Yes, that's right Todd...Howlin and I are running a cover-up for NASA right here in FR. We get our orders from this guy.
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.
They've been flying these things for more than twenty years. The Challenger disaster--supposedly--taught NASA NEVER to take anything in stride. I would bet the ratio of scheduled to actual launches is probably nearly eight-to-one...they call them off quite frequently for the slightest provocation.
These things are sensored up the wazoo. So what went wrong? (It's a rhetorical question, folks; don't bother telling me that it's going to take a lot of investigation to find out. I do forensic engineering, as it happens).
What I mean is, not "what happened" but "how could it have happened, so catastrophically, without anyone having the slightest clue?"
True, out of the four major catastrophes involving extreme danger to the crew, although the emergencies all came on suddenly and, well, "catastrophically," only Apollo 13 offered a chance for the crew to recover from the disaster. Apollo 1, Challenger and now Columbia were all, one minute routine conversations with Mission Control, the next moment all crew dead (Apollo One happened on the pad, and it's true that the guys weren't dead instantly like in the two shuttles, but it was over in less than a minute).
That indicates that probably sudden destruction and death are going to be the rule rather than the exception when it comes to space flight.
But I just can't believe that things were so lax, that no one had any idea (or if they did, they were once again ignored as in the case of Challenger).
So that leads me to the vague uneasy fear that this was sabotage. NOT during the flight, and not from the ground, but some time--maybe quite some time--before the Columbia left the earth.
Given that there are forces with huges resources at their disposal, who hate us and wish us destroyed; given that there was an Israeli air force officer on that shuttle--the first and only one--and given the unfortunate regularity with which employees of our government, such as Hanson, Pollard and many others, are willing to sell out for filthy lucre even if it means that good Americans have to die so they can retire early and wealthy, it's just too much of a possibility--even though the probability might be low--for me to ignore.
After all, had someone told me that with our vaunted "airport security," not one but FOUR commercial aircraft would be commandeered by boxcutter-wielding freaks from the deepest pits of hell, and three of them flown into major buildings, destroying a chunk of the PENTAGON, for goshsake, and LEVELING the Twin Towers, I'd have thought him out of his mind.
Things that make you go "hm."
I never said that Todd, I simply corrected you each and everytime that you shot your mouth off, pretty much as I am doing right now.
I think you have serious personal issues that you need to deal with, it's painfully obvious to most. I'm not sure of whether is a question of self-image, or maybe some medical issue, but I am fairly certain that you are either disturbed, or suffer from a potentially fatal case of under-developed intellectual capacity.
I don't know what happened to the shuttle, and that's MY point, but you have no facts, you have suppositions.
I will say that you get a tremendous amount of mileage from these rants of yours, it has ocurred that this in fact is your thing---like my kids, you just want some attention.
What will happen here is that you'll stick to your story until NASA completely proves you wrong-something that would shut most people up-which would then give you a theme for another thirty or fourty "Columbia DisasterCover-Up" threads.
It's about getting some attention, isn't Todd?
Yes, that's right Todd...Howlin and I are running a cover-up for NASA right here in FR. We get our orders from this guy.
I have long suspected as much....
Actually, the report is much more sinister than a simple wear and tear issue. The guy in charge of inspecting these parts of the Shuttle makes that clear that this was a huge amount and that the amounts had been increasing. (Since the Freon-less formula had been used.)
Thank you for letting me know about the press conference today. There is no need for a personal attack, however. Unfortunately, I did not know there was a NASA news conference scheduled for today, but I probably would not have been able to access it anyway as I have spent the past week in the hospital with my daughter. The hospital's TV channel selection is so limited, they don't even have CNN.
Given my current inability to see much news, I have no idea which "stupid things" you are referring to which would have been answered for me. Please fill me in.
A CITIZEN REPORTER ADDED: "BTW, your writing style is very similiar to another freeper.....beginning with ex.....?"
Apparently, you don't like my writing style. I have no idea which "other freeper" you are referring to. Prior to this past week's hospitalization, I was out of town for the better part of the previous two weeks, so I am not recognizing who or what writing style you are referring to. Sorry you apparently don't like it.
"freon-less"
Uh, can we back up for a second here? Is this "freon-less" formula what the NASA guy meant by "environment friendly"?
Am I correct in believing that this change in formula was caused by pressure from enviro-whackjobs??
AM I GETTING THE FEELING THAT THE ENVIRO-SCUM MAY HAVE BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS DISASTER???
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