NASA Press Conference LIVE THREAD

Fox, CNN, networks, NASA TV | February 2, 2003 | NASA

[snopercod]

Any time now...

[_Jim]

I am almost positive the military has some sort of ground based scope that could track it.

Why not send up an SR-71 and snap a shot through an up-turned camera? < /obtuseness >

[Balata]

They would have also been out of line of sight.

[snopercod]

dittemore just body-slammed some idiot asking about mothballing Columbia:

"I think it's academic to talk about Columbia".

Yup, Dittemore gets the "Ashcroft Award."

[Fitzcarraldo]

There are guarded "Arm" and "Dn" pushbuttons on both panel F8 and F8. The computer cannot deploy the gear.

F8 and F8?

Sure there's not a layer where the signals from the switches pass through some kind of "black box" before activating the gear?

[The Great Satan]

The drag most likely came from the roughening of the aerodynamic surface caused by the shedding of insulating tiles, the reason for the rising temperatures, sensor loss and ultimate burn-through. The on-board computer automatically applied a slight trim correction to compensate for the increased left-side drag.

[Karsus]

I should have said 13.

Opps. I am not quite old enough to have used roman numerals...

:->

[snopercod]

Switching to Huntsville...

[RedBloodedAmerican]

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/nasatv/index.html

[fooman]

I agree with your reasoning and love your motto

[Torie]

The NASA guy just said this vehicle has a future, when he doens't know all the facts. He has made a leap of faith, which is not the scientific method. The vehicle strikes me as too complex and fragile for the stress it is put under. It may be unsafe to fly at any speed (unsafe in that the odds of failing are too high to tolerate given the reasonably anticipated payoff). We shall see, but I suspect it is grounded for a long time, and perhaps forever. Granted my opinion on this matter is more worthless than most. But if I had responsibility in this area, I would be asking a lot of questions. Yep, a lot. When I am ignorant that is my MO. Keep asking questions until the deponents have come to totally loathe me.

[Karsus]

Well, doesn't NASA have most of the SR-71's now for high alt research?

[Gracey]

it's DittEmore. No problem. He used to be my boss at NASA so I always spell his name correctly.

[HairOfTheDog]

Re: Yep. That explains why we lost the crew of Apollo XIII.

What timeline are you from? Apollo 8 circled the Moon and returned.

Ummmm.... Apollo XIII is 13, and I think Karsus's spin was that ingenuity and quick thinking solved a problem in that flight that was not planned for, and saved the crew.

[Jael]

Someone else posted in on another thread, so I have been researching it today. They guy who wrote the original article is NASA. It's a good read.

Chilling though. http://ltp.arc.nasa.gov/space/team/journals/katnik/sts87-12-23.html

[snopercod]

Like your screen name. Are you new or just switching names? No need to answer...

[TLBSHOW]

#34 NASA finds Cal. observer's observations "important".

[HairOfTheDog]

I don't think the robot arm was even aboard the flight this time. Someone else will correct me if I am wrong.

[_Jim]

Either way, columbia was not an ISS equipped shuttle

Maybe out next move should be a space-based Motel 6, wrecker service and garage all wrapped in one ...