Columbia Discussion thread

Feb 1, 2003

[Admin Moderator]

'

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

Mission - sts107

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This is a continuation of the original thread.

Shuttle Contact LOST-No Tracking Data During RE-Entry!

ANY DU LINKS OR POSTS WILL BE REMOVED IMMEDIATELY. Keep them on the original thread.

[bootless]

There's no way they could shoot it down from the ground or elsewhere. I speculated that it was an internal altitude-sensitive explosive...

[uncbuck]

ya'll are talking about the three astronauts/cosmonauts on the space station. There are several options. They have an escape pod, a soyez (russian) craft; a russian missile launch with a pick up; a shuttle launch; or a wait it out a bit longer than original mission time.

[Dog]

Jay Barbree on NBC just said there are 200,000 parts to a shuttle...imgaine that.......whoa!

[cebadams]

Seems time for a 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

[EternalVigilance]

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center Houston, Texas 77058

Biographical Data

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LAUREL BLAIR SALTON CLARK, M.D. (COMMANDER, USN) NASA ASTRONAUT

PERSONAL DATA: Born in Iowa, but considers Racine, Wisconsin, to be her hometown. Married with one child. She enjoys scuba diving, hiking, camping, biking, parachuting, flying, traveling. Her parents reside in New Mexico.

EDUCATION: Graduated from William Horlick High School, Racine Wisconsin in 1979; received bachelor of science degree in zoology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1983 and doctorate in medicine from the same school in 1987.

ORGANIZATIONS: Aerospace Medical Association, Society of U.S. Naval Flight Surgeons.

AWARDS: Navy Commendation Medals (3); National Defense Medal, and Overseas Service Ribbon

EXPERIENCE: During medical school she did active duty training with the Diving Medicine Department at the Naval Experimental Diving Unit in March 1987. After completing medical school, Dr. Clark underwent postgraduate Medical education in Pediatrics from 1987-1988 at Naval Hospital Bethesda, Maryland. The following year she completed Navy undersea medical officer training at the Naval Undersea Medical Institute in Groton Connecticut and diving medical officer training at the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center in Panama City, Florida, and was designated a Radiation Health Officer and Undersea Medical Officer. She was then assigned as the Submarine Squadron Fourteen Medical Department Head in Holy Loch Scotland. During that assignment she dove with US Navy divers and Naval Special Warfare Unit Two Seals and performed numerous medical evacuations from US submarines. After two years of operational experience she was designated as a Naval Submarine Medical Officer and Diving Medical Officer. She underwent 6 months of aeromedical training at the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute in Pensacola, Florida and was designated as a Naval Flight Surgeon. She was stationed at MCAS Yuma, Arizona and assigned as Flight Surgeon for a Marine Corps AV-8B Night Attack Harrier Squadron (VMA 211). She made numerous deployments, including one overseas to the Western Pacific, practiced medicine in austere environments, and flew on multiple aircraft. Her squadron won the Marine Attack Squadron of the year for its successful deployment. She was then assigned as the Group Flight Surgeon for the Marine Aircraft Group (MAG 13). Prior to her selection as an astronaut candidate she served as a Flight Surgeon for the Naval Flight Officer advanced training squadron (VT-86) in Pensacola, Florida. LCDR Clark is Board Certified by the National Board of Medical Examiners and holds a Wisconsin Medical License. Her military qualifications include Radiation Health Officer, Undersea Medical Officer, Diving Medical Officer, Submarine Medical Officer, and Naval Flight Surgeon. She is a Basic Life Support Instructor, Advanced Cardiac Life Support Provider, Advanced Trauma Life Support Provider, and Hyperbaric Chamber Advisor.

NASA EXPERIENCE: Selected by NASA in April 1996, Dr. Clark reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1996. After completing two years of training and evaluation, she was qualified for flight assignment as a mission specialist. From July 1997 to August 2000 Dr. Clark worked in the Astronaut Office Payloads/Habitability Branch. She is currently assigned to the crew of STS-107 scheduled for launch in 2003.

JANUARY 2003

[hole_n_one]

#239 is a heat tile from the shuttle

[Movemout]

"S-Turns, are nt they? Helps slow down??? "

Yep. S-Turns are part of the energy management coming into the HAC. They have to get rid of the excess energy so that they do not come in too hot.

[Wphile]

Politicians now on TV saying they've been cutting NASA's budget too much.

Hogwash. This is ALWAYS their answer. Remember the discovery accident? Sheesh...it was due to a pretty simple mathematical error. And what about the Mars Lander? Wasn't that because they forgot to convert to metric or something like that?

Sorry, more funding isn't the answer.

[wizardoz]

The media is VERY CAREFULLY avoiding showing us ANY reaction in the Arab world and I can't help but be certain they are jubilant.

Yes. I'll be checking the MEMRI website later.

[A Citizen Reporter]

Not that I understand this at all, but did you read the live thread that leadpenny was running as it happenned, while watching NASA channel?

"The Columbia was making four drastic turns over the western US to dissapate speed. That's the last they heard from it. 41 posted on 02/01/2003 8:21 AM CST by leadpenny [ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies | Report Abuse ]"

[Mamzelle]

We depended on oneway rockets (Russian) to get most of the heavy stuff up there. Those were pretty dependable. The ISS does not have to be abandoned.

[snopercod]

The only 5' diameter spherical metal tanks that I know of on the shuttle are the LH2 and LOX dewars. The other tanks in the midbody are smaller.

I wonder if the crew module made it intact (being roughly spherical).

Gawd, I wonder what happened to the SpaceLab...

[Howlin]

Far out.

[AshleyMontagu]

Shep on Fox said that the last time she was on a flight she screwed up a satellite launch, forcing two other astronauts to go outside and clean up her mess. That's where the bonehead remark comes from.

[steveegg]

I think that the safe gear speed is about 250-300 knots, so I doubt that the gear would be down much before 10 miles out.

As for the significance of the tire pressure (it could also have been overpressure) or the apparent contact with the wing by a piece of the external tank, that is all inferred at this point. More from Spaceflight Now's STS-107 mission status page

1404 GMT (9:04 a.m. EST)

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We're getting reports from Texas of debris behind the shuttle's plasma trail during reentery.

1401 GMT (9:01 a.m. EST)

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Columbia is out of communications with flight controllers in Houston. Now 15 minutes from landing time.

1359 GMT (8:59 a.m. EST)

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At an altitude of 40 miles, shuttle Columbia has entered Texas.

1357 GMT (8:57 a.m. EST)

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The shuttle is now 43 miles over New Mexico. Columbia is now reversing its bank to the left to further reduce speed.

1356 GMT (8:56 a.m. EST)

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Columbia's speed is now about 15,000 miles per hour as it streaks over northern Arizona.

1355 GMT (8:55 a.m. EST)

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The shuttle is now soaring over the southern portion of Nevada. Columbia set for touchdown at Kennedy Space Center in Florida in about 20 minutes.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2003
1353 GMT (8:53 a.m. EST)

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Columbia is now crossing the California coastline.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2003
1351 GMT (8:51 a.m. EST)

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Altitude 47 miles. Speed 16,400 miles per hour.

1349 GMT (8:49 a.m. EST)

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Columbia is beginning the first in a series of banks to scrub off speed as it plunges into the atmosphere. These turns basically remove the energy Columbia built up during launch. This first bank is to the right.

[hchutch]

Looks like some sort of tile failure...

[Darlin']

"I think the motorcade is to reassure folks. "

Yes, that may be true.

[michaelt]

Why don't you read her bio before popping off like that.

[Redcloak]

Notice the missing tiles on underside of wing....that's considered to be normal I expect...

Yes, a certain amount of damage is normal. Columbia actually sustained quite a bit of tile damage on her first mission. 16 were knocked off and another 148 were damaged. (The shockwave from the SRBs igniting caused the damage. This lead to the waterfall sound suppression system that's turned on just before launch.) It would take quite a bit of damage to the tiles to cause a catastrophic failure.

[Peach]

He was a true Israeli hero and CNN, which had the best initial coverage this morning, mentions that fact often. I do wish they would understand our brave soldier are going to try and do the same thing by taking care of WMD in Iraq, but I guess they won't be called heroes for their sacrifice.