Columbia

Theresa · **Sat Feb 01, 2003 9:39 am Columbia**

The space shuttle Columbia has exploded. It was coming in on re entry. The thing with this one is the Israeli that was on board.

PrankishSmart · **Sat Feb 01, 2003 9:43 am**

*switches on TV*

cannot see late breaking news, but it is 1:40 am here...

Vortex · **Sat Feb 01, 2003 9:50 am**

It sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I still can't believe it........................

Deela · **Sat Feb 01, 2003 9:56 am**

Oh my God...

PrankishSmart · **Sat Feb 01, 2003 10:02 am**

That is sad news...

How did it happen

I thought that space travel would be fairly safe now days.

Vortex · **Sat Feb 01, 2003 10:04 am**

noone seems to know..........................

Theresa · **Sat Feb 01, 2003 10:08 am**

They just talked to one of the eye witnesses. He described what they saw and felt.

I don't really think that the piece of insulation falling and hitting the wing had anything to do with it. No doubt they did a space walk and checked everything out. People are just grasping at anything right now.

Deela · **Sat Feb 01, 2003 10:08 am**

This is awful. I just saw them talking about the mission from the shuttle in space a few days ago.

Los · **Sat Feb 01, 2003 10:39 am**

Its frikkin sad.

I've been watching the ABC coverage since it began. It seems terrorism has been taken out of the equation because there are no means in which most nations can 'capture' a vehicle moving that fast.

Theresa · **Sat Feb 01, 2003 10:46 am**

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Feb. 1) - Space shuttle Columbia apparently disintegrated in flames over Texas on Saturday minutes before it was to land in Florida. TV video showed what appeared to be falling debris, as NASA declared an emergency and warned residents to beware of falling objects.

Six Americans and Israel's first astronaut were on board.

In north Texas, people reported hearing ''a big bang'' at about 9 a.m., the same time all radio and data communication with the shuttle was lost.

Television stations showed what appeared to be flaming debris falling through the sky, and NASA warned Texas residents to beware of any falling objects. NASA also announced that search and rescue teams were being mobilized in the Dallas and Fort Worth areas.

Inside Mission Control, flight controllers hovered in front of their computers, staring at the screens. The wives, husbands and children of the astronauts who had been waiting at the landing strip were gathered together by NASA and taken to secluded place.

''A contingency for the space shuttle has been declared,'' Mission Control repeated over and over as no word or any data came from Columbia.

In 42 years of U.S. human space flight, there had never been an accident during the descent to Earth or landing. On Jan. 28, 1986, space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff.

On Jan. 16, shortly after Columbia lifted off, a piece of insulating foam on its external fuel tank came off and was believed to have struck the left wing of the shuttle. Leroy Cain, the lead flight director in Mission Control, assured reporters Friday that engineers had concluded that any damage to the wing was considered minor and posed no safety hazard.

Columbia had been aiming for a landing at 9:16 a.m. Saturday.

It was at an altitude of 207,000 feet over north-central Texas at a 9 a.m., traveling at 12,500 mph when Mission Control lost contact and tracking data.

Gary Hunziker in Plano said he saw the shuttle flying overhead. ''I could see two bright objects flying off each side of it,'' he told The Associated Press. ''I just assumed they were chase jets.''

''I was getting ready to go out and I heard a big bang and the windows shook in the house,'' Ferolito told The AP. ''I thought it was a sonic boom.''

Security had been tight for the 16-day scientific research mission because of the presence of Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut.

Ramon, a colonel in Israel's air force and former fighter pilot, became the first man from his country to fly in space, and his presence resulted in an increase in security, not only for Columbia's launch, but also for its planned landing. Space agency officials feared his presence might make the shuttle more of a terrorist target.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office said it had no immediate comment.

Columbia's crew had completed 80-plus scientific research experiments during their time in orbit.

Just in the last week, NASA observed the anniversary of its only two other space tragedies, the Challenger explosion, which killed all seven astronauts on board, and Apollo space craft fire that killed three on Jan. 27, 1967.

Theresa · **Sat Feb 01, 2003 10:47 am**

Los · **Sat Feb 01, 2003 10:58 am**

werd. Some people are just dumbasses.

Tyvek · **Sat Feb 01, 2003 11:03 am**

Space Shuttle Columbia Lost, Feared Crashed in Texas

Updated 10:19 AM ET February 1, 2003

Brad Liston

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - The space shuttle Columbia lost contact with NASA minutes before landing on Saturday and was feared crashed in Texas with seven astronauts on board.

Television images showed several white trails in the blue sky, which could be an indication of the breakup of the shuttle because normally only a single trail is visible.

The U.S. space agency said it scrambled rescue units to search in Texas for the shuttle and its astronauts, which included the first Israeli, Col. Ilan Ramonan.

NASA lost contact at around 9 a.m. at a height of 207,000 feet, about 16 minutes before Columbia's scheduled landing at Kennedy Space Center.

NASA mission control in Houston said, "Any debris that is located in the Dallas Forth Worth vicinity should be avoided and may hazardous due to the toxic nature of propellants used on board the shuttle and should be reported to local law enforcement authorities."

Columbia is NASA's oldest shuttle and first flew in 1981. This is the most serious incident involving a shuttle since the 1986 crash of the space shuttle Challenger, which carried seven astronauts.

"I kept tracking the shuttle and then it appeared to be breaking up," Dan Archer told local television from Waco, Texas.

Another witness told CNN: "We heard a rumble. It eventually got to where our house was shaking ... it lasted for about a minute and a half. It felt like you lived with a railroad in your backyard."

Weather forecasters predicted clear skies and light winds at the Kennedy Space Center.

The shuttle's seven astronauts had closed out science experiments conducted on the 16-day mission, which had been deemed a success by scientists and NASA officials.

Columbia orbited Earth while astronauts conducted more than 80 experiments on behalf of NASA and the European, Japanese, German and Canadian space agencies, as well as numerous student and commercial investigations. The shuttle did not visit the International Space Station on this trip.

Scientists announced unprecedented results, including calibrated photographs of unusual electrical phenomena above thunderstorms, record-setting flame balls used to study pollution and production of a cancer tumor so large that scientists back home will have to dismantle the growth chamber to retrieve it in one piece.

(

This is going to set us back like the Challenger did)

Valathous · **Sat Feb 01, 2003 11:41 am**

i just saw it

alisa_2002000 · **Sat Feb 01, 2003 1:38 pm**

OMG i just came in from my local football match. I can't believe it

It's so sad

janewaykat · **Sat Feb 01, 2003 1:45 pm**

Yeah when Challenger crashed it was like 3 years until NASA sent another shuttle out

Los · **Sat Feb 01, 2003 2:22 pm**

Challenger didn't crash, it exploded.

When you watch the footage on the contrails, you can see the surges in the fixture of light and the plume get bigger, if only a fraction, and see the parts drift off of the main one.

The closer is when maybe thirty seconds into the film, you see the light by itself, again, then it flashes and the light literally splits in half and five smaller lights appear around the once bigger fixture.

Sad day indeed.

Captain Leah Manzer · **Sat Feb 01, 2003 2:29 pm**

I woke up at 1 and My dad told me. I didnt really believe it

I told my friend to got watch it and now we both are. OMG> Yeh i want to go into astronomy and this is scary

poor people

Especially cuz it was such a peaceful mission

Zeke Zabertini · Captain Joined: 13 Sep 2002 Posts: 4832

Hmm... An odd occurrance indeed. This should halt the U.S. space program in it's tracks for quite some time. I wonder what shall become of the ISS...?

Los · **Sat Feb 01, 2003 5:02 pm**

Well, its apparent Russia cannot hold the program running by itself. I hope the space shuttle program doesn't halt too long.

One day, I hope soon, I'll be fortunate enough to see a shuttle launch.

Voy_Girl · **Sat Feb 01, 2003 5:28 pm**

This is so tragical...

Ziona · **Sat Feb 01, 2003 6:11 pm**

I grieve for the families of those lost... espically since a lot of them had children and wives/husbands at home.

Zeke Zabertini · Captain Joined: 13 Sep 2002 Posts: 4832

Is tragical a word?

Theresa · **Sat Feb 01, 2003 7:24 pm**

^Does it really matter?
I don't think it will halt the space program as long as we'd initially think. Remember, the Columbia was the oldest ship in service, and if it's proved that the piece of insulation falling off and hitting the wing had anything to do with it, or some other answer is found quickly, things will move forward. The attitude right now is that we will not live in fear.

Zeke Zabertini · Captain Joined: 13 Sep 2002 Posts: 4832

That's such BS. Live in fear of what? Space shuttles?