Space shuttle Columbia just exploded on re-entry!

[Red Dog]

My thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia and their families.

Another tragedy has befallen our nation.

[Hyper_Snyper]

May God be with them...

Rest in peace.

Jesus, have you seen the video of it breaking up?
Absolutley scary.

[LORD-eX-Bu]

My god, this is horrible. Whatever chance that these fine people have of survival, I am praying for that. I know they are gone, but its horrible. Imagine how it is, to know that you are going to die? and you have no chance of survival, and you have to ride it out. I bet it is very lonely, this is absolutely horrible. I love them, they knew the risks, and heck, they met the challenge with a smile on their face. They died doing what they loved, I hope they did not suffer much http://www.johnajohn.netfirms.com/smileys/sad3.gif

[chilla]

It's really horrible.
And the memory of the similar tragic Challenger accident in 1986 has just come back to me.
May God be with them alwayz.:(

[Red Dog]

yeah, the video was quite sobering.

the crash occured 200,000 ft above sea level at mach 6.

mach 6 is well in excess of 12,500 mph at that altitude. the risks astronaut's take are staggering when you really stop to think about it.

think about the courage required of an individual and what they must think/feel on the days approaching a launch, let alone launch day as they strap into the ****pit.

I firmly believe their contributions to science will enrich our lives and unlock the secrets of our universe so the risks they take are not in vain.

I have to extend a heartfelt thanks to NASA and to all members of our Armed Forces around the globe. Your contributions and sacrifices do not go unnoticed and you are loved.

God bless America, peace for all nations.

Columbia's Crew,

Commander Rick Husband 45 USAF
Pilot William McCool 41 USN
payload commander Michael Anderson 43 USAF
Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla 41
Mission Specialist David Brown 46 USN
Mission Specialist Laurel Clark 41 USN
Israeli Payload Specialist ILan Ramon 48 IAF

[netviper13]

Man; words can't even express the way I feel. This is so incredibly tragic.

I find it very odd that the Apollo 1, Challenger, and now Columbia disasters all happened within the same week in their respective years. Maybe cold weather is just too much for the shuttle (especially one as old as the Columbia was).

My thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the families and friends of these brave individuals.

[Mod]

Damn, I just arrived home from... 3 minutes ago ! I can't believe on what I am seeing. I am VERY scared and sad because of their families and NASA people.

[Raptorman]

I am at a loss for words.

I feel for the families of the crew of the Columbia. Never did I imagine another Space Shuttle incident to occur after the Challenger incident.


:cry:

[UDawg]

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG not again!!!!

[DaveW]

The anniversary of Challenger was this week too... very sad.

[nutball]

Originally posted by Raptorman
I am at a loss for words.

I feel for the families of the crew of the Columbia. Never did I imagine another Space Shuttle incident to occur after the Challenger incident.


:cry:

Unfortunately it's bound to happen. IIRC even by NASAs own risk assessment the failure probability was thought to be something a loss every 1 mission in 50. There have been a hundred-ish missions and two losses, so it sounds like they did their sums right.

It's just a risk that goes along with manned space-flight, as risk that all on board were well aware of. Makes you realize how brave those people are.

[pelly]

I'm sure all of our prayers are with the friends and families of these brave people...Given the speed and nature of the incident, I take great comfort in knowing that they could not have suffered as they would have passed instantly.

This should act as a reminder that we should not take these brave astronaut's acts of courage for granted...

:) :(

[UDawg]

We should not forget heros.

[The Baron]

Originally posted by UDawg71
We should not forget heros. Amen.

[St Lobus]

I was at work when I heard about what happened, and we listened to the news reports all day long. It's a terrible tragedy.

I will say though, that NASA's record is still amazing. 200 some odd flights, 3 major incidents? I think that's incredible. I have to give credit for NASA for knowing what they're doing. It's horrible when something like this goes wrong, but thanks to those men and women, it doesn't happen often.

[netviper13]

I think this is a stark reminder to the public that no matter how many succesful missions to space we have, there is no such thing as a routine mission.

[PsychoSy]

This is terrible.

But I'm ticked - this news today put me in overdrive. That's just how furious and saddened I am. I actually read some posts elsewhere where some people are playing race and politics allready!

"Dis is Bush's fault for ignoring NASA!!"
"Here's another fine mess Clinton got us into..."
"That Israeli guy...he was security risk from the get-go..."

Good Grief!! :mad:

If people are going to stoop so low and spew political vitriol, why can't they just keep it freaking' simple and honest...like Steve Buscemi did in Armegeddon.

"You know we're sitting on four million pounds of fuel, and a thing that has 270,000 moving parts built by the lowest bidder? Makes you feel really good, doesn't it?"

Even though this is an awfully condemning and accurate statement, when you contrast those words with NASA's overall failure rate, the numbers are still impressive. This shuttle may have been a classic but I don't think it's age is what caused this. I think CNN might be pretty close in their speculations that the shuttle may have been damaged during the launch and as far as I can tell, any damage - however minor - is still a concern when your re-entering the atmosphere at nearly 12K MPH...

:(

[sonaboy]

The Space Shuttle Columbia may have been older, but it was just released from a 2 year program of full overhaul and software upgrades prior to this disaster..
So mismanagement of funds by NASA or related theories can be tossed as possible causes here.
I'm actually leaning towards the possibility that they actually HIT something that broke part of the craft away and burned it up.

[gordy]

quite a sobering picture:

[UDawg]

"Lift your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? He who brings out the starry hosts one by one and calls them each by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing."

The same Creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today. The crew of the shuttle Columbia did not return safely to Earth; yet we can pray that all are safely home

- President Bush -

[LORD-eX-Bu]

Those are great words.

This is really a sobering event. The Iraqi government is rejoicing over this(like it wasn't expected :rolleyes: )

This is absolutely horrible. I would never want to die that way. I hope they went quickly and painlessly.

Debri field 100 miles long, as wide as 20 miles...

In Texas they have already found a torso, part of a thigh and a charred skull. I hope we never forget any of this, these things will help shape our nation, and hopefully we will learn from our shortcomings.

Anyways, these are great people, I hope all resources are exhausted in making it possible for giving these people their proper burials. Anything less, would just be disrespectful :(

[Ryo-Ohki]

And now they say the disaster could have been caused by a negligence. The thermal coating on the left wing could have been damaged during early take-off but the people at NASA disregarded it for the re-entry phase.

Why does it always come to this in the end ? :(

I wonder what a backup plan could have been, if they had diagnosed the shuttle to be unable to re-enter the atmosphere. Emergency docking to the ISS maybe ?

[raystone57]

Originally posted by Ryo-Ohki
I wonder what a backup plan could have been, if they had diagnosed the shuttle to be unable to re-enter the atmosphere. Emergency docking to the ISS maybe ?

Yes a backup shuttle here or in Russia for rescues from now on, unless they already have one. And after this the rescue shuttle, space jet or whatever will probably have some kind of shield repair.

Raystone

[netviper13]

NASA doesn't have the technology to do tile repairs in space; it will probably be some time before they can modify their repair machines to fit in the cargo hold of a shuttle.

[Phyre]

I think we can't rule out the possibility of space debris hitting one of the tiles on that wing either. There are so many possibilities in this situation. We'll just have to see what all of the datum and investigations bring out.

Phyre