I’ve been listening to Minus Ten and Counting all day. It really stirs up the pain of the tragedy, and yet the pride of the accomplishments of these heroes.
I really didn’t believe it when, on a whim, I went to the homepage of the local paper to see if there was anything going on in town today. I saw a huge picture of the shuttle taking off, with a headline about the Columbia being lost to Mission Control.
I thought it was one of those weird instances where a news outlet decides to revisit a past news event by reprinting a front page from that day or playing a news clip from that day. At first glance, I thought they were running a special piece on the Challenger in the weekend edition or something. But then I realized that it said “Columbia” and not “Challenger.” And the accident had taken place during the landing process, not the launch. And then I ran to the TV to see if the story was true. Unfortunately, it was no news replay. 
My thoughts go out to the families and friends, and to the astronaut community as well, for their loss tonight.
In response to an earlier post from:
I heard the audio clip, too, on NPR. The host was talking with the NPR science correspondent (I was studying at the library, so I wasn’t too focused on taking down the sources) about what the clip was talking about. From what I heard, it sounds like Mission Control was radioing the shuttle about the loss of readings from the tire pressure gauge. They then went through a list of other gauges that had stopped functioning right before the explosion - it wasn’t like a local system failure, though, it was a list of multiple system and gauge failures that all took place on the left side of the shuttle. This is the same side on which some damage occurred from the fuel tank shedding insulation during the launch, of which DirkGntly posted a very detailed description earlier in this thread.
I’ve been crying since 8:15 this morning.
I watched the technical newsconference with Milt Heflin and Ron somebody earlier. Now I just want to shake somebody - That they didn’t do an EVA because NASA hadn’t trained anyone to go underneath the shuttle. Saying there was nothing they could do if there was a “tile event”. So they hoped for the best even though they saw the falling debris impact the left wing on takeoff.
And I know that the NASA people are taking this harder than anyone, but Good Lord!
I think I’ll just go cry some more…
What a sad, sad day.
Besides the families of the seven astronauts, my condolences especially go out to the people of Israel, where the entire nation had quite naturally been closely following Col. Ilan Ramon’s mission in space.
FWIW, there ain’t no chance that this will kill the American manned space program. None, nada. Americans just aren’t like that. Sure, there will be people who will use this as an opportunity to question the worth of the shuttle program, and I expect there’s a pretty good chance that the program may see a hiatus while the causes of the accident are investigated. (I’m sure they’ll go up and retrieve the space station crew, though.) And with any luck this will be used as an opportunity to think about our objectives in space over the next thirty years or so, and design a new generation of manned spacecraft with those goals in mind.
And I’d personally like to see a return to manned space exploration. My own magical moments with the space program go back to Apollo 8 broadcasting from lunar orbit on Christmas Eve 1968, and to even before then: the Gemini missions where Gemini 6 and 7 (if memory hasn’t failed me) rendezvoused, docked, and flew in formation; and the first unmanned Ranger mission (Ranger 7) which took our first close-up photos of the lunar surface and transmitted them back to earth. I was just a kid then, but I remember my amazement, seeing those pictures on the television, that we had somehow reached out and seen that distant object, close-up.
With all due respect to those involved in the shuttle program, there’s been little in it to stir my imagination like that.
I would like to see us go back to the moon; it’s been thirty years since we left. And it’s really time we started thinking about how to get to Mars.
Breathe deep today. The air is filled with particles of the very best we can breed.
copied from my LiveJournal…
they have slipped the surly bonds of earth …
I first heard about the Columbia disaster an hour after it happened this morning … I had gone to exercise at the pool and was listening to NPR just before 9:00 Eastern time and heard them talking about the shuttle getting positioned for reentry.
Came home - we had breakfast & showered - called my in-laws to let them know we were on our way over… and they told us the news.
We watched the news for about 20 min before we left & listened to the news radio on the way over. I cried.
Somewhat ironic that I just last night read the section in Larry Niven’s Fallen Angels where Alex found the plaque commemorating the Challenger’s lost souls.
I remember going to the school library 16 years ago to see the live footage of the Challenger being replayed… my heart broke then as it has broken now.
My condolences to the entire NASA family.
I just now learned about this, and I can’t seem to stop crying.
Godspeed to all.
for me, james taylor said it best:
“sweet dreams and flying machine in pieces on the ground.”
the dreams of many died today.
may their memories be eternal.
Oh my God.
I just woke up a little while ago, and checked my e-mail before hitting the shower. As I went to empty the junk mail folder, I saw a “CNN Breaking News” e-mail there. “CNN Breaking News” e-mails always go to my junk mail, and I never bother opening them… but this morning, for some reason, I did.
Shame on you sir. :mad:
Another here who wishes to send condolences and best wishes to all the families touched by the loss of Columbia.
We can not let this end the dream of space exploration, we must not let it. We must learn every and anything we can from what happened, so that hopefully one day we can bring the dream to all.
<< Cannot find REALITY.SYS. Universe halted. >>
Damn. I didn’t hear about this until about 5:00 this evening when a friend Instant Messenged me with the news. I subsequently mused a bit on safety and the space program in my personal blog… if you want, the link is in my sig, but my thoughts aren’t terrifically well-informed, so I’ll just copy what I consider to be the important part:
Like some others here have mentioned, I’m beginning to think that as long as we’re taking the risk of putting people into space, we should make it worthwhile. Let’s go back to the moon. Let’s go to Mars. The capability is there. We have the technology, and we have the engineers. We will always have people who are willing to fly into space, to take the risk that comes with going where no one has ever gone before. That courage and will exists within the astronaut corps. What is lacking is will in congress and in the population, and as a direct result of that, funding.
Any loss of life is tragic. When we lose anyone before their time, it is a horrible thing. From the drive-by shooting of an innocent, or an unexpected heart attack at 22.
But these men and women represent that which is good inside of us. They were willing to risk it all for the dream. The dream of taking us further than we have been. The loss of the Challenger couldn’t stop us, and neither will this. We will mourn, and then we will continue to dream the dream of becoming better than we are.
They deserve no less.
My phone rings at 6:15 this morning. It’s one of my operators calling to aks me how to get the emergency backup “Fox News” network feed set up for air locally. He tells me “the space shuttle just crashed and news is going to start up with local coverage as soon as they can get crews in.”
So I talk him through setting up the satellite feed while I pull on a pair of jeans and an old sweatshirt and get ready to go in to the station.
At this point, I’m thinking “shuttle crash” - did it hit the runway too hard? Did it oveshoot because of a control problem, etc.
On my way into the station, I bump my operator on the Nextel to make sure he got the feed up and let him know I’m on my way in. I ask what the heck happened. That’s when he tells me that Columbia broke up on reentry - my heart sank and my eyes teared up. Immediate images of Challenger flashed into my head.
When I got to the station, crews were coming in from all over. The production team was in the process of scrapping the regular Saturday morning home and garden show and putting reporters on the street and live crews in the field. The newsroom tells me to get an engineer up to take the satellite truck to Spokane - Michael Anderson is from near there and we’ll need local reaction.
I settle in to a long day of covering another tragedy.
I’m still crying every so often 14 hours later. I was really hoping against reasonable hope that we wouldn’t have to put any more names up on the Astronaut Memorial.
I remember the day Columbia first touched back to earth. I was at a restaurant lunch counter, and the TV was on. When that first space shuttle touched down, everyone in the place stood up and cheered; applauding, smiling, and so proud. It was a wonderful moment, an incredible feat, and it looked to be so easy, touching down lightly and spot on perfect. The first time, and so beautiful!
One hundred and some odd space shuttle launches since, and it seems commonplace and easy. My brother-in-law is an aerospace engineer, brought in fresh out of college to work on the external fuel tanks with the space shuttle. That’s been his work ever since–he was working on this last Columbia launch, too, right there doing his part in a complex orchestation… Today, he went into work and cried.
It’s such an immense effort, and a close community; many hundreds of great minds working to expand human horizons, to do what most of us would never think of doing. It’s incredibly dangerous, but all their efforts make it look so easy. I think we too easily forget that.
My best prayers and admiration for the astronauts, and their families, aboard Columbia, who knew those risks, and chose to be hurtled into space in a machine. That’s the utmost bravery. And prayers to all who work for NASA and all affilliated. It’s a big family, y’all hang onto each other.
Best prayers especially to all those in Israel who are devastated by this. A hero for that country has been lost. My astute sister put it this way, which hit home with me: " It’s as if John Glenn was on Columbia as his last mission, that’s the loss of a hero that Israel feels now."
I heard something on the radio about “The shuttle accident” through tired, bleary eyes as I started my car at 5:30 this morning, Sydney time. Praying that it was an historical feature, I surfed the radio, but sure enough, there it was on the other stations. It numbed me. Nineteen Eighty bloody Six all over again. A feeling, back then, I hoped I’d never have to relive.
All seven astronauts were, I’m sure, the type of person who, if met socially, would knock you over with the sheer intellect they exude. Fast talking, passionate, bright-eyed, seriously brainy, idealistic, passionate, decent individuals. May their precious lives have been taken mercifully quickly. May their families and friends find peace and closure. I think also of the countless folk personally involved in the Shuttle programme. For them, it must have been a deeply personal loss.
To the people of the United States (and Russia, and all nations with the vision to be involved in the space programme), thank you. Thank you for supporting a great cause with untold potential benefit for our species. Thank you for taking the risks on the behalf of us all.
American Dopers, I’m sure I speak for the other non-US members of this community when I assure you that we share your feeling of loss.
Could there be any memorial more fitting than to have a human being standing on the surface of Mars, ten years from now, and have that human lay there an obelisk, made of stone from this planet, that bears the names of the humans who have given their lives exploring space?
I think not.
If we want to truly honor the memories of these people, let us redouble our efforts to continue their work.
Well, folks it’s been a really bad fucking day here in Palestine. My hometown, actually I live a few miles north of Palestine and was sitting on my front deck this morning drinking a cup of coffee. I spent much of the day putting out fires from the debris.
I thought we were under a missile attack. The Columbia came directly overhead this morning. I wasn’t aware that the shuttle was due in, so I really freaked. It was breaking up but still appeared to be in control. It was coming in from the northwest towards Ft.Wort and as it passed overhead heading straight towards the rising sun it began to “spiral”.
It looked like a jet w/ no tail…just wobbling then as it got towhere I was about to lose sight of it…I did lose sight of it. I couldn’t tell if it was the sun or the flash from the explosion. It was too bright to tell.
No bullshit here folks! The sound from the explosion was so damned loud I thought my windows were going to shatter. But, what was so scary was the rumble that followed. I couldn’t say how long it lasted. It seemed like a few minutes but it’s really hard to say honestly.
I just remember thinking “this is it” the vapor trail, the flash, the explosion and terrible rumbling afterwards. I went in to check on my wife, it woke her up and she sleeps like a rock.
So, we’ve been under seige around here all day. Military, local, state, federal, heliocopters, fighter jets overhead all day, OSHA…man you name it, there here. Fires everywhere, pieces of shuttle like a meteor shower in places.
Thanks for letting me ramble a little, still shook up I guess. My heart goes out to the families of the crew. It’s a sad day.
Peace
Thanks, LoadedDog. That’s a lovely thought. The more I hear about these folks the more respect I gain for them as human beings. And it’s great how many countries are weighing in with condolences even if they didn’t have compatriots onboard. Space travel seems to be something every healthy country enjoys being a part of or watching.
Just came back from being the lector at the Saturday Mass, where the priest allowed me to add a prayer for "The brave crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia, their family, friends, and colleagues’ to the post-sermon petitions.