Contact with Columbia Lost!

[DanS]

but life is generally considered more important than science.

Nobody is making the comparison you're making. It's a loss of life + science + hope/dreams + momentum + money. It's a tragedy for all of these things put together.

[ColdWizard]

Originally posted by Evil Knevil
Whats interesting is that it was after the fire and brimstone part of reentry that it fell apart. No idea what could have caused it though. Most likely structural weakness.

according to one of the NASA guys on the NASA TV briefing that i'm streaming, the shuttle was at peak re-entry temperatures at the time of the communications loss

[Kull]

In their tens of thousands, people die every day. It's the natural order of things, and it's something most of us deal with by ignoring it. But for me and many others, there will always be something different about disasters like this.

The lure of space travel captures the imagination and is deeply embedded in the hopes and dreams of millions of people around the world. It is the polar opposite of the curses that divide the people of this planet - tribalism, nationalism, and fanatacisms of every stripe. And maybe that's the fundamental draw of space travel - the belief, however illusory - that someday we can leave this place and all it's problems far behind.

So when we lose these voyagers it strikes us where we hurt the most - in our dreams.

[Velociryx]

Thank you, Kull....and well said.

-=Vel=-

[Evil Knevil]

Not at 5 minutes before landing. It would have broken through the Ionization barrier and be cooling down. Albeit the heat could still have caused it.

[ColdWizard]

Columbia was doing roll reversals at the time, and the event didn't occur 5 minutes prior to landing

[Evil Knevil]

Didn't it?

My bad!
I'm supposed to be compiling something for the Paper on Monday, watch out for factual inaccuracies.

On another note, should I get rid of the giant poster of Columbia in my bedroom?

[Sarxis]

They are saying that a piece of insulating foam was what had fallen off during Columbia's flight out. It did hit the left wing, which is where the first signs of trouble started by its heat sensors no longer responding.

This could have serious implications for NASA, in that it would be a case of negligence, either intentional or unintentional, because they did know something came off the vehicle during its outbound flight.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Anun Ik Oba
This could have serious implications for NASA, in that it would be a case of negligence, either intentional or unintentional, because they did know something came off the vehicle during its outbound flight.

What could they have done about it?

[cavebear]

Not launch in cold weather conditions maybe?

[Panag]

ILAN RAMON (COLONEL, ISRAEL AIR FORCE)
PAYLOAD SPECIALIST

PERSONAL DATA: Forty-eight years old, born June 20,1954 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Married to Rona. They have four children. He enjoys snow skiing, squash. His parents reside in Beer Sheva, Israel.

EDUCATION: Graduated from High School in 1972; bachelor of science degree in electronics and computer engineering from the University of Tel Aviv, Israel, in 1987.

SPECIAL HONORS/AWARDS: Yom Kippur War (1973); Operation Peace for Galilee (1982); F-16 1,000 Flight Hours (1992).

EXPERIENCE: In 1974, Ramon graduated as a fighter pilot from the Israel Air Force (IAF) Flight School. From 1974-1976 he participated in A-4 Basic Training and Operations. 1976-1980 was spent in Mirage III-C training and operations. In 1980, as one of the IAF's establishment team of the first F-16 Squadron in Israel, he attended the F-16 Training Course at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. From 1981-1983, he served as the Deputy Squadron Commander B, F-16 Squadron. From 1983-1987, he attended the University of Tel Aviv. From 1988-1990, he served as Deputy Squadron Commander A, F-4 Phantom Squadron. During 1990, he attended the Squadron Commanders Course. From 1990-1992, he served as Squadron Commander, F-16 Squadron. From 1992-1994, he was Head of the Aircraft Branch in the Operations Requirement Department. In 1994, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel and assigned as Head of the Department of Operational Requirement for Weapon Development and Acquisition. He stayed at this post until 1998.

Colonel Ramon has accumulated over 3,000 flight hours on the A-4, Mirage III-C, and F-4, and over 1,000 flight hours on the F-16.

NASA EXPERIENCE: In 1997, Colonel Ramon was selected as a Payload Specialist. He is designated to train as prime for a Space Shuttle mission with a payload that includes a multispectral camera for recording desert aerosol. In July 1998, he reported for training at the Johnson Space Center, Houston. He is currently assigned to STS-107 scheduled to launch in 2003.

[Gatekeeper]

The seven people who died were also among the planet's *foremost* scientists — after all, this was a scientific mission. As someone on another board stated eloquently, humanity's collective IQ declined today with the deaths of the Columbia crew.

Gatekeeper

[Sarxis]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara


What could they have done about it?

I bet they find a way to deal with THAT question for future shuttle missions.

But from the way they are talking on the news (plus from what has been said before and what has been seen to happen with those heat tiles), every shuttle mission seems to be a gamble anyhow- the tiles can't be replaced in space, and there have been incidents in the infancy of the shuttle program with those tiles coming off.

But we don't even know if any of this is the cause anyhow, so maybe I'm just way off base.

[cavebear]

I recognize that people die every day. Lots of people... And some of them die in ways more horrible than the shuttle astronauts probably did (some die for daysand longer, slowly). But there is a visibility consideration, and the matter of choice.

I keep in my thoughts all the time that some people are starving in some places, that some people are terrorized and tortured, that some people don't have medical treatment to cure diseases or even relieve pain. But I can't help them directly, nor can I prevent all human sufferring.

But there *is* a distinction. Those astronauts walked out of safe comfortable lives to dare death and pain when they could have avoided the danger. That means something. The children who died of starvation today and those astronauts are all equally dead, but the astronauts had a positive purpose and had the choice to risk death or stay safely at their homes.

Both kinds of deaths are tragic and sad, but it is not unreasonable to focus on the publicized deaths today and remember the other deaths all the other days.

[cavebear]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara


What could they have done about it?

It is not possible to account for all possible failures. Sometimes, the only way to discover a problem is to see it happen. The history of humankind is, in some ways, an inventory of discovered errors and the attempts to correct them. As sad as this event is, it is only one of so very very many failures that lead to new knowledge. *sigh*