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/833957/posts?page=599#599

[Timesink]

All--

Please add "STS 107", "STS107" and "FEB 1 2003" to any new threads you may start regarding Columbia. This way we can run keyword searches and easily find all such threads in the future, instead of having half of them fade into oblivion as the 9/11 threads did.

[Lady Jag]

If they're Texas LE they didn't listen to instructions to rope it off and otherwise stay away.

[cebadams]

Posts recap:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/833908/posts?page=165#165
an interesting coincidence:
apollo 204 fire -- january 29, 1967
challenger disaster -- january 28, 1986 (17 years ago)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/831121/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/831409/posts
columbia disaster -- february 1, 2003

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/833908/posts?page=181#181
CNN anchor said the Columbia was near Palestine, Texas.

Radar imaging with place names here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/833908/posts?page=1417#1417
Note the tight debris field at the beginning of the loop indicating the high rate of speed. If there are more intact, heavier remains, they will be found in LA. As the loop progresses, the lighter material sinks into the lower atmosphere (prob < 60K ft) and the upper air wind starts to spread it perpendicular to the original path. Forecast winds at 53,000 ft over Shreveport are 280 deg at 53 kts (pretty light for this time of year). The debris spread matches that expectation.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/833908/posts?page=1461#1461

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/833908/posts?page=337#337
Ilan Ramon, a colonel in Israel's air force and former fighter pilot, became the first man from his country to fly in space, and his presence resulted in an increase in security, not only for Columbia's January 16 launch, but also for its landing.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/833908/posts?page=748#748
Participated in the bombing of an Iraqi nuclear reactor in 198

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/833908/posts?page=444#444
The left wing was damaged during launch by a piece of insulation foam that detached from the main fuel tank. The last voice communications from the crew involved a tire pressure message. Communications were then garbled and static. Contact with the shuttle was lost at about 9 a.m. EST.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/status.html
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/833908/posts?page=1861#1861
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

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/833957/posts?page=357#357
The president has spoken to the head of NASA, Tom Ridge and his national security team. Flag is at half staff at the White House. The President will speak to the nation but a time is not known.

[Betty Jane]

I just wanted to get out my little deja vu moment when I woke up and heard about this. I could swear that yesterday I heard a radio report that the Shuttle had been lost. NASA had no contact for so many hours. They didn't know where it was. I assumed it was floating aroun somewhere.

I had mentioned it to a coworker to see if he had heard anything about it. He hadn't. When I woke up this morning I was shocked to see this report because I was under the impression the shuttle was floating in space. I asked my husband when did they find the Shuttle again. He looked at me as if I were crazy.

Now, I guess I imagined the radio report. But I did ask Joe, my coworker about this. The whole thing for me is pretty spooky.