Shuttle explodes Over Texas

USA TODAY ^ | 2/01/03 | AP

[kattracks]

CAPE CANAVERAL (AP)

[kattracks]

Shuttle contact lost, NASA declares emergency

Shuttle seen over Texas before communication lost

Saturday, February 1, 2003 Posted: 9:56 AM EST (1456 GMT)

JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, Houston, Texas (CNN) -- Mission controllers lost contact Saturday with the space shuttle Columbia as it sliced through the atmosphere toward an planned landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Search-and-rescue teams from the Dallas-Fort Worth area were alerted and area residents were urged to stay away from any possible debris from the shuttle, which may be hazardous, said NASA public affairs officer James Hartfield.

The Bush administration was preparing to convene a "domestic event" conference among all domestic and military agencies that may be involved in the next step.

NASA officials said they last had contact with the shuttle at about 9 a.m. EST, and it had been expected to touch down at about 9:16 a.m. EST.

The shuttle was at 200,700 feet, traveling at 12,500 mph, when contact was lost.

Video of the shuttle tracking over Dallas showed multiple vapor trails, but NASA spokesman Kyle Herring said it was too early to determine the source.

Steve Petrovich, a police officer in Palestine, Texas, said he heard "a rumble and boom" at about 8 a.m. CDT (9 a.m. EST).

Jim Hubbs of New Boston, Texas, said he heard police discussing over a police scanner "a smoking object going southeast" that disappeared in the Bowie County area near the Arkansas state line.

Officials said no tracking data were available.

Israel's first astronaut was among the 7-person crew.

Columbia is the oldest of NASA's shuttle fleet, first launched in 1981. It was on its 28th mission.

[Blue_Ridge_Mtn_Geek]

Job 1:20-22
20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.


Good words to remember at a time like this

[boris]

Columbia was an "old crotchety beast" in the terms of another engineer. Possibly (I'm not certain) the oldest in the fleet.

The possibility occurs that someone could have planted a bomb. Certainly no missile at that altitude/velocity.

Now the entire Shuttle fleet will be grounded; we will have to evacuate the Space Station and it will have to be done via Soyuz.

--Boris

[exnavy]

Father God, have mercy on their souls, and be with their families.

[The Iguana]

If I am not mistaken, Ramon was on the Osirak raid in Iraq in 1981.

[FreedomPoster]

This thread, or one like it, should be at the top of Breaking News.

[Budge]

Prayers for the families of Columbia

[DCPatriot]

If they knew about the insulation coming off during launch, why didn't they repair it with space walks?

Even if another vehicle had to be launched to rescue the crew, and the Columbia skuttled in orbit?

How easy could it be to sabotage the insulation panels over the fuel tanks in an attempt to ruin a Jewish triumph?

< /removing tin hat >

[ChadGore]

Oh My God

[bvw]

Leroy Cain, the lead flight director in Mission Control

[prognostigaator]

The third crew to be lost......God Bless them all...

[tictoc]

This is immeasurably sad.

[UCFRoadWarrior]

If the Islamic world celebrates this tragedy....then they would be total moral scum. Time to protest at your local mosque

This is a sad day.....I feel for the astronaut's families and friends. Every person who ever flew in any of our space programs are the bravest people.....this is a very risky profession.

I doubt if the Columbia was at 200,000 ft when over the Dallas area. If you heard sonic booms the shuttle was much lower. In Orlando we have the shuttle pass over the area on re-entry...and we can see it on a clear day as it makes its way to Cape Canaveral. Oh, we get the sonic booms, too

This part of Florida will be rocked in many ways. A lot of people in Orlando work at the KSC or its contractors nearby. The economic ramifications will be severe

[Martin Tell]

Not much chance of terrorism at 200,000 feet

ditto. No way a SAM or scud could have hit this target. Sounds like it was tile damage causing a furher peel on re-entry. Remember in the early shuttle days they had problems with tiles falling off during re-entry. With the damage on lift off, I would guess that more tiles fell off when atmoshpere was encountered, snowballing until breakup occurred. I just hope it was fast and painless for the poor souls inside.

[Thermalseeker]

but the shuttle landed in Palestine Texas

How could you possibly know that?

[Nubbin]

I live in central texas. I heard a large boom and my house and windows shook. Local news telling residents to report any debris to authorities and not to touch it.

[Keith in Iowa]

How could you possibly know that?

Watch the crawls on CNN, etc...repoprts of debris found in various places in TX...

[DWPittelli]

Not much chance of terrorism at 200,000 feet

Indeed, there are no anti-aircraft missiles that can reach 200,000 feet, and making one would be virtually impossible, even if al-Qaeda had a massive project backed by Iraq and Mexico. (It would be a big missile, hard to hide without backing from Mexican or Texan authorities.)

But at least some Islamists will claim "credit," either for themselves or on behalf of Allah himself. They could not help themselves, given the Israeli angle and the Palestine Texas angle.

On that note, I just heard that the Israel Air Force Colonel on board was one of the pilots who bombed the Osirak reactor in Iraq 20 years ago.

[Dudoight]

It might have been 9 am EST, but I heard the explosion at about 8 am in East Texas. I didn't have the TV on, so didn't know about it until a son called me from Dallas. I am really deeply shocked and saddened that what I heard was the loss of all those lives. Tragic.

[Terry Mross]

I'm in NW Houston and was wondering if debris would reach this far south. I assume some of the lighter debris could come down for hours and could be spread over four or five hundred mile area. Just guessing.