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.

[Dr. Zoo]

Some time after 911, OBL did aknowlege his involvement on at least one of his tapes. But you are rite, no one jumped on it real fast like a lot of terrorist groups do.

Yaelle, after the OKC bombing, Clinton was privately jubliant that it increased his poll numbers. The biting lip, "Ron Brown" crocidile-type tears etc.

[mystery-ak]

Fox needs to call in the heavyweights and get this weekend crew off the air.

[krodriguesdc]

I do believe that God is talking to those who are listening...

do not take my words out of context...

those of us who are religious feel this way...

[Arkinsaw]

Reports have said the shuttle may have been breaking up as early as California.

Don't they do the S-Turns out that way? Since commo was lost right after they entered the last leg of the S-Turn that would make sense.

[valleygal]

President about to come on...

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

STS-107 Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon, of Tel Aviv, Israel, left, gives the thumbs up sign as he leaves the Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center (news - web sites) with fellow crew members, including, Mission Specialist Laurel Clark, of Racine, Wis., early Thursday, Jan. 16, 2003, for a trip to Launch Pad 39-A and a liftoff onboard the space shuttle Columbia. Space shuttle Columbia apparently broke apart in flames as it streaked over Texas, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2003, toward its scheduled landing, killing all seven astronauts. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

[Darlin']

"They said the female astronaut, the one who was born in India, made some mistakes on a previous shuttle mission that other astronauts had to correct via a space walk to retrieve a satellite

I keep wondering whether she was piloting. Also whether she was Islamic or Hindu or Christian. It also crossed my mind that few others would be given a second chance... why her? Twofer"

Oh, good grief. I certainly hope lurkers do not consider that statement to be atypical of FReeper mentality and intelligence. That particular astronaut immigrated here in the early 80's, she was a scientist not a pilot. She would not have been flying the shuttle at any time. For the record, the pilots weren't flying it at that point either. It was computer controlled.

[exhaustedmomma]

Thanks for that info!! That is good news.

[dep]

nah. they were backchanneling tire overpressure stuff. communications about something going wrong, re. tire overpressure, had been going on, just not on nasa select.

dep

[myrabach]

If you listen very carefully what they are saying about terrorism is that its not possible to externally from the ground or from outer space to bring the shuttle down. They did not ever say that externally on the shuttle it was not terrorism.

I don't want to be out of line here, but I think they are covering themselves about the external chances but have not said anything about internally.

I also think that it is significant that the President has returned to DC via motorcade and not by helicopter... it is bad weather in DC, but I understand, not bad enough to hinder air travel.

[CFC__VRWC]

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.

That was my very first thought when I heard about this - the shuttles are old machines. Now I know that commercial aircraft, with proper maintenance, can last 30+ years before having to be taken out of service. However, it seems to me that the stresses put on the shuttle's airframe would be much greater than those placed on a Boeing jet, causing the frame to wear out more quickly.

As has been said elsewhere though, everything at this point is idle speculation.

I can still vivdly remember where I was and what I was doing when I heard about the Challenger explosion - that was something I surely didn't need to have brought back to me with this. May God bless us and the families of the Columbia crew.

[exhaustedmomma]

Just announced a makeshift memorial set up by area citizens @ Johnson Space Center... FYI.

[FITZ]

It always bothers me when they prematurely rule things in or out even before they have any information one way or another.

That bothers me too. In this case, I don't see how it could be terrorism, it would almost have to have come from within NASA if it were and that would seem very unlikely. I think though they lead to more speculation when they rule things out before ANY investigation has been made, it's almost an insult on people's intelligence when they claim things before they know anything yet.

[6ppc]

Actually it's more like 10-15 seconds.

[bootless]

I noticed they were quite precise in their statement, though, that there was "no evidence of terrorism from the ground."

Naturally, they don't have any evidence from altitude. As a pilot, though inactive, there is always that internal dichotomy following an accident: the reaction of your heart, and the reaction of your brain and the drive to find out what happened.

[ladysusan]

Joe Barton (R) Ennis, Texas on FOX 4 saying we should not put the space program on hold. He's NASA space science sub committee member. Says next generation shuttles may be the answer to accidents like this; once this accident is investigated. "Receptive to funding a new generation of shuttles." Will temporarily ground all shuttles, then retrieve the men on the space station.

[steveegg]

The shuttles were designed to last roughly 50 missions. This was Columbia's 28th, which is not the most that a shuttle has. Discovery (first flight 1984, 3 years after Columbia's) has 30, while Atlantis (first flight 1985) has 26. Even Endeavour (the replacement for Challenger; first flight 1992) already has 19 flights.

[general_re]

Okay, that makes sense, but I'm pretty sure they were still in contact as they passed from NM to the Panhandle...

[berkeleybeej]

They have not ruled it out - they have simply stated that there are no indications of external events contributing to this tragedy.

[Mamzelle]

I just read the FR thread that was started by leadpenny, in cheerful excitement in the wee hours of a California morning, to chart the return of the Columbia. I think it is a "keeper" if we have a museum of historic threads here on FR. A line of Freepers, joyfully watching the streak of light and typing in their happiness, only to shrink in dismay as it breaks into pieces like a firework...profound...