Shuttle Pic--SIDE VIEW!

WFAA | 02/01/03 | GRRRRR

[GRRRRR]

This is the picture that Rintense and I have seen...from the WFAA video...you can see the shuttle from the REAR clearly, and it is traveling from FRAME RIGHT TO FRAME LEFT--look closely, you can certainly see the shuttle's main engines at the rear, also the PROFILE of the shuttle from underneath...and in the video, it's moving in the direction of the left wing...

[hole_n_one]

There is no way to tell what that picture is depicting.

[HighWheeler]

Notice that the image is almost symmetrical about the vertical.

This is not part of the shuttle problem, it is a problem with the focus. If you watch the video, you can see the cameraman re-focus immediately after this moment, and the flaring dis-appears.

If this was going 12,500 mph the flames and debris would be streched out to one side, and the leading edge would be sheared to the back.

[GRRRRR]

If the shuttle was skidding into the atmosphere, LEADING with it's left side wing, then the entire left side data systems would indeed be failed and the sensors would be "off scale low" as the NASA news conf people are saying...

[Godebert]

"Any idea what the top debris item in #47 might be?"

That object is an oxgyen storage container. It's about 3-4 feet in diameter.

[Alberta's Child]

See my comments in post #57. This image is NOT symmetrical about the Y-axis -- there is clearly a narrow stream emanating from the top of the image (the "rear" of the shuttle, if it is pointing away from the camera) and streaming away to the right.

[HighWheeler]

great shots holeinone

[Ichneumon]

If the shuttle was skidding into the atmosphere, LEADING with it's left side wing, then the entire left side data systems would indeed be failed and the sensors would be "off scale low" as the NASA news conf people are saying...

You'd think the crew would have thought to mention that little fact when they verbally acknowledged the temperature readings...

[snopercod]

God, what a horrible thing to see. They were going sideways at Mach 18.3!

[FreedomCalls]

Well, I THINK, what we see is an extreme close up by the videographer.

It is not a "close-up." Do you know how large a lens would need to be to show the detail you claim to see (but I cannot) when the shuttle is at least 207,000 feet away? It's not possible. Was the videographer using a Hubble telescope attached to his camcorder?

I believe we see the shuttle moving from right to left, I think this shows the rear view of the shuttle, see the profile?

No, I don't see it. All I see is the outline of the iris diaphram from a Sony video camera.

It's wide at the bottom of the frame and narrows to the top...is the shuttle flying 90 degrees to the right? Is the LEFT WING leading the direction of travel? Has the shuttle yawed 90 degrees to the right?

Er..., no it's not, it's a lens flare. No it's not flying 90 degrees off. The left wing is not leading. The shuttle has not yawed. Do you understand the dynamics of flight through the atmosphere at Mach 18+? If the shuttle were in a non-stable attitude, it would be violently spinning out of control. When you lose you control surfaces you will not just continue on "90 degrees" out of proper attitude.

What you are seeing is in your imagination.

[July 4th]

I'll have to agree with that. I don't think this is the shuttle sideways, but something really bright playing tricks on the camcorder.

If the shuttle were turned sideways, I think it would have disintegrated in a fraction of a second in a huge ball of fire. The airframe was not designed to travel 90 degrees off-axis on reentry.

[alancarp]

If the shuttle was skidding into the atmosphere, LEADING with it's left side wing, then the entire left side data systems would indeed be failed and the sensors would be "off scale low" as the NASA news conf people are saying...

NASA indicates that the orbiter was performing well (i.e., pointing in the right direction) while these temperature events were, ah... accumulating.

[GRRRRR]

Who knows what was going on inside that crew compartment...if that thing was skidding along at what, Mach 18...12,900 MPH...as it was doing 40+ degree rolls to dissipate energy...what G-forces are being put on the the crew members...7, 8, 9 G's?? They may have all been blacked out?? Who knows....

[HighWheeler]

The near symmetry is there about the y axis. It is within 10% of perfect symmetry along the entire y axis.

No physical material can spew or explode at 12,500 mph and not smear out into a trail. This is a light imaging problem.

I guarantee this is nothing and it will not be used by NASA as any kind of evidence.

[Samurai_Jack]

Excuse me... But if this image is moving from Right to Left and we are looking at the Back end of the shuttle here... This aircraft is in a Flat Spin, and WHERE is the RUDDER?

[ez]

Now that you say it, I saw this live and was disoriented. It appeared I was looking at the Shuttle from the rear...this is in real time, no momentary flashes, and then the camera panned back and I was thought..."Why is it moving from right to left? It should have been moving away at the angle I saw.

It appears that the Shuttle went into a fishtail at some point.

[Alberta's Child]

I understand what you are saying here, but I can't help but think back to the Challenger disaster in 1986. That image was clear even at an altitude of 48,000 feet, and that was using equipment that is now 17 years old.

I'm not sure what exactly this is, but I'm willing to bet this point in the doomed flight's descent is long after the NASA people on the ground knew that something was wrong.

[GRRRRR]

You needn't be rude...I completely understand the flight dynamics and the likely physics acting on the craft...we are all interested in any tidbit of information, Freepers are a curious bunch and we like to share our curiosity with others...you may be totally right about the lens flare...but you don't have to be condescending about it...sheesh

[arkady_renko]

Umm... The craft was at something like 40 miles from the camera. No consumer grade hand held video camera is going to give you a close-up image of an object the size of a couple of busses from that distance.

A_R

[Alberta's Child]

I think this image was taken a long time (in terms of seconds) after contact with the ground had been broken off. In fact, when you see this clip live you can see that at least one substantial piece had already separated from the main body of the shuttle. And no debris contrail is visible from the ground at that point, either.

[alancarp]

I guarantee this is nothing and it will not be used by NASA as any kind of evidence.

Agreed -- that video is essentially beyond the zoom range of the camera - and obviously no details of any sort are visible at 38 miles away.