Just now heard the shuttle Columbia may have exploded and burned up on re-entry.Please everyone , keep the astronauts and their families in your prayers.
Gives me flashbacks to high school when the Challenger exploded.Very sad now as it was back then.Does anyone think this might be terrorist related,due to an Israeli astronaut being on board?Hope that no one on ground was hurt!Has to be the shuttle though because not too many things burn that bright except titanium and magnesium.
woah....news to me. I'll check it out asap. Nothing will ever hit me like the WTC disaster. I woke up at 8:30 am and turned on AOL....there was pictured tower 1 withflames shooting out of it. I thought it was a joke at first. Nope. :shock:
Not implying it may have been a missle but possibly something "planted" on board regardless of security measures taken.o No:
Wonder why they haven't yet said anything about where the pieces may have come down and if anyone on the ground was affected?You know a chunk that size and going that fast is going to do some damage!
Quite sad, and interesting that it was also the first Israeli astronaut to go up also........ makes you wonder if it was an accident, or more terrorism.
Real question is whether there is nuclear material on Board. They are saying the rocket fuel may a hazard.
God help us if this is terrorist related because if they can get past NASA'S security , they can get almost anywhere.o No:
Very sad indeed. My deepest condolences to the crew and their families. Sounds like it came down around Dallas area. Hope all on this baord from that area are ok.
CNN showed footage of debris striking the Shuttle's left wing on take off; the loss of vehicle occured on the landing phase of the mission, not on lift off. Terrorism is an extremely unlikely sceanario given the info and circumstances. I watched live in '86 the loss of Challenger from a High School Science class. We never thought something like this would happen again, but any space flight is inherently dangerous. The astronauts know this and take the risks so the United States can continue it's exploration of space, a very worthwhile endeavour. It's never a "sure thing" and they display considerable bravery stepping into that Shuttle. God rest their souls and give comfort to their families.
Chris, did they ever determine what it was that hit the shuttles wing on lift-off?I didn't hear any thing about that.I guess I was in my cave that day.o No:But if something did hit the wing and didn't do enough damage during lift-off to hurt any thing,the re-entry would definitely let these problems do their "damage".Isn't there some liquid propellant stored in the wings or not?o No:
Nice James.Thank You. Makes it a little more personal .We're all Americans whether you drive a Buick or The Shuttle!:TU:
Holy Sh!t, They are saying that the shuttle was the oldest shuttle in the fleet. Laterst that they are saying is the shuttle is lost. One of the crew stated that the shuttle was going to be the heaviest on landing ever. I wonder if that had anything to do with it.
It's terrible! It's wierd how the dates of NASA's biggesst losses are so close: January 27, 1967 - Apollo 1 crew lost to flash fire on launch pad January 28, 1986 - Space Shuttle Challenger blows up February 1, 2003 - Space Shuttle Columbia burns up on re-entry Very strange!
woah.. wow... thanks for the news...(its sad that the only way i hear about world news is thru here) anyways.. hearts and prayers defantly going out tonite. with something possably striking the wing that could have a huge impact in reentry its covered with ceramic tiles that keep heat getting into the spaceframe of the shuttle. and without wings well.. your a brick flying thru the air (though in the shuttles case even more so) wonder if they have a black box that is designed to survive reentry. makes you wonder when there going to revamp the shuttle. maybe there is no better time then now. Nate