Topic: Space shuttle Columbia is missing (Read 3116 times)

JimH · « **on:** February 01, 2003, 05:05:34 am »

You may be following this already, but the space shuttle Columbia seens to have broken up just after re-entry, somewhere over Texas.

One of the former commanders was interviewed on National Public Radio just now and said that, although there were parachutes on board, it was not possible for them to have been used at the speed it would have been travelling.

Sad news for both the people and the program.

KingSparta · « **Reply #1 on:** February 01, 2003, 05:07:25 am »

not again...

thanks for the tip, i am at work (1\2 day) I will go look for news.

FoxNews:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,77253,00.html

CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/02/01/shuttle.columbia/index.html

Autoelph · « **Reply #2 on:** February 01, 2003, 05:18:07 am »

From the Washington Post -

"NASA declared an emergency after losing communication with space shuttle Columbia as the ship soared over Texas several minutes before its expected landing time Saturday morning.

The shuttle was carrying the first Israeli astronaut and six Americans, and authorities had feared it would be a terrorist target."

zevele10 · « **Reply #3 on:** February 01, 2003, 05:25:34 am »

Yes i know.
I was VERY upset ,nervous and more because look like one of my drive full of music is dead.

But when learning this accident ,you really think that your problem is just wind......

Yes was the first israeli in the space in it.

Here is looks like a national tragedy- this do not mind that the americans with him are of no importance to israelis people ,FAR from it.

At this time ,it is hard to bet on a terrorist act - well it is only my opinion.

All my condoleances to US people

KingSparta · « **Reply #4 on:** February 01, 2003, 05:27:37 am »

i think it was a bit to high for a terrorist attack since at the time of breakup it was about 37.8 miles above the ground (AGL)

zevele10 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 01, 2003, 05:31:32 am »

Saturday, February 01, 2003 Shvat 29, 5763 Israel Time: 17:24 (GMT+2)

Back Home

NASA confirms Columbia space shuttle broke up
over Texas

Columbia was aiming for a touch down at 1416 GMT. It was at an altitude of 60,210 meters (200,700 feet), traveling at 20,113 kph (12,500 mph) when mission control lost contact. There was no further communication and no further tracking data.

lee269 · « **Reply #6 on:** February 01, 2003, 10:30:15 am »

An awful tragedy - almost 17 years to the day since Challenger. My sympathy to all Americans and Israelis, and especially the families involved. It doesnt need me to say how those in the crew were very brave, and knew the risks. I guess its also trite to bang on about how those beatiful pictures of the Earth from space put things into perspective in these troubled times.

I keep reading about how NASA has had its budgets cut in recent times, and is trying to become 'Faster, Better, Cheaper'. It seems that space research is now publicly seen as 'routine'. I really hope that some good comes of this - the important work that NASA does should continue.

Mastiff · « **Reply #7 on:** February 01, 2003, 01:49:09 pm »

As for the terrorist speculations I'd have a very hard time believeing this since the security was extreme before this flight because of the israeli astronaut. But technically it would actually be possible to shoot it down with one of the new rockets Kongsberg weapons factory in Norway is building (the same factory that makes the armor piercing ammo that the US special forces are using, that makes a man blow up when he's hit).

And then there's the proportions question, but I won't get to far into that. 7 dead is like a larger car accident that wouldn't get 1/100 of the attention, but I guess that astronauts still have the hero status in the US, right?

Let's just hope that it's not another Challenger, with the HUGE quality assurance issues that lead to it (everything made by the lowes bidder and quality control worse than a common bicycle factory). I heard today that NASA had adjusted their assumed failure rate from 1 per 100 flights to 1 per 500. Seems like they were wrong (this was the 105th flight, or something like that since the Challenger gasked failure).

KingSparta · « **Reply #8 on:** February 01, 2003, 01:59:43 pm »

Quote

I heard today that NASA had adjusted their assumed failure rate from 1 per 100 flights to 1 per 500.

Regardless both seem very low to me

One of my teachers worked on the very first shuttle back in the late 60's I think it is time they upgrade and the new version has been in planing for over 20 years.

It seems to me we need to get off the pot.

JimH · « **Reply #9 on:** February 01, 2003, 02:23:48 pm »

Let's hope that this is the outcome.

I've been thinking about Zevele's "condolences" comment earlier. We owe Israel the same. You might also say the same about India and (distantly) about Africa.

xen-uno · « **Reply #10 on:** February 01, 2003, 04:24:36 pm »

As a very avid supporter of space exploration and of all the sciences, this is awful. They gave their lives in pursuit of a very nobel cause...knowledge.

R.I.P. Columbia crew

King > time they upgrade and the new version has been in planing for over 20 years

NASA shelved it (the Boeing Space Plane), though this event might rekindle development

Autoelph · « **Reply #11 on:** February 01, 2003, 08:10:16 pm »

Anybody see this yet?

The WP again...

-In an e-mail from space sent to his parents in Virginia, Capt. David M. Brown captured the vexing contradictions of life on Earth.-

"The views of earth are really beautiful. . . . My most moving moment was reading a letter [Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon] brought from the Holocaust survivor talking about his 7-year-old daughter who did not survive. I was stunned such a beautiful planet could harbor such bad things. . . . I will make one more observation. If I'd been born in space I would desire to visit the beautiful Earth more than I ever yearned to visit space. It's a wonderful planet. Dave."

This makes me think, maybe we should be spending more time, energy, focus and resources on taking care of what's here, now, on this planet. I'm not saying exploration of space isn't important, but what is space to us if we can't solve our intensely growing issues on earth? If we've learned anything in the last 18 months, it's that life is so fleeting. It sounds like our Capt Brown was coming to understand this in his own way.

DocLotus · « **Reply #12 on:** February 02, 2003, 01:58:00 am »

Without space exploration we would not be having this forum as the PC probably would not have yet been developed.

Much of our modern day electronics & many product materials came out of the space program.

The Astronauts... Heroes, one and all.

Autoelph · « **Reply #13 on:** February 02, 2003, 04:20:29 am »

DocLotus, as I said, I 'm not saying that space exploration isn't important or that those who take the risks in these adventures aren't brave, all I'm saying is that with impending wars, racial dsiharmony and over a hundred other important issues (like AIDS, cancer, famine, poverty, etc) that maybe our fascination with space is premature. I can easily see giving up my PC (and yes, my beloved MC9!) if it would actually help solve just one of these issues.

xen-uno · « **Reply #14 on:** February 02, 2003, 05:19:19 am »

> I can easily see giving up my PC....

Not me.....

The problems you mention regarding humans are as predictable as snow in winter. They will exist no matter how much money you throw at it.

Of the grocery list of things the Feds spend money on...space, technology, and the environment are the most important to me.

10^-27

JimH · « **Reply #15 on:** February 02, 2003, 06:09:47 am »

A little money for birth control might help some of the other problems.

The earth's population has doubled since 1960 and has quadrupled since 1900.

Too many people competing for too few resources.

-----

"On Oct. 12, 1999, the United Nations announced that global population had reached the 6 billion mark, just 12 years after passing 5 billion. When will the world's population reach 7 billion? According to the United Nations Population Division's most recent projections, it could happen as early as 2011 or as late as 2015. The outcome depends greatly on birth rate trends in China and India, which are home to nearly 38 percent of the world's population. China's birth rate has been low for many years, with no apparent prospect of rising. In India, however, the birth rate's decline has ended, at least for now, as higher fertility and slower decline in India's populous northern states have begun to have a noticeable effect on national trends. But population trends remain difficult to predict, so it is impossible to say exactly when the world's population will reach 7 billion."

http://www.prb.org//Content/ContentGroups/Datasheets/wpds2002/2002_World_Population_Data_Sheet.htm

xen-uno · « **Reply #16 on:** February 02, 2003, 07:14:44 am »

Jim....

Exactly - that IS the solution (change the "might" to "will").

10^-27

edit > I wonder how many people still take the following literally....

"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it..."

Genesis 1:28

Charlemagne 8 · « **Reply #17 on:** February 02, 2003, 07:17:19 am »

I know that the space program can and does yield great advances for human-kind. There were over 90 experiments on this Shuttle mission that were aimed at just that.

There is also a strong argument to throw more of that money at our other problems. As my wife said this morning "Wouldn't the money we spend on the space program go a long way toward providing prescription medicine to the elderly on Medicare?" (Yeah, she talks like that ... drives me nuts.)

I didn't really have an answer and still don't but I think that the space program is our best hope for the immediate AND long-term future of humanity. What if Queen Izabela had kept her money at home instead of financing Christopher?

Then there's the population growth. The problem is that we have to feed everyone regardless of how many there are and the Space Shuttle missions have yielded great breakthroughs on that end. Same with medical breakthroughs. What might we find in some future space experiment? The possibilities are incredible based on past performance.

And isn't the population problem the cause of the unspoken "Holy Grail" of space exploration ... finding a place for us to expand humanity further?

Just talking crazy,
CVIII

BTW Xen, LOVE the signature. Sums up my feelings nicely. I wish I had thought of it.

Autoelph · « **Reply #18 on:** February 02, 2003, 01:08:38 pm »

It was the Capt's comments in his email to his folks that got me thinkin on this, I never said I had the answer, none of us really do to many of life's most esoteric mysteries. But HE was the one who commented on how beautiful Earth was from space, how he couldn't see it as a place where something like the Holocaust took place, how he would desire to see it had he not been here before. This guy's in space, and all he can do is think about Earth. THAT makes me wonder. And in my unfortunate vision over the possible future of this planet, population may be are lowest concern, considering we as mankind have the ability to completely obliterate ourselves in a matter of minutes. Then I guess at least we've solved the population problem, huh?

MachineHead · « **Reply #19 on:** February 02, 2003, 03:06:32 pm »

Quote

Of the grocery list of things the Feds spend money on...space, technology, and the environment are the most important to me.

I have a strange thought when I see all three of these words together. The Feds crushing the enviroment to fuel more technology to get into space. That's about the usual way things happen.

Maybe I'm just a little jaded with space exploration. And the people who knowingly put themselves on the endangered species list when they strap themselves into the worlds most expensive explosive device (twisted visions of Dr. Strangelove). I can see there may be benefits to some experiments they perform in space. But when are the rewards gonna show up? 50 years after I'm dead? And will it be outdated and useless information at the time? Are the rewards truly going to be something applicable to the everyday lives of everyday people? I have to wonder...

So far the most useful thing the shuttle has done is put satellites into space so the USA can spy on everyone on the planet. I'd bet they can see the size of your shoe from the print left in the dirt. And maybe give the Hubble telescope an optical prescription, to look at things that are billions of years old. Ahh, that's great.

I know some may say, 'how do you know where you're going if you don't know where you've been'? What?? This planet hasn't even been fully explored without having to worry about space.

Fifteen years ago when the other shuttle blew apart, I was really upset about it. I mean, I had visions of good things coming from the work done up there as well. Fifteen years later there isn't much to show for it. Except a whole lotta money being shovelled, forgive the pun, into a black hole. Money that could be better spent somewhere else. Some possibilities have been covered in the above thread.

And, I'd like to add my condolences to the families of the crew. I wonder however, if they think it was worth the sacrifice for their loved ones to get the status of Hero?

Robert Taylor · « **Reply #20 on:** February 02, 2003, 10:32:46 pm »

Xen-Uno, your comment "The problems you mention regarding humans are as predictable as snow in winter. They will exist no matter how much money you throw at it. " is right on the mark AFAIC.

I personally believe that the human race has (and has always had) some kind of disease of the soul, which I think will inevitably lead to our destruction. If you look around you, and take real note of what is happening everywhere in the world today, it's hard to be too hopeful. Things haven't really changed that much over time either...

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Author Topic: Space shuttle Columbia is missing (Read 3116 times)

Autoelph

zevele10

zevele10

Autoelph

Autoelph

Autoelph

MachineHead