Posted, Feb. 1, 2003
Updated, Feb. 1, 2003
| Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster Coverage Resources, Story Ideas and More
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| By Al Tompkins |
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 Shuttle Links and Background
WFAA-TV Dallas' video of the debris streaking across the sky can be viewed at A listing of all police agencies in Texas could be a valuable resource for debris location. It's at http://www.texaspolicecentral.com/txpds.html A listing of all Texas Newspaper websites and Television websites is at http://www.usnpl.com/txnews.html
You can find background on STS 107 from NASA here: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/ Photos and background of the crew are at Space.com. The sites includes interviews with each crew member while they were in space on this mission. It's certainly worth linking to at http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sts107_bios.html The Crew
Background on the Space Station -- including a 3D view -- is at http://www.discovery.com/stories/science/iss/iss.html NASA TV online is at Shuttle radio transmissions online (this is a file, not live) is at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/updates/sto127.html Here is a master list of all of the experiments on board STS 107: If you are near a research university, you should check this extensive list to see if you had any experiments on this flight: http://spaceresearch.nasa.gov/sts-107/107_payload.pdf I see experiments listed from Columbus, Ohio; Louisiana; Italy; Germany; Amsterdam; Paris; Canada; Harvard University; Alabama; Colorado; Maryland. There are many more. There are some interesting experiments from school students including an ant experiment from a high school in Syracuse and a silk work experiment from a 5th-grader in China.
Here are some stats about this mission: http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/fdf/107quicklook1.html Here is a log of events for STS 107:
Howstuffworks.com has a great explainer about space shuttles at: http://www.howstuffworks.com/space-shuttle.htm It includes information, like this: "It is possible to hold a space shuttle tile by the edge and then heat up the center of the tile with a blow torch. The tile insulates so well that no heat makes it out to the edges." The tiles have been a problem for the shuttle since before the first flight. There are several theories about something having hit some of the tiles upon liftoff. Another possiblity is that the shuttle came back into earth's orbit at an improper angle. Here is a very good question and answer on how shuttles land: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0 IRE, the Investigative Reporters and Editors association, has a terrific resource page online to help you find and investigate other parts of the shuttle story. For example, IRE is pulling together a list of contractors on shuttle flights: http://www.ire.org/inthenews.html
Special thanks to Paul Nixon for his help collecting these Space Shuttle Columbia Breaks Up Over Texas: http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20030201/ columbia_breaks_graphic.gif (Graphic, Reuters via Yahoo! News ) Photo Montage: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/flash/photo/nation/spaceshuttle/ 03mission/index_frames.htm (Flash, Washington Post) STS-107 Quick-Look Mission Facts and Figures: http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/fdf/107quicklook1.html (HTML Table, Space Flight Now) Shuttle Timeline 1981-2002: http://www.msnbc.com/modules/spaceshuttle/default.asp (Interactive Timeline, MSNBC) Space Shuttle Orbiter: http://www.guardian.co.uk/spacedocumentary/flash/ 0,5543,179471,00.html (Flash, The Guardian) Milestones in Space Shuttle History: http://www.cnn.com/interactive/space/0010/ timeline.pop.up/frameset.exclude.html (Interactive Timeline, CNN) Shuttle Flight from Re-entry to Touchdown: http://www.cnn.com/interactive/space/9907/space.shuttle.flight/ frameset.exclude.html (Interactive Graphic, CNN) Radar images A radar image of the debris field can be found here: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/radar/ loop/ds.p20-r/si.kshv.shtml Weather radar shows debris field: http://images.chron.com/content/news/photos/03/02/01/noaarad.jpg (Image, Houston Chronicle) Here is a radar picture at the time of the reentry: http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/030201columbia/radarimage.html (the debris scatters across the screen) A nation chronicles, mourns The Internet is an important resource for events like this. Serious web bloggers collect and chronicle events, like this one at http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/ 030201columbia/radarimage.html The Internet also becomes a place where, especially on weekends, the world can collect around a sort of electronic hearth and collectively grieve. Chat boards and postings are building on all sorts of sites, including Beliefnet's prayer circles at http://www.beliefnet.com/milestones/ commemoration.asp?milestoneTypeID=6&milestoneID=40792
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