OMG! Nasa Columbia shuttle is down!!

[Pidgin]

Ho my god..
Radio connection with the shuttle lost!!
Debrees on fire in the sky!
People - that dont look good at all!

See CNN for details

[Darin]

Another sad day. It's horrible. 16 minutes away from being home.

[Darin]

Amazingly, today is 4 days after the day challenger blew up on take off. Morning time too.

Spooky.

[Pidgin]

CNN shows shots from the launch, saying they saw a debree falling off the fuel tank. NASA says they saw it too and inspected it but came to the conclusion its noting serious.
Images look just like Challanger
Its the first time in history a landing went wrong

[creaturebeats]

what's up guyz

yeah sad day


--little piece of the wing came off during takeoff (some heat resistant foam),
--yesterday they said they didn't expect problems because of this,
--nothing on board that would of just blown up
--shuttle had a escape hatch but doubtful it was used (can't be used above 100 thousand feet)
--if it was breakin up bailout would not have been an option

getting it as it comes in, thanks pidgin 4 tellin me about this board

quote from homeland security dept says there is no evidence it was a terrorist incident...

[Pidgin]

Hey man. welcome aboard
Sorry it had to be on that occasion..

http://www.nasa.gov/
Nasa official site:
NASA Television reported Saturday morning that communications were lost with Shuttle Columbia at approximately 8 a.m. EST over north-central Texas. Columbia was at approximately 200,000 feet altitude. Debris has been sighted in north central Texas. Search and rescue has been dispatched in Dallas-Fort Worth area.
News media covering the Space Shuttle should stay tuned to NASA Television, which is broadcast on AMC-2, transponder 9C, C-Band, located at 85 degrees West longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical and audio is monaural at 6.8 MHz.

The shuttle is flying at 19,000Km/hour (thats 12,500 miles/hour)
chances of escape at this speed are very slim. Parachuting is not probable

Oh this is just heart breaking

I remember as a little girl when Challenger exploded...I was the same age as my oldest daughter is today. We are watching CNN together on the couch, and I am finding it very difficult to explain this to my kids. Between this and 9-11, my kids are unfortunately getting quite an education on life.

Words can't express the sadness we feel in our house today.

[Funbrunette]

I'm at a loss for words

[Pidgin]

Ye.
Think about the wives, husbands and children
From great enticipation of the families to the horrible awakening to this tragedy! This is so depressing.

[twinkley]

What a horrible thing to wake up to....

My heart goes out to the families of those astronauts...

THe first ever Israli astronaut has a wife and 4 kids

twinkley

[Pidgin]

true..
once again US and Israel share fate
Shame its on such a sad note again

[Vid Vicious]

just got up and turned on the tv .. WTF is this .." shuttle is gone?"


Damn and interesting two days .. Huh?

[Pidgin]

Apparently the shuttle broke apart in the air on reentrance.


Shame. Good men and women apparently lost. My heart goes with the family of the astronauts


NASA says it appears that noone survived

[firehorse]

We watched in initaial disbelief on CNN almost 7 hours ago. I fell asleep watching the news coverage, and I awoke 10 minutes ago and the TV was still showing CNN and in the instant I heard it the reminder that it wasn't true was shattered once again.

My best thoughts and energy are with the familes and friends of the courageous crew members.

[creaturebeats]

the crash site (if that's what i saw) looks like a someone burnt patches of grass.... i didn't see no sign of debri...

[pornodoggy]

I saw a press conference a little while ago where they mentioned finding nearly 200 pieces, including remains, in two counties in Texas. Apparently its in a 600 mile section of Texas, Lousiana and perhaps Arkansas. I also saw something in the text across the bottom of the screen where debris could still come down over the next two days.

It is horrible ... what a shame for the seven families and the three countries involved.

[Pidgin]

Was reported that people are trying to sell shuttle debris and remains on Ebay.
Amazing to what extent people will go to make a buck

I remember Challenger.

I was working on a nuclear fusion reactor in a little lab in '86.

Our boss came in the lab and announced to us what happened. Then time stopped. Everybody in the company, that day, felt very strange. Grieving, and also unconscious and unformulated anxieties about how the general public will react to this mysterious thing that they don't understand that they call "technology". In the end, our fears were not unfounded for all Challenger flights stopped for two years, and many projects, including one at our company, was cancelled, causing many job losses and wastes hopes of scientific innovation. Even a small company like ours (100 workers) was financially affected by the Challenger accident.

Objectively, this loss of a few lives is only a tiny fraction of what is lost every day on the roads, yet, it had a deep significance for our self-image as humans, as living creatures exploring the unknown.

In retrospect, what seems stranger is how is it that we came to expect no casualties in such endeavours. As Burt Rutan, developpers of many experimental aircrafts once said, if you don't have people dying, it's probably because you're not pushing the technology enough.

On Edwards air force base, streets are named after test pilots who died in the course of duty. There are a lot of streets...

I think that this one will have much less impact than Challenger, because it happened not at the beginning of the mission but on the return trip. Also because it is the second such accident.

[Pidgin]

Interesting point of view. I agree with what you say.
This is something more bothering on a larger scale about this accident than in arbitrary car accident (unless we know the people in the car accident)
One thing I try to take comfort in is..
The seven astronauts did what they liked to do, what they wanted, what they dream about day in day out.. They died happy and full with feelings of fullfilment. Death is horrible, and their death is as horrible as any if not worse.. But they died with glory and sense of achievement and fullfilment
That give me some comfort.
Do you feel the same?

Here's a pretty cynical one I received today...


Q: What do the letters NASA stand for?

A: Need Another Seven Astronauts

[Pidgin]

Originally posted by Feynman
Here's a pretty cynical one I received today...
Q: What do the letters NASA stand for?
A: Need Another Seven Astronauts

Horrible!
btw - roumers about remains of all 7 Astronauts found, was premature and inaccurate. Remains are still being identified.

Also, apparently and most likely the wing was the cause for the crash and the damage was caused during takeoff. not sure yet though.

[Darin]

Originally posted by Feynman
Here's a pretty cynical one I received today...


Q: What do the letters NASA stand for?

A: Need Another Seven Astronauts

Not funny, dunno why you posted it.

[ARiA]

Originally posted by XXXManager
Was reported that people are trying to sell shuttle debris and remains on Ebay.
Amazing to what extent people will go to make a buck

I'm a little late to reply, I've been busy lately.
this just makes me sick.
someone sent me mail with a list of jokes about it. I am not sure what world these people live in, but there is nothing funny about a tradgedy like this. not funny..... not funny at all.
I will spare this thread the "jokes" I was sent because, it happened on 09-11. and that did not sit well with me at ALL either.
my heart goes out.