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.

[Moose4]

How did this reentry differ from previous ones? Do you normally hear a sonic boom?

Just a guess here...but my guess would be that the sonic booms all over east Texas were coming from debris still moving at over Mach 1 as it fell. If Columbia were moving at 12000+ mph when it came apart, then the pieces would still be supersonic for a good long time, probably long enough to hit atmosphere thick enough to make a boom. I don't think there's enough density at 207,000 feet to make a noise that you'd hear on the ground.

}:-)4

[.577 Tyrannosaur]

While extremely unlikely, I believe that may be possible. My prayers go out to the families of those astronauts, in any case...

[txradioguy]

No it's not my interest. I had just logged on and read that.

[DoughtyOne]

'

On behalf of posters on Free Republic, I post this with deepest sympathy for the crew and their families.

Mission - sts107

[Tex_GOP_Cruz]

For what it's worth, the deorbit burn was executed without incident:

8:19 a.m. EST, Feb. 1, 2003
The burn is complete and Columbia is beginning its descent to Earth. The orbiter is on course for a touchdown at Kennedy Space Center at 9:16 a.m. EST. Mission control in Houston has deemed the burn was perfectly executed. The shuttle's initial encounter with the atmosphere will occur in about 25 minutes above the Pacific Ocean, north of Hawaii.

http://www.floridatoday.com/journal/020103landing.htm

[cajungirl]

Thanks for the bios upthread. CNN showing pics and bios of astronauts,,they were a beautiful bunch of people, all of them look energetic, happy, smiling, young and it is heartbreaking to look at their beautiful faces.

[kcvl]

Someone from Nacogdoches, TX called in to CNN and found debris...

[snopercod]

You wrote your congresscritters in support of the Shuttle program, didn't you?

[ppaul]

RE: Your post #27

Just more proof that the democRAT party is controlled by EVIL minions of Satan.

[Connservative]

Just spoke to my mother in Gladewater (115 mile east of Dallas). She said her house MOVED from the explosion/sonic boom.

Dear God....

[DoughtyOne]

No problem at all. I find this stuff interesting, but generally this is a little more than most people need or care to know. Take care.

[HAL9000]

Twenty years ago -

Bill Pogue - who at the time held the record for most time in space (on Skylab) - was telling me how bad the space shuttle was. He was on a rant about how Nixon had "poor-boyed" the design.

I didn't give it much thought until a few days later, during the Challenger disaster.

Now we need a Richard P. Feynmann to get to the bottom of this.

[P.O.E.]

God Bless these brave explorers

[inflorida]

Thanks for the ping. I watched this shuttle take off just over a week ago from our backyard and even took pictures because it was such a beautiful day.
I am in shock...

[ppaul]

#827

[bonesmccoy]

THE ISSUE IS THE DEBRIS... THE VEHICLE BROKE UP OVER THE 48 STATES. THIS ACCIDENT IS STILL EVOLVING BECAUSE YOU NEED TO LOCATE THE DEBRIS.

[DubbleD]

CBS news radio also reporting debris, including body parts, found in Jasper County, TX, near St. Augustine.

[anniegetyourgun]

An unidentified worker in the Vehicle Assembly Building (L) is consoled by security officer Susan Nelson after the space shuttle Columbia failed to return to the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida February 1, 2003. NASA said it scrambled rescue units to search in Texas for the shuttle and its seven astronauts, which included the first Israeli astronaut, Col. Ilan Ramon. NASA lost contact at around 9 a.m., about 16 minutes before its scheduled landing at Kennedy Space Center. Columbia is NASA's oldest shuttle and first flew in 1981. Photo by Karl Ronstrom/Reuters

[Don Munn]

For the best reporting on the shuttle watch NBC.

Their reporter at the cape is Jay Barbree. He has covered every flight since 1960 and has contacts deep into NASA.

He has learned that sensors started to fail on the shuttle just before they lost voice contact.

[demlosers]

We need a new shuttle. We need new heavy-payload rockets. Not an all-in-one space truck with many inherent design flaws based on Seventies technology. This is what we need to do if we want a successful and affordable space program.

New designs have been looked at. This disaster may speed up the process.