|
Who's Online? |
There are currently, 35 guest(s) and 0 member(s) that are online.
You are Anonymous user. You can register for free by clicking here |
|
|
Quotable Quotes™ |
"In addition, real life needs an undo button, and, occasionally, a stop button when you're trying to rationalize with a female.
" --CodeNinja |
|
|
|
Columbia, With Six Americans and Israeli, Is Lost Over Texas |
Posted on Saturday, February 01 @ 10:14:32 GMT by adminn
|
The space shuttle Columbia, streaking across a bright blue Texas sky at about 3.5 miles a second, lost contact with its NASA controllers this morning about 15 minutes before it was scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA repeatedly tried to reach the shuttle, which was concluding a 16-day mission with six Americans and Israel's first astronaut, Col. Ilan Ramon of the Israel Air Force. But Columbia did not answer repeated calls from controllers, and its 9:16 a.m. Eastern landing time passed with no sign of the shuttle — only accounts from witnesses in Texas who said they had heard a thundering explosion and saw big chunks of debris breaking off and tumbling toward earth.
"We lost it," a NASA official said in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity.
NASA's Web site acknowledged that contact had been lost with the shuttle during its descent and warned the public against picking up debris that the space agency said might be found in the East Texas area.
Officially, the space agency described the status of Columbia and its crew as unknown. But the flags were lowered to half-staff at the Johnson Space Center in Houston about 90 minutes after the shuttle failed to land on schedule.
More Inside
In addition to Colonel Ramon, Columbia's crew included Col. Rick D. Husband of the Air Force, its commander; the mission pilot, Cmdr. William C. McCool of the Navy; Lt. Col. Michael P. Anderson of the Air Force, the payload commander in charge of the science equipment; Dr. Kalpana Chawla, an aerospace engineer; and two Navy doctors, Capt. David M. Brown and Cmdr. Laurel Salton Clark.
Columbia was the oldest orbiter in the shuttle fleet and was on the 88th shuttle mission since the Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff on Jan. 28, 1986. All seven astronauts aboard Challenger, including Christa McAuliffe, who has to have been the first teacher to fly on a shuttle, died. In more than 40 years of manned space flights before Challenger, NASA never before had had a fatal accident during the descent or re-entry of a spacecraft.
This morning, Columbia had descended to an altitude of 207,000 feet and was over Texas when it lost contact with NASA controllers. Its crew had completed more than 80 experiments during their time in orbit.
The flight had been reported to have gone smoothly except for an incident shortly after liftoff on Jan. 16, when a piece of insulating foam on an external fuel tank broke loose. It was believed to have hit the left wing of the Columbia.
But Leroy Cain, the lead flight director at Mission Control, said on Friday that NASA engineers believed that any damage to the wing would have been minor and would not pose a safety hazard as Columbia headed back to earth.
President Bush was briefed on the situation at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Md., and left for the White House in midmorning. He was traveling by limousine because fog prevented his helicopter from taking off.
The astronauts had reported a problem with "tire pressure" — apparently astronaut lingo for a reading of some concern on one of the instruments in the cockpit — around 9 a.m. That was the last that NASA heard from the shuttle.
On the ground, people heard an explosion. Some said their houses shook. Stumbling outside on a sleepy Saturday morning to see what had happened, they stared at the sky, shrugged and went back inside, only to see bulletins appear on television. Amateur astronomers who had been tracking the shuttle's descent with powerful binoculars and home video cameras assumed that the noise was from a sonic boom created by the shuttle's descent at 12,500 miles an hour.
In Palestine, Tex., about 97 miles from Dallas, the police were barraged with calls from witnesses. "They saw vapor trails going across the sky and sparkles and stuff, then didn't see it anymore," said Cpl. Steve Petrovich of the Palestine police. "One person called to say they saw it going east, then turn north, then vanish."
|
|
| |
| |
|
Article Rating |
Average Score: 0
Votes: 1
|
|
|
| "Login" | Login/Create an Account | 11 comments |
|
| | The comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content. |
|
|
Re: Columbia, With Six Americans and Israeli, Is Lost Over Texas (Score: 1)
by cib0_madu on Saturday, February 01 @ 15:35:35 GMT
(User Info | Send a Message) http://www.boxinggame.com/default.cfm?associate_id=310 | This is terrible, mans hope for life among the stars is shattered in an instant, we csn rebuild, but at what cost?
Also the first Israeli astronaut was on board, i think Israel will be more reluctant sending men into space in the future. |
[ No Comments Allowed for Anonymous, please register ]
Re: Columbia, With Six Americans and Israeli, Is Lost Over Texas (Score: 1)
by serial_crusher on Sunday, February 02 @ 11:52:52 GMT
(User Info | Send a Message) http:// | with any luck the safety precautions and rebuilding will improve things greatly. Like how the next world trade centers are going to be 10 times as badass as the originals.
Though my friend who interned for NASA says they were redesigning the spceships, but scratched the project a while ago, so it'll be a while. |
]
Re: Columbia, With Six Americans and Israeli, Is Lost Over Texas (Score: 1)
by Dark Knight Bob on Saturday, February 01 @ 19:17:43 GMT
(User Info | Send a Message) | yeah that was allah telling them space is bad...
...muppet |
[ No Comments Allowed for Anonymous, please register ]
Christopher (Score: 1)
by vacheron on Wednesday, October 13 @ 09:57:07 BST
(User Info | Send a Message) | | atch is part of a family heirloom rolex daytona often as a valuable tradition forward When one recalls the image of any Rolex watches the first is related to the heart is perfect timing great versatility and high quality of these watches copy watches cartier Like a real winner Rolex also marks the spirit of perfection and success It reflects the Swiss watch and the most advanced manufacturing technology to the interests of all countries the most perfect process Rolex Replica watches from the array that gives a true work of art ugg boot is an excellent design and excellent case each better than the other Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust II is designed to combine the function replica |
[ No Comments Allowed for Anonymous, please register ]
[ No Comments Allowed for Anonymous, please register ]
[ No Comments Allowed for Anonymous, please register ]
scott (Score: 1)
by vacheron on Monday, November 01 @ 21:50:44 GMT
(User Info | Send a Message) | | ont Clock on the dash replica and it looks pretty sweet audemars piguet no details on whether it is quartz or mechanical yet but it looks fantastic how it mounted Only our second Angelus on Hodinkee this 's men's chrono in black is a beauty We are really starting to like this throw back brand Colt This is similar deepsea but definitely a different model from the Angelus we posted a few weeks back Christmas Red Angelus Chrono replica longines watches and we're not sure which we like more This one is all original has great even patina and the color of the band really increases the a |
[ No Comments Allowed for Anonymous, please register ]
[ No Comments Allowed for Anonymous, please register ]
[ No Comments Allowed for Anonymous, please register ]
Re: Columbia, With Six Americans and Israeli, Is Lost Over Texas (Score: 1)
by tina on Thursday, September 22 @ 04:51:38 BST
(User Info | Send a Message) | There are so many different kinds of bags in Longchamp. Longchamp bags - The women's fashion bags on longchamp outlet. This is where to look for your style, and spread one's individuality. In particular,Longchamp le pliage is very popular with yong ladies. It is designed by Mario Sorrenti. If you want to own unqie one, please contact us. Thanks!
|
[ No Comments Allowed for Anonymous, please register ]
Re: Columbia, With Six Americans and Israeli, Is Lost Over Texas (Score: 1)
by tina on Thursday, September 22 @ 04:51:49 BST
(User Info | Send a Message) | There are so many different kinds of bags in Longchamp. Longchamp bags - The women's fashion bags on longchamp outlet. This is where to look for your style, and spread one's individuality. In particular,Longchamp le pliage is very popular with yong ladies. It is designed by Mario Sorrenti. If you want to own unqie one, please contact us. Thanks!
|
[ No Comments Allowed for Anonymous, please register ]
|
