Shuttle Columbia breaks up during re-enry
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Space is a such a dangerous place, I for one am a strong beliver in manned spaceflight, but the shuttle fleet will be grounded (this much I am certain) I can allready see ahead for the next few months and I fear the same argumets against such activity will surface.
NASA has no replacements and the Space Station is incomplete, I think that this will put a end to these missions as there is no other vehicle capable of transporting the payload required to carry on with this activity.
We have 3 astronauts currently on the Space Station and the only way to bring them home or replace expendables is via the Russians. This will not be enough for continued operations.
My thoughts go to the family, friends and also the whole NASA community.
RIP Columbia STS-107
1979-2003
NASA has no replacements and the Space Station is incomplete, I think that this will put a end to these missions as there is no other vehicle capable of transporting the payload required to carry on with this activity.
We have 3 astronauts currently on the Space Station and the only way to bring them home or replace expendables is via the Russians. This will not be enough for continued operations.
My thoughts go to the family, friends and also the whole NASA community.
RIP Columbia STS-107
1979-2003
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Phone-interview witness in Texas reports (reliably or otherwise), of having seen what appears to have been a commercial airliner "near by." CNN emphasizing that eyewitness reports are often found to be incorrect and the aircraft would not have been anywhere near the shuttle.
Would you folks fly "under" the shuttle on its descent, or is there a clearance zone for a just-in-case scenario?
Would you folks fly "under" the shuttle on its descent, or is there a clearance zone for a just-in-case scenario?
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Profile of the Clumbia crew.
Source: Fox News/AP
Source: Fox News/AP
To try and head off some of the wilder speculation, this is being considered as an 'ageing aircraft' problem rather than a terrorist problem. The Shuttle Columbia was the oldest, first launched in 1981 and was on the 27th mission out of an expected 100 mission capability.
Source: Fox News/AP
Commander Rick Husband has just one other spaceflight under his belt and already he's flying as commander. That's a rarity.
"I think a lot of it has to do with being in the right place at the right time, for starters," says Husband, 45, an Air Force colonel from Amarillo, Texas.
The former test pilot was selected as an astronaut in 1994 on his fourth try. He made up his mind as a child that that was what he was going to do with his life.
"It's been pretty much a lifelong dream and just a thrill to be able to get to actually live it out," he says.
Another lifelong passion: singing.
Husband, a baritone, has been singing in church choirs for years. He used to sing in barbershop quartets, back during his school days.
------
Pilot William McCool says one of the most nerve-racking parts of training for this scientific research mission was learning to draw blood -- from others.
Columbia's two pilots are exempted from invasive medical tests in orbit, like blood draws. That means he and his commander have to draw blood from their crewmates.
McCool felt bad practicing on NASA volunteers.
"I didn't want to inflict pain," he recalls. "We weren't really gathering science, so everything that they were going through was for my benefit, and I guess I felt bad a little bit."
The 41-year-old Navy commander, a father of three sons, graduated second in his 1983 class at the Naval Academy. He went on to test pilot school and became an astronaut in 1996. This is his first spaceflight.
McCool grew up in Lubbock, Texas.
------
Payload commander Michael Anderson loves flying, both in aircraft and spacecraft, but he dislikes being launched.
It's the risk factor. "There's always that unknown," he says.
Anderson, 43, the son of an Air Force man, grew up on military bases.
"I was always fascinated by science-fiction shows, shows like 'Star Trek' and 'Lost in +Space+,"' he says. "And going out of your house and looking up and seeing jets fly by, that seemed like another very exciting thing to do. So I knew I wanted to fly airplanes, and I knew I wanted to do something really exciting, and I always had a natural interest in science.
"So it all kind of came together at a very young age, and I thought being an astronaut would be the perfect job."
Anderson was flying for the Air Force when NASA chose him in 1994 as one of only a handful of black astronauts. He traveled to Russia's Mir space station in 1998.
He is now a lieutenant colonel and in charge of Columbia's dozens of science experiments. His home is Spokane, Wash.
------
When Kalpana Chawla emigrated to the United States from India in the 1980s, she wanted to design aircraft. The space program was the furthest thing from her mind.
"That would be too far-fetched," says the 41-year-old engineer. But "one thing led to another," and she was chosen as an astronaut in 1994 after working at NASA's Ames Research Center and Overset Methods Inc. in Northern California.
On her only other spaceflight, in 1996, Chawla made a pair of mistakes that sent a science satellite tumbling out of control. Two other astronauts had to go out on a spacewalk to capture it.
"I stopped thinking about it after trying to figure out what are the lessons learned, and there are so many," she says. "After I had basically sorted that out, I figured it's time to really look at the future and not at the past."
She realizes some may see this flight as her chance to redeem herself.
------
David Brown is a Navy novelty: He's both a pilot and a doctor. He's also probably the only NASA astronaut to have worked as a circus performer.
Brown was a varsity gymnast at the College of William and Mary when he got a phone call one day: Would he like to join the circus? So during the summer of 1976, he was an acrobat, tumbler, stilt walker and 7-foot unicycle rider.
"What I really learned from that, and transfers directly to what I'm doing on this crew, is kind of the team work and the safety and the staying focused, even at the end of a long day when you're tired and you're doing some things that may have some risk to them."
He joined the Navy after his medical internship and went on to fly the A-6E Intruder and F-18. His current rank is captain.
NASA chose him as an astronaut in 1996. This is his first spaceflight; he will help with all the experiments.
Brown, 46, is taking up a flag from Yorktown High School in Arlington, Va., his alma mater, that another graduate took up Mount Everest. "I'm going to get it a little bit higher up, but I won't have to walk as far to get it there."
------
Laurel Clark, a Navy physician who worked undersea, likens the numerous launch delays to a marathon in which the finish line keeps moving out five miles.
"You've got to slow back down and maintain a pace," she says.
The 41-year-old Clark was a diving medical officer aboard submarines and then a naval flight surgeon. She became an astronaut in 1996.
Her family, including her 8-year-old son, worry sometimes about her being an astronaut. But she tells everyone "what an aggressive safety program we have."
"To me, there's a lot of different things that we do during life that could potentially harm us and I choose not to stop doing those things," she notes. "They've all come to accept that it's what I want to do."
She will help with Columbia's science experiments, which should have flown almost two years ago.
Her home is Racine, Wis.
------
Ilan Ramon, a colonel in Israel's air force, is the first Israeli to be launched into space.
"For Israel and for the Jewish community, it's something beyond being in space," he says. "It's a very symbolic mission."
His mother and grandmother survived the Auschwitz death camp, and his father was a Zionist who fought for Israel's statehood alongside his own father. The astronaut also fought for his country, in the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and the Lebanon War in 1982.
"I was born in Israel as an Israeli, so I'm kind of a dream fulfillment for all this last-century generation," he says.
Ramon, 48, served as a fighter pilot during the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, flying F-16s and F-4s. He was promoted in 1994 to lead Israel's department of operational requirement for weapon development and acquisition. He was selected as his country's first astronaut in 1997 and moved to Houston in 1998 to train for a shuttle flight.
He and his wife, Rona, have four children and call Tel Aviv home.
"I think a lot of it has to do with being in the right place at the right time, for starters," says Husband, 45, an Air Force colonel from Amarillo, Texas.
The former test pilot was selected as an astronaut in 1994 on his fourth try. He made up his mind as a child that that was what he was going to do with his life.
"It's been pretty much a lifelong dream and just a thrill to be able to get to actually live it out," he says.
Another lifelong passion: singing.
Husband, a baritone, has been singing in church choirs for years. He used to sing in barbershop quartets, back during his school days.
------
Pilot William McCool says one of the most nerve-racking parts of training for this scientific research mission was learning to draw blood -- from others.
Columbia's two pilots are exempted from invasive medical tests in orbit, like blood draws. That means he and his commander have to draw blood from their crewmates.
McCool felt bad practicing on NASA volunteers.
"I didn't want to inflict pain," he recalls. "We weren't really gathering science, so everything that they were going through was for my benefit, and I guess I felt bad a little bit."
The 41-year-old Navy commander, a father of three sons, graduated second in his 1983 class at the Naval Academy. He went on to test pilot school and became an astronaut in 1996. This is his first spaceflight.
McCool grew up in Lubbock, Texas.
------
Payload commander Michael Anderson loves flying, both in aircraft and spacecraft, but he dislikes being launched.
It's the risk factor. "There's always that unknown," he says.
Anderson, 43, the son of an Air Force man, grew up on military bases.
"I was always fascinated by science-fiction shows, shows like 'Star Trek' and 'Lost in +Space+,"' he says. "And going out of your house and looking up and seeing jets fly by, that seemed like another very exciting thing to do. So I knew I wanted to fly airplanes, and I knew I wanted to do something really exciting, and I always had a natural interest in science.
"So it all kind of came together at a very young age, and I thought being an astronaut would be the perfect job."
Anderson was flying for the Air Force when NASA chose him in 1994 as one of only a handful of black astronauts. He traveled to Russia's Mir space station in 1998.
He is now a lieutenant colonel and in charge of Columbia's dozens of science experiments. His home is Spokane, Wash.
------
When Kalpana Chawla emigrated to the United States from India in the 1980s, she wanted to design aircraft. The space program was the furthest thing from her mind.
"That would be too far-fetched," says the 41-year-old engineer. But "one thing led to another," and she was chosen as an astronaut in 1994 after working at NASA's Ames Research Center and Overset Methods Inc. in Northern California.
On her only other spaceflight, in 1996, Chawla made a pair of mistakes that sent a science satellite tumbling out of control. Two other astronauts had to go out on a spacewalk to capture it.
"I stopped thinking about it after trying to figure out what are the lessons learned, and there are so many," she says. "After I had basically sorted that out, I figured it's time to really look at the future and not at the past."
She realizes some may see this flight as her chance to redeem herself.
------
David Brown is a Navy novelty: He's both a pilot and a doctor. He's also probably the only NASA astronaut to have worked as a circus performer.
Brown was a varsity gymnast at the College of William and Mary when he got a phone call one day: Would he like to join the circus? So during the summer of 1976, he was an acrobat, tumbler, stilt walker and 7-foot unicycle rider.
"What I really learned from that, and transfers directly to what I'm doing on this crew, is kind of the team work and the safety and the staying focused, even at the end of a long day when you're tired and you're doing some things that may have some risk to them."
He joined the Navy after his medical internship and went on to fly the A-6E Intruder and F-18. His current rank is captain.
NASA chose him as an astronaut in 1996. This is his first spaceflight; he will help with all the experiments.
Brown, 46, is taking up a flag from Yorktown High School in Arlington, Va., his alma mater, that another graduate took up Mount Everest. "I'm going to get it a little bit higher up, but I won't have to walk as far to get it there."
------
Laurel Clark, a Navy physician who worked undersea, likens the numerous launch delays to a marathon in which the finish line keeps moving out five miles.
"You've got to slow back down and maintain a pace," she says.
The 41-year-old Clark was a diving medical officer aboard submarines and then a naval flight surgeon. She became an astronaut in 1996.
Her family, including her 8-year-old son, worry sometimes about her being an astronaut. But she tells everyone "what an aggressive safety program we have."
"To me, there's a lot of different things that we do during life that could potentially harm us and I choose not to stop doing those things," she notes. "They've all come to accept that it's what I want to do."
She will help with Columbia's science experiments, which should have flown almost two years ago.
Her home is Racine, Wis.
------
Ilan Ramon, a colonel in Israel's air force, is the first Israeli to be launched into space.
"For Israel and for the Jewish community, it's something beyond being in space," he says. "It's a very symbolic mission."
His mother and grandmother survived the Auschwitz death camp, and his father was a Zionist who fought for Israel's statehood alongside his own father. The astronaut also fought for his country, in the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and the Lebanon War in 1982.
"I was born in Israel as an Israeli, so I'm kind of a dream fulfillment for all this last-century generation," he says.
Ramon, 48, served as a fighter pilot during the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, flying F-16s and F-4s. He was promoted in 1994 to lead Israel's department of operational requirement for weapon development and acquisition. He was selected as his country's first astronaut in 1997 and moved to Houston in 1998 to train for a shuttle flight.
He and his wife, Rona, have four children and call Tel Aviv home.
To try and head off some of the wilder speculation, this is being considered as an 'ageing aircraft' problem rather than a terrorist problem. The Shuttle Columbia was the oldest, first launched in 1981 and was on the 27th mission out of an expected 100 mission capability.
Last edited by Danny; 1st Feb 2003 at 14:55.
Props are for boats!
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To the Families concerned our hearts are with you. This is indeed tragic news.
My heart felt condolences to all concerned.
I concurr with Spongebob, this has serious implications on progress of the Current Space Station Program.
I remmember Columbias first launch in 1981, I was a 13 yr old boy, we didnt even have a VCR back then, so recorded the audio on my cassette deck. Columbia certainly survived well through these years and supplied unparalleled service. RIP Columbia
Regards
Sheep
My heart felt condolences to all concerned.
I concurr with Spongebob, this has serious implications on progress of the Current Space Station Program.
I remmember Columbias first launch in 1981, I was a 13 yr old boy, we didnt even have a VCR back then, so recorded the audio on my cassette deck. Columbia certainly survived well through these years and supplied unparalleled service. RIP Columbia
Regards
Sheep
PPRuNer in low earth orbit
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Since the ancient sailors departed their homeports for unknown lands and unknown fates, exploration has been the most prevalent motivational drive in human kind. Space exploration has become so commonplace in our lives that we really don’t consider just how dangerous operating on the edge of technology such as this is. The brave women and men who were aboard Columbia did know the risks and through their professionalism and the basic human instinct of curiosity accepted that risk in the name of exploration. They are truly heroes. The families of these heroes and all that follow are in our thoughts and prayers. Go easy.
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It appears as though Colombia has been lost.....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2716369.stm
Oh God no.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2716369.stm
Oh God no.
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Local radio here was saying at 9 am EST (10 mins. before touchdown) that NASA "was not concerned about tiles on one wing which had been lost on takeoff".
Last edited by PickyPerkins; 1st Feb 2003 at 18:34.
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Nasa statement
STS-107
Entry Flight Director Leroy Cain declared a contingency for the shuttle Columbia at around 8:14 a.m. CST (1414 GMT) as the shuttle and its seven astronauts headed for a landing at the Kennedy Space Center.
Columbia fired its braking rockets at 7:16 a.m. CST (1316 GMT) and entered the Earth’s atmosphere with all of its systems functioning normally for a landing at the Florida spaceport at 8:16 a.m.(1416 GMT).
But communications were lost with Columbia around 8 a.m. CST (1400 GMT) as the orbiter streaked over Texas.
NASA began to use all of its tracking facilities to look for Columbia, but communications were not restored by the time the shuttle had been scheduled to land.
Contingency procedures remain in effect and landing support officials are currently being dispatched near the Dallas-Forth Worth area to search for possible debris.
If you find debris, please do not touch it, and if you have photos or videos that you think will be helpful, please contact your local police authorities.
Entry Flight Director Leroy Cain declared a contingency for the shuttle Columbia at around 8:14 a.m. CST (1414 GMT) as the shuttle and its seven astronauts headed for a landing at the Kennedy Space Center.
Columbia fired its braking rockets at 7:16 a.m. CST (1316 GMT) and entered the Earth’s atmosphere with all of its systems functioning normally for a landing at the Florida spaceport at 8:16 a.m.(1416 GMT).
But communications were lost with Columbia around 8 a.m. CST (1400 GMT) as the orbiter streaked over Texas.
NASA began to use all of its tracking facilities to look for Columbia, but communications were not restored by the time the shuttle had been scheduled to land.
Contingency procedures remain in effect and landing support officials are currently being dispatched near the Dallas-Forth Worth area to search for possible debris.
If you find debris, please do not touch it, and if you have photos or videos that you think will be helpful, please contact your local police authorities.
There is a mission clock on the page, chillingly it seems to have been halted at 15 Days 22:37.
I also remember watching the first launch of Columbia, have followed the shuttle program very closely since and years later met the commander of that first mission.
A tragic day for the families and everyone else at NASA. I can't imagine how awfull it must have been waiting at the Cape for the first glimpse of the spacecraft holding your loved ones only to be told that it was lost.
A tragic day for the families and everyone else at NASA. I can't imagine how awfull it must have been waiting at the Cape for the first glimpse of the spacecraft holding your loved ones only to be told that it was lost.
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memetic:
Howso? This mission wasn't to ISS was it?
ISS is always crewed, but even with shuttle ops suspended they can return via Soyuz if required I'm sure...?
R1
Anyone know if the ISS is crewed? All Nasa sites are /.'ed
Even more dreadful if it is.
Even more dreadful if it is.
ISS is always crewed, but even with shuttle ops suspended they can return via Soyuz if required I'm sure...?
R1
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Apollo 1 Jan 27 1967
Virgil "Gus" Grissom
Roger Chaffee
Edward White
Challenger Jan 28 1986
Gregory Jarvis
Christa McAuliffe
Ronald McNair
Ellison Onizuka
Judith Resnik
Dick Scobee
Michael Smith
Columbia Feb 1 2003
Commander Rick Husband
Pilot William McCool
Kalpana Chawla
Laurel Clark
Ilan Ramon
David Brown
Michael Anderson
Push the envelope and you put everything on the line. Don't push it and the human race stagnates.
RIP
Virgil "Gus" Grissom
Roger Chaffee
Edward White
Challenger Jan 28 1986
Gregory Jarvis
Christa McAuliffe
Ronald McNair
Ellison Onizuka
Judith Resnik
Dick Scobee
Michael Smith
Columbia Feb 1 2003
Commander Rick Husband
Pilot William McCool
Kalpana Chawla
Laurel Clark
Ilan Ramon
David Brown
Michael Anderson
Push the envelope and you put everything on the line. Don't push it and the human race stagnates.
RIP
CNN reporting debris found in Nacogdoches, TX
Approx. 150 mi. SE Dallas
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There was a view on the NOAA doppler radar
for the area that shows a plume across the
area where the return occurred...
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/radar/latest.../si.klch.shtml
Don't know if it's still there... But it was pretty
clear...
for the area that shows a plume across the
area where the return occurred...
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/radar/latest.../si.klch.shtml
Don't know if it's still there... But it was pretty
clear...
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And with an Israeli on board boy are the conspiracy theorists going to go to town with their obnoxious pipe-dreams. Just wait & see!
Brave guys, and what a tragedy for the future of man in space.
Brave guys, and what a tragedy for the future of man in space.