NASA inspected the damage (random theories from news agencies have gone from high-powered ground telescopes to spy satellites O_o) and did not deem it important enough for an on-site inspection (which would be difficult to do and get any more information from). I don’t think it is likely they could replace damaged tiles in space.
One of the agencies brought up a good point, in that STS 1 had similar damage, and it has likely happened on occasion since.
My sister and mother in Keller, TX reports that the explosion rattled the windows in their houses and woke up my niece.
I also witnessed the Challenger disaster when I was in the 4th grade :(. I was too young to fully appreciate it at the time–I mostly admired the cool fireworks display.
I meant to point that out earlier. But of course it’s more effective to tell people that pieces may be dangerous (which is true) than it is to tell them the debris may be important. “Well, this little piece can’t be very important! I’ll just take it as a souvenier.”
Not a chance.
This is so sad.
The Isreali Astronaut had a wife and four children. They are in Florida to watch the shuttle land.
Seraphim, I was in fourth grade then myself. Though I was so into the space program at the time, it did hit me pretty hard. I hadn’t realized how dangerous spaceflight really is.
Dr. Laurel Clark had an 8 year old son.
Damn damn damn…
This is a really sad event.
My thoughts and prayers to the family’s.
Some tiles are more crucial than others. I don’t think the damaged tiles on STS1 were on the leading edge. But in any case, it’s too early to say that damaged tiles are to blame for this accident. Let’s not jump to conclusions.
Speculation:Radioactivity:
while I doubt that there’s anything like a nuclear warhead onboard (99.9999999999%+ certain there’s NOT), certain precision instrumentation may use minute amounts of radioactive materials. Something to do with the natural decay rates of these elements, or their natural “frequencies” (?) giving extremely accurate measurements of time, or some such.
These precision instruments may be part of the shuttle’s flight systems, as well as part of any scientific payload.
If any of these precision instruments are even onboard, they are probably not present in sufficient quantities to be dangerous, provided that the instrumentation chassis remains intact.
Also: CNN reports that Col. Ilon Ramon was a participant in the airstrike against Iraq in the early 80’s, targeting a nuclear reactor. I wonder if Saddam or any of his boneheaded sons will be stupid enough to try to claim credit for this? Inspite of the implausibility of terrorism being the cause of this.
NBC reporting U.S. military satelite saw unusual heat spike in the air by Columbia, which would indicate some sort of explosion.
Sigh…
Mission Info:
http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-107/mission-sts-107.html
Crew Profiles:
With Respect to their families…
a sad day my prayers are with their family and friends.
Does anyone know if flights into Dallas-Fort Worth are still going as scheduled? My wife’s in the air right now and scheduled to land shortly.
This is complete speculation, but…
If certain critical tiles were damaged, either by ice falling off of the external fuel tank during launch or perhaps by a debris strike while in orbit (a single flake of paint travelling at 17,000 mph can cause severe damage), and if those critical tiles were on the leading edge of the wing or perhaps on the underside of the ship, then the enormous heat generated during re-entry could cause the structure of the spacecraft to melt, burn, or explode.
Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no…
Maybe I’m naive but space exploration always seemed like one of the truly brave, exciting, wonderful things humanity was doing. Risky, but wonderful. Losing another shuttle crew to a crash…
I’m babbling. Hard to type when you’re crying. Rest in peace, comfort to those left behind.
Veb
Thoughts and prayers to the families of the astronauts.
Godspeed Columbia.
Damn, damn, damn…
I went to Florida back in '82 and watched the Columbia launch. It was the fourth shuttle launch. I still remember that trip. Damn.
I probably don’t need to say this, but if something fell on your roof then you should contact local law enforcement, and STAY AWAY FROM IT!
Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.