Space shuttle Columbia explodes.

[Sylvan]

Another brave crew of astronauts has left us. The shuttle Columbia blew up or broke up or something as it prepared to land in Texas this morning. Communication was lost for a while, and nothing showed up on radar. Among the crew was the first Israeli astronaut.
:'( :'( :'(
Bless the families, and may the cause be found before fingers are pointed in blame...
http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:lx2K9KbWeScC:data.pg2k.hd.org/_exhibits/light/candle-flame-1-AJHD.jpg

[I Are Baboon]

It's a damn shame. :-[

[gungywump]

A few things strike me on this topic.

1. It didn't "Explode" it disintegrated.
2. Why were we still flying Columbia? First shuttle built. First Shuttle in space. Seems like it should have been in the Smithsonian by now. You know "National Treasure" and all.
3. The need for the media to somehow tie this in to terrorism or the pending military action. Any moron that finished 5th grade should be able to understand that something flying 200,000 feet above the Earth is out of range of any missle. And, even if it was within range it was traveling 12,500 mph. I mean I'm no rocket scientist but that seems faster than any jet or missle that I've ever heard of. But, just to be sure I understand and the media gets to sensationalize the story and combine it with the same crap they've been repeating over and over for weeks I get to hear it every 5 minutes. " It doesn't appear at this time to be terrorist releted." Why can't they tell it like it is "It is NOT in ANY way terrorist related." Now over to Dan to tell you the same thing.
4. It seems that in the past NASA has usually been over cautious about anything related to the safety of Astronauts and their vehicle. They have quadruple redundancy for most any system on board in case something goes wrong. Why then if they knew that something had struck the wing (where most of the heat is deflected during re-entry) would they even attempt re-entry without checking it out further.
1. Send another shuttle up ASAP to check it out.
2. Dock it at the space station until it can be checked.
3. If it is damaged leave it docked at the space station until it can be repaired and get the Astronauts home safely.
It just seems out of character for NASA to chance something like this. It smacks of the whole O-ring "it should be alright" attitude that NASA should have exsponged years ago.

Man, I feel like Knuckle right now!

That aside it is a great tragedy and I feel for all the families involved.

[Sylvan]

1. It didn't "Explode" it disintegrated.
Just wanted to point out that the thread was started the morning that it happened, when not much was known about what had actually happened.

We still don't know that the wing thing was for absolute certain what brought it down.

But beyond all that, the thread was started not for speculation on this or that, but to mourn a little for 7 people who were 15 minutes from home, their families who watched their very last moments, the poor people in Houston who now have to torture themselves with "What if I could have done something to prevent this?" for the rest of their lives....

[gungywump]

We still don't know that the wing thing was for absolute certain what brought it down.




Sylvan,

I'm sorry to rant over your post for mourning.
As you point out we don't know for certain anything about why it came down. But, NASA investigates all possibilities for failure to hedge against tragedy. In the case of the object that they knew hit the wing they didn't do it this time.

[EVIL BOTA]

:'( Bad day for america

[SloMoJo]

Certainly was tragic.
It is also a reality pill.

It's a miracle to me each time that shuttle launches and lands. There is such a small window of proper degree entry for the shuttle to avoid damage.

I was shocked watching the news, yet I think we have been very fortunate over time given the extreme risks involved.

Nonetheless, a tragic loss.

[Mt.A TODD]

The thing that pisses me off, Is mission control keeps saying, "well, if we lose a heat tile there is nothing we can do to fix it." They knew the insulation banged into the wing on take off! oh well, we will just hope for the best and gamble that orbiter take the heat of reentry. HORSESHITE! Who cares if mice can copulate in space, The number one main priority should have been to inspect and find a way to repair the wing. I feel really bad for the crew of Columbia, -NASA mission control, bunch of near sited geeks!

[CouchingTiger]

I agree with Todd, assuming this does turn out to be an issue with the heat shield. You don't just give up and hope for the best. Think of the issues that Apollo 13 had. Did they just give up?

I simply can't believe that they didn't do their best to check this out after it happened and that they were not as certain as possible that it was OK and would not cause a problem.

Don't they have space suits in the shuttle and maybe some rope? Couldn't someone go out and look at the darn thing? If this type of thing is a problem, couldn't they include a few extra tiles and some super-glue to make a repair in space.

I suppose, though, that you have to draw the line somewhere. You can't be prepared for everything and this has NEVER been an issue before. It's just a damn shame that this happened.

-Couch

[gungywump]

Here are a few tidbits from an AP news story:

. . . investigators took a closer look at the spot where the insulation appeared to hit the shuttle's left side 80 seconds after liftoff on January 16.

A top NASA official said engineers who reviewed the incident shortly after launch determined it "was not a safety of flight issue," but thought there could have been some damage to the shuttle's heat protection system.

Obviously the fact it could still fly shouldn't have been the MAJOR safety concern. Re-Entry should have been.

The former official said the landing gear door, which protects vital wiring and sensors, is perhaps the most vulnerable part of the shuttle.

"Nature always finds the Achilles' heel, and for the shuttle, the Achilles' heel is this," the former official said.

If the insulation struck at the seam, it could have created a fissure in the seal that protects the wheel well and the sensitive wiring that is housed in that area. NASA is exploring whether impact there may have created a blowtorch-like effect that could explain the increase in heat and the failure of the sensors in that location.

In its final minutes, the shuttle experienced an unusually high temperature increase on its left side, lost a series of sensors on the left wing and then rolled unexpectedly to the left, according to a NASA data analysis.

Wow, if he knew that much I wonder why he is a FORMER official?

Michael Kostelnik, deputy associate administrator of space shuttle programs, said debris coming off a shuttle's external fuel tank during launch was "not a new phenomenon."

"The best and brightest engineers we have, who helped design and build this system, looked carefully at all the analysis and the information we had at this time and made a determination this was not a safety of flight issue," Kostelnik said.

So, basically they were hoping that debris coming off on a regular basis would not become a problem. Ever notice how book smart, best and brightest engineer types usually lack common sense? It never ceases to amaze me how some engineers who come into the shop for repairs have absolutely NO mechanical aptitude. They only know what the numbers tell them.

The New York Times reported that five of the nine members of NASA's advisory panel were removed last year after they warned of looming safety troubles for the shuttle fleet.

Hey, here's our former official. Such is the fate of the whistle blowers in corporate America.

"We're worried about safety every single day in this agency," Sean O'Keefe said. "There's not a single flight that takes off without going through a very, very rigid, extremely methodical safety regime."

Yeah, that's great Sean but what about AFTER take-off? Seems to me with my limited knowledge that re-entry is more dangerous than getting into space.