Columbia

Columbia was at approximately 200,000 ft and 12,500 mph at 0800 Central time over north Texas when NASA lost communication and telementry. There were 7 astronauts aboard, including Isreal's first astronaut. There is amateur video of it breaking up on the local TV stations. I heard the explosions/ sonic booms.
 
That's terrible to hear, has NASA made a statement about what went wrong yet?
 
Guy from NASA sounds like a recording. He just keeps saying the same thing over and over and over again. Now they are saying they found debris in Arkansas tho, that thing really spread out all over NASCAR country
 
well, this means the X-33 Venture Star project will probably get looked at again. it was the project designed to replace teh space shuttle, but died when funding was cut, IIRC
 
NASA is pretty screwed. They keep getting budget cuts and then this happens to them. And now that there's that small investment known as a space station orbiting above us, they had best play their cards right to stay in the game.
 
Nobody has said it yet but i would like to send out my sympathies to the families of those lost on Columbia and to NASA. This is truly a tragedy of epic scale.
 
Not that it would have made a difference in this particular case, but the X-33 should never have been cancelled :(.
 
This kind of thing was bound to happen sooner or later. Hasnt the shuttle been around for over 20 years now? I personally think its time for something new in space. Where can i find info about the X-33 Venture Star project?
 
Originally posted by Bobbo1701
Nobody has said it yet but i would like to send out my sympathies to the families of those lost on Columbia and to NASA. This is truly a tragedy of epic scale.

that goes without saying

Originally posted by Quarto
Not that it would have made a difference in this particular case, but the X-33 should never have been cancelled

hot damn, Quarto and I are actually in agreement

Originally posted by Newcommanderondablock
This kind of thing was bound to happen sooner or later. Hasnt the shuttle been around for over 20 years now? I personally think its time for something new in space. Where can i find info about the X-33 Venture Star project?

the Columbia (which was the first shuttle, as TheFraix said) first flew in 1981, so yeah, it's time for something new. as for info, you might plug into Yahoo or one of the other search engines to find out, cause i don't have a clue where to find info.
 
Originally posted by Newcommanderondablock
This kind of thing was bound to happen sooner or later. Hasnt the shuttle been around for over 20 years now? I personally think its time for something new in space. Where can i find info about the X-33 Venture Star project?

I honestly don't by age as the reason. First of all, the shuttles are constantly being upgraded, repaired, and improved. In fact, Columbia had just undergone an overhaul. Second, the frame of the shuttle may be 20 years old, but it was certified to be strong enough for 100 flights. This was Columbia's 28th. I honestly think that age has nothing to do with this.

I know it's a bit off topic, but I was wondering if anyone knows what happened to the Space Shuttle Enterprise. It's no longer mentioned as part of the fleet - where'd it go?
 
Originally posted by Needaham45
I know it's a bit off topic, but I was wondering if anyone knows what happened to the Space Shuttle Enterprise. It's no longer mentioned as part of the fleet - where'd it go?

I couldn't resist, but in answer to your question, I guess obviously - "Where no man has gone before..."

On a sadder note, my condolences to all the astronauts' families. In particular, to Col. Ilan Ramon's wife Rona, their 4 children, and the rest of the family.
I happen to study at the University of Be'er Sheva - his home town, btw.
 
That's a very sad event.
Hope it won't stop the American manned space program too long. Until the shuttle (or something else) fly again, the ISS can be reached by Soyuz cabins.

Originally posted by Needaham45
I know it's a bit off topic, but I was wondering if anyone knows what happened to the Space Shuttle Enterprise. It's no longer mentioned as part of the fleet - where'd it go?

If you're talking about the very first prototype (if I remember weel, Enterprise was its name), it was only used for aerodynamics tests, and was not designed to be launched. I think it's in a museum now. I mean I don't think they destroyed it.
 
Originally posted by Sadic
If you're talking about the very first prototype (if I remember weel, Enterprise was its name), it was only used for aerodynamics tests, and was not designed to be launched. I think it's in a museum now. I mean I don't think they destroyed it.

You're correct. It's been in the Smithsonian for at least 15 years now (I was five when I saw it and I'm 20 now).
 
Enterprise

Columbia

Official statement from NASA:

Landing:
KSC February 1, 9:16 a.m. 2003 (Planned)

Deorbit burn occured at 8:15 a.m. EST (1315 GMT) for a planned landing on KSC Runway 33. Shortly after Roll Reversal #1 (8:53 a.m. EST) at MET 15 days 22 hours 17 min 50 seconds while Columbia was traveling at Mach 20.9 and 224,390ft, flight directors saw a loss of sensor data (offscale low) from the hydraulic systems on the left wing. Initial indications were loss of sensor data near the left inboard part of the wing, followed by sensors on the left outboard area of the wing. At 8:59 a.m. there was a loss of sensor data (Tire pressure offscale low) which caused an onboard alert that was acknowledged by the crew. Communication with the crew and loss of data occured shortly after while Columbia was at a Mission Elapsed Time (MET) of 15 days 22 hours 20 minutes 22 seconds. The vehicle broke up while traveling at 12,500 mph (Mach 18.3) at an altitude of 207,135ft over East Central Texas resulting in the loss of both vehicle and crew. (Reference: JSC Ron Dittemore Post flight Technical News Conference 2/1/2003 3:30pm EST).

Curiosity: The Challenger was BUILT before the Columbia, but the Columbia was always said to be *older* because it went to space before the Challenger.
 
I remember getting up early one morning to watch the Columbia's first launch. It was extra early for me, because I lived (and still do) on the West Coast, and Columbia was launching out of Florida. It seems like millenia ago now. Its still hard to believe that this part of space history is now permanently gone. But while I was surprised, the shock and disbelief that I had when Challenger was destroyed wasn't as much in evidence this time.

There are three remaining orbiters - Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavor. Work will go on with or without them, although I imagine all three of them will be grounded while NASA attempts to figure out what went wrong. The leading suspect is a gash on one of the wings that occured during the launch, and which some suspect may have been more severe than NASA believed (the camera and arm were not mounted in the shuttle for this mission, so apparently, no inspection of the damage took place while the shuttle was in space).

Its also unfortunate that the first Israeli astronaut was onboard the shuttle. The US and Israel have always had close ties, it would have been genuinely nice to see him make a triumphant return.

It also has undoubtedly not helped the perspective of some (note that word 'some') Middle Eastern residents. I've seen at least one quote attributing the disaster as God's justice upon us from someone in that area (meanwhile, a part of me notes that if it was God's justice, it was a pretty showy, yet otherwise useless "punishment" - note that I don't actually believe it was any form of punishment).

I am confident, however, that the space program will rebound. Hopefully, there will be a silver lining to this disaster, and perhaps the funding will finally be provided to build our next class of vehicle into the dark just beyond the sky.
 
Back
Top