OT: Shuttle Breaks Up During Re-Entry

Taera · #1 February 1st, 2003, 08:17 PM

this is all very sad. i have not heard about this before. what saddens me the most is that the elite of our space astronauts AND scientists were burned in atmosphere.

Graeme Dice · #2 February 1st, 2003, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by CNCRaymond:
Could it have been a bomb?

That doesn't make any sense, as a bomb works just as well if not better if you set it off well before re-entry.

David E. Gervais · #3 February 1st, 2003, 08:37 PM

This is indeed a tragic day in history. I believe that the best way to honor the crew of Columbia (and the crew of Challenger) is to keep NASA and the space program up and running. These fine people knew the risks and choose to accept them in the persuit of science. I salute their bravery, respect their choice and honor there memory. May their dream live long and prosper.

F Te antKe · #4 February 1st, 2003, 09:51 PM

Seven explorers
Fearless into the unknown
Spirits shall not die

Chronon · #5 February 1st, 2003, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by David Gervais:
I believe that the best way to honor the crew of Columbia (and the crew of Challenger) is to keep NASA and the space program up and running. These fine people knew the risks and choose to accept them in the persuit of science. I salute their bravery, respect their choice and honor there memory. May their dream live long and prosper.

It is, indeed, a very sad day for the space program, and I couldn't agree with you more David. Let's hope this turns into a wake-up call for a new approach (perhaps the spaceplane or something similar), rather than a rationale for shutting the program down (as I'm sure some politicians will argue).

Ruatha · #6 February 1st, 2003, 10:48 PM

As previus stated, it's a sad day.
But one can't say it's becouse the shuttles are old.
They're constantly being upgraded, and serviced.
They are supposed to be able to handle 100 take offs.

It could have been made yesterday and still crash, **** happens.
In sweden we built this great warship a couple of years ago, the Wasa. It sunk on it's maiden voyage out of the harbour!
There is always a risc, and sometimes it's worth taking. These people knew that.

MacLeod · #7 February 2nd, 2003, 01:35 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ruatha:
As previus stated, it's a sad day.
But one can't say it's becouse the shuttles are old.
They're constantly being upgraded, and serviced.
They are supposed to be able to handle 100 take offs.

It could have been made yesterday and still crash, **** happens.
In sweden we built this great warship a couple of years ago, the Wasa. It sunk on it's maiden voyage out of the harbour!
There is always a risc, and sometimes it's worth taking. These people knew that.

I agree. I seriously doubt NASA is just screwing around when it comes to maintenance. And even if Columbia is the oldest, it's not the most flightworn, the Discovery is (having about 30 launches to the Columbia's 21).

Bombs are damned unlikely as NASA engineers have certainly gone through the shuttle with a fine-toothed comb fifty dozen times before launch, and a missile is just damned near impossible.

Was probably a random mechanical problem, or one part of it needed to be gone over another ten dozen times than it already was.

As far as shutting down the space program, who wants to stay on this boring planet forever? Just hope we don't forget about the poor guys in the ISS in the meantime, though they reportedly have a good 4-5 months of supplies.