Posted on 02/02/2003 6:35:58 PM PST by TLBSHOW
Astronauts doomed from the start
THE seven astronauts on space shuttle Columbia may have been doomed in the first moments after they were shot into space 16 days ago.
NASA officials are investigating whether loose foam from an external tank that struck Columbia's left wing during takeoff contributed to its disintegration under the stress of re-entering the Earth's atmosphere – one of the most dangerous parts of any shuttle mission. The last words between mission control at Houston and shuttle commander Rick Husband gave no clue of impending disaster:
Mission control: "Columbia, Houston, we see your tyre pressure messages and we did not copy your last."
Cdr Husband: "Roger, but . . ." No more was heard.
The homeward-bound space shuttle broke up in flames and trails of smoke and vapour over Texas yesterday, killing all seven astronauts aboard.
The disaster struck 16 minutes before Columbia, the oldest in the shuttle fleet at 22 years, was due to land at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Echoing the tragedy of space shuttle Challenger, which stunned the world 17 years last week, Columbia exploded at an altitude of about 63km as it was travelling 18 times the speed of sound.
The explosion scattered debris and human remains across hundreds of square kilometres in Texas and Louisiana and shook houses in the area around Nacogdoches, Texas.
Police in Hemphill, eastern Texas, said human remains believed to be from the crew of Columbia had been recovered.
"I can confirm human remains from the space shuttle Columbia have been found in the debris," Hemphill police spokeswoman Karen Steele said, declining to elaborate.
A burnt torso and thigh bone were found on a Texan country road while elsewhere a scorched helmet and arm patch from one of the space suits were discovered.
In a televised address to the nation, an emotional President George W. Bush paid homage to the astronauts, saying, "The crew of the shuttle Columbia did not return safely to earth but we can pray that they are safely home".
The sparse information NASA had yesterday seemed to point to failures on the craft's left side.
Sensors on the shuttle's left wing and in the left wheel gear detected a sudden temperature increase or failure minutes before the vehicle exploded 63km over Texas as it flew at more than 20,000km/h.
NASA had concluded only two days ago there was no serious damage to the tiles, but was uncertain last night.
"As we look at that now in hindsight we cannot discount that there might be a connection," stunned shuttle manager Ron Dittemore said.
Investigators have all but ruled out terrorism as a cause because the shuttle's high altitude and extreme speed effectively put it out of range of an attack from the ground.
Officials are focusing on the extent of damage sustained during take-off.
Experts said many other malfunctions could have destroyed the shuttle during re-entry, when a cocoon of hot plasma envelops the spacecraft.
Columbia's underside and the leading edges of its wings would have been subjected to some of the highest temperatures during re-entry – up to 1650C – as friction from air rushing by heated its surface, experts said.
During this critical period, computers control the shuttle's angle of descent as it flies with its nose pointed about 40 degrees upward; the slightest deviation from the ideal orientation can expose underprotected parts of the vessel, causing it to burn up.
The shuttle's chief defences against an inferno are about 28,000 heat-resistant tiles attached to its vulnerable aluminium exterior. Experts have worried about the tiles' tendency to break off during flights since the earliest days of experimental test flights.
Relatives of the astronauts – six Americans and an Israeli – watched in horror while waiting at Cape Canaveral's VIP area to welcome their loved ones.
Residents in Texas, Louisiana and Alabama reported hearing the explosion as the shuttle fell apart at more than 18 times the speed of sound.
Bob Molter from Palestine, Texas, said he had seen the shuttle break up in the sky.
"There was a big boom that shook the house for more than a minute, and I went outside because I thought there had been a train accident," he said.
"I looked up and saw the trails of smoke zig-zagging, going across the sky."
Thousand of pieces of debris landed over vast areas of Texas and Louisiana which experts said may take years to find. People were warned not to touch any wreckage because it might be contaminated with toxic propellants.
President George W. Bush rushed to the White House from where he described the disaster in a televised address as a national tragedy.
"The Columbia is lost. There are no survivors," he said, before later ordering all flags be flown at half-mast.
The crew, six of whom were married and five of whom had children, were relatively inexperienced. Only three had flown in space before.
NASA has ruled out human error.
Well, I'm just an ordinary engineer, not a rocket scientist.
But yeah, it is pretty amazing that we haven't had more fatal accidents, given the complexity of the machinery. Although I don't have any figures, I believe fatal accidents were much more common among the early aviation pioneers who followed in the footsteps of the Wright Brothers.
We've certainly come a long way since then. The technology is far more complicated than what Orville and Wilbur invented. It really is quite amazing that we can master such complexity as safely as we do.
But still...
Hopefully the investigation will get to the bottom of it. I believe that a retired Admiral has been put in charge of the investigation, which MAY mean they really want the truth since they didn't put a political hack like Danforth or Kissinger in charge of it.
Since it's likely that none of the "higher-ups" will need to cover their tails with this incident, as with Waco, OKC, 9/11, etc.... there might actually be a real investigation for a change.
Let us know when you discover that Utopia doesn't exist.
You see, unlike you, I still will stick by what I said last night.
See how easy that is. I don't have to wobble or grasp for words because I stated my opinion last night and I haven't had any reason to change it yet. I don't have to worry about what my last lie was because I always tell the truth and I don't say things I cannot back up.
Now, you have been all over these threads today, stating that the shuttle exploded, and that it was in trouble from the point of re-entry and that it was ON FIRE.......
Luis asked you a simple question.
Trying to throw the discussion over to me is NOT an answer to Luis.
Answer him.
Is this a correct characterization of what you meant?
To: Lancey Howard
Correct, accidents don't just happen. There is a cause.
And sometimes the cause is that we simply don't live in a perfect world.
I'm not the one who shot my mouth off about that. That was you.
I said very plainly that I'd wait to hear what NASA had to say.
You're the one who cannot remember what you said.
You're absolutely right Willie, everything is easily avoidable in retrospect.
Yes, it sprayed on impact with the wing. I wouldn't think foam would spray. Looks like to me that a large chunk of ice damaged some tiles on take-off, this damage caused more tiles to fall off over California leading to burn-through at the descent's maximum-heat phase over Texas over-heating and popping the tires early in the burn-through then on to catastrophic break-up. This is my guess until any more evidence shows otherwise.
(We are simply discussers, it's OK to guess. Directed to some here complaining of these discussions)
I take that as a NO RESPONSE on your part.
Fraud.
How do you know that these tiles fell off over California?
To: Lancey Howard
Correct, accidents don't just happen. There is a cause.
103 posted on 02/02/2003 11:53 PM EST by TLBSHOW
Howlin, I don't even understand what that means.
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