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.

[Ichneumon]

Dog how is that possible?? I mean they fell 200,000 feet..

Falling from 200,000 feet isn't really any different than falling from 1,000 feet -- it just takes longer. Atmospheric drag limits the speed at which falling objects will "max out". And if they start falling at a higher speed (like 12,000 mph upon re-entry), they'll slow down to terminal velocity (again, due to drag) if given enough time to do so.

[steveegg]

Interesting. I'll have to see if I can catch that.

It sounds like a wing broke apart, probably due to heat.

[Ichneumon]

I do know that if she had been a white male, she would never have flown again.

What you "know" is wrong.

[valleygal]

pople=people, sorry.

[ChemistCat]

http://artists.mp3s.com/artist_song/2475/2475506.html

I posted this earlier on another thread. There's a version somewhere out there that is not as "hard"-rock as this one, more folksong, that was performed publically at a science fiction convention days after Challenger exploded. A lovely tribute to Challenger, and it still makes me cry.

I am so so sad today. My kids are so happy because their grandma is coming. It's a schizoid household today...they are too young to stay melancholic for long.

[Dog]

Got it!!!!

[kattracks]

backhoe, i tried to get all of the early articles on this thread.

Shuttle explodes Over Texas

[exhaustedmomma]

Methodist church. I am not sure which one... it came across rather quickly (I am watching NEWS24Houston... the new cable channel.) I would imagine the one off FM518 near Southshore Harbor. I didn't catch the time. I will post it if they say more... if you hear, post info. Thanks!

[bootless]

Thanks for posting that...

[DoughtyOne]

The shuttle Columbia was refurbished in the last 18 months to two years. It was reportedly in good shape. I just heard this on the tube less than half an hour ago. I admit the photo does show what looks like a tired vehicle, but I'm not sure the date it was taken.

[cgk]

anyone on the west coast (ca) look up early this morning and see those weird smoke trails across the sky towards the east that dropped down at the end? i put a call into nbc news room here locally and they said it is possible because of the altitude that they could be seen. especially if as i read here on FR that the debris trail is as far west as new mexico...

eerie to look at and even more completely heartbreaking to see it live and not on tv

mrs k

[mhking]

Live Video Streams:
BBC World: http://202.174.129.100/bbc300k
BBC News 24: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsa/n5ctrl/live/now2.ram
CTV NewsNet: http://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/ctvlivehigh.asf
WFAA/Dallas (ABC): http://playlist.yahoo.com/makeplaylist.dll?id=5882
KHOU/Houston (CBS): http://playlist.yahoo.com/makeplaylist.dll?id=206531
CNN: http://www.itcom.itd.umich.edu/streaming/ram/avs03.ram
FOX News Channel: http://umtv-live.rs.itd.umich.edu/itcom/avs01.ram
NBC; NASA TV; MSNBC; KXAS/Dallas: http://www.msnbc.com/m/lv/default.asp?0cv=CA01
WKMG/Orlando-Daytona Beach: http://mfile.akamai.com/7882/live/reflector:23942.ram
WSVN/Miami: http://web2.wsvn.com/video/wsvn_broadband.asx
CNN/Newsnet - Raw Video (IBSYS News Sites): http://mfile.akamai.com/7882/live/reflector:23961.ram

[steveegg]

IIRC, a Marine pilot once hand-flew a shuttle to a landing, just to see if it could be done.

[Focault's Pendulum]

Touching the face of God, once again.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

"Why is the President returning from Camp David to the WH via car rather than Marine 1?"

One thing I can't help but think is, this was the first flight of an Isreali into space, a pilot involved in blowing up Saddam's first nuclear program. I bet Saddam is just laughing his head off right now, although I doubt he has the technology to do something like this, at least, not without help. But I would not be surprised if someone in NASA with an Islamic sounding name is found dead some time in the future. I'm quite sure that Israel is wondering about a possible 'inside job'. They might even consider whacking someone who only seems suspicious.

Then again, maybe it was a crack. The media was concerned enough to make reports prior to this flight. I just believe in considering every possibility. That is what this forum is about. We aren't here to console people. We aren't an arm of the RNC. We are a forum that seeks the Truth, pokes fun at the enemies of Truth, and boldly considers what others dare not say.

[6ppc]

This is my personal speculation: The object that hit the leading edge of the left wing on takeoff damaged one or more tiles. During reentry this allowed heat to penetrate to the wing surface metal which melted causing more tiles to strip off and more melting metal. The landing gear is in the wing close to the root and the heat penetration caused the tire pressure to rise which led to the tire pressure indication. Finally the video clip I mentioned in an earlier post appears to show the shuttle flying sideways, left side leading, which (I think) would be the way it would act (at least for a short time) if the left wing came off.

[Windsong]

So which one is the Isreal?

[null and void]

Is the huge contrail we are seeing in So. CA from the shuttle? KFI radio says it is. Why is it over our sky, or did it blow up this way?

Not visible from Garden Grove. Overcast.

[DoughtyOne]

As described on the tube, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and possibly Mexico. Reports have said the shuttle may have been breaking up as early as California. Thirty miles up the debris traveling at 12,500 mph, it would carry quite some distance, if not burn up before it hit the ground. I'd suspect there might be an offside chance Arizona might seem some debree. I may be off base on that.

[steveegg]

Sounds entirely reasonable to me.