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Space Shuttle Columbia

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©brad:
God bless all seven members of the crew on Columbia. Prayers to all of their families and friends.



 Rick Husband
 William C. McCool
 Michael C. Anderson
 Kalpana Chawla
 David Brown
Laurel Clark
 Iian Ramon


'Roger,' and Then Silence
By DAVID E. SANGER


WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 — The space shuttle Columbia broke up this morning on re-entry into the earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts on board and sending fiery debris over Texas in the second loss of a space shuttle in 17 years.

There was no immediate explanation of what caused the disintegration of the oldest shuttle in NASA's fleet, but there were some tantalizing clues. By late this afternoon, space agency engineers were describing a cascading series of failures of sensors on the left side of the craft.

That led to speculation that some kind of structural damage took place — perhaps caused by insulation that fell loose when the Columbia lifted off 16 days ago, perhaps from some other cause — that triggered a catastrophic failure about 9 a.m. Eastern time. But at a news conference, NASA officials said that had been analyzed and found not to be a concern.

The disaster occurred roughly 40 miles above Earth as the shuttle slipped into the netherworld between outer space and the upper atmosphere, just as it was slowing to 12,500 miles an hour and was minutes from its destination, the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Yet as the countdown clock at the landing site in Florida reached zero at 9:16 a.m., with an eerie silence and no sign of the shuttle, flaming debris was already falling in East Texas, and then in Louisiana.

The loss of the Columbia revived a long-simmering debate in Congress about the space program and is certain to lead to new hearings. It also renewed questions about whether cost-cutting and management problems at NASA may be compromising astronauts' safety.

President Bush, informed of the disaster at Camp David by his chief of staff, Andrew H. Card Jr., rushed back to the White House, his motorcade speeding down the mountain and then racing through suburban Maryland. He appeared drawn and stricken as he addressed the nation five hours after the shuttle broke up.

"The Columbia is lost," he said from the cabinet room. "There are no survivors." But as President Ronald Reagan did 17 years and four days ago, when the shuttle Challenger exploded, Mr. Bush vowed that the American space program would go on.

"The same creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today," he said. He told the nation that while the astronauts had not safely returned to earth, "we can pray they are safely home."

Just minutes before the spaceship was lost, flight specialists in Houston had been communicating with the crew, talking about tire pressure on the Columbia. Nothing appeared wrong. Then Mission Control in Houston said, "We did not copy your last."

"Roger, uh —— " came the reply from the shuttle, and then there was silence, as if the astronaut had been cut off in midsentence, and then just static.
By the time Mr. Bush spoke at 2 p.m., the nation knew the fate of the crew. Much as viewers around the world knew the meaning of the terrifying images they saw on Jan. 28, 1986, when the Challenger exploded, they understood instinctively that there was no chance any of the five men and two women aboard the Columbia could survive a disintegration so high in the sky.

The silent confirmation of their deaths came around noon today, as the White House lowered its flag to half-staff.

The best-known member of the crew was the first Israeli to go into space, Ilan Ramon, a colonel in the Israeli Air Force who more than two decades ago participated in Israel's attack on a nuclear reactor in Iraq, and has long been a national hero.

Because of Colonel Ramon's participation in the mission, security was extraordinarily tight. Experts said it was extremely unlikely that the shuttle had been deliberately struck, noting that it was so high in the atmosphere that it was out of range of anti-aircraft systems and missiles. A review of satellite data, administration officials said, detected nothing untoward.

Mr. Bush called Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel this morning, and the two men — friends from before either took office — grieved together, as did their nations. Other world leaders, including several Mr. Bush has been at odds with over Iraq, called to express condolences.

Victor:
it sucks how in todays world, it takes all this tradgedy and death for people to find their humanity and come together.

Redlum:
It makes me wonder why more effort isnt put into advancing space exploration as opposed to say, I dunno....war?

Duck Sauce:
We have been using the same basic designs from the 60s, you would think we could have had some bigger and better innovations since then. Maybe this will do that, or completley kill NASA forever. Respects go out to the crew and family.

Pedro:
The worst thing that will come out of this are all the idiotic conspiracy theories.  No, the CIA did not cause all this.

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