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Spaceship Columbia explodes during reentry [news]
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U.S. space shuttle Columbia, carrying first Israeli astronaut, explodes; Terrorist act ruled out
01-02-2003, 16:14
(Albawaba.com)
NASA declared an emergency after losing communication with space shuttle Columbia as the ship soared over Texas several minutes before its expected landing Saturday. The last contact with the shuttle was at 1400 GMT.
The shuttle was carrying the first Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon, and six Americans, and authorities had feared it would be a terrorist target. Fifteen minutes after the expected landing time, and with no word from the shuttle, NASA announced that search and rescue teams were being mobilized in Dallas and Fort Worth areas.
NASA warned that any debris found in the area should be avoided and could be hazardous. There were reports of debris seen falling.
On launch day, a piece of insulating foam on the external fuel tank came off during liftoff and was believed to have struck the left wing of the shuttle, AP reported.
A U.S. administration official said the shuttle's altitude made it "highly unlikely" that the it fell victim to a terrorist act.
U.S. President George W. Bush was informed after NASA lost contact with the shuttle and was being kept updated, the White House said. "The president has been briefed and is monitoring the situation," a White House official said.
Ramon, a colonel in Israel's air force, participated in 1981 in the Israeli air strike that destroyed the Iraqi nuclear reactor.
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(Foxnews)
Debris 'All Over' Nacogdoches,Texas
Saturday, February 01, 2003
NACOGDOCHES, Texas — Residents of this east Texas town said debris, including bits of machinery and pieces of metal, were found strewn across town Saturday morning, hours after NASA lost contact with space shuttle Columbia.
"It's all over Nacogdoches," said James Milford, owner of Milford Barber shop in downtown Nacogdoches. "There are several little pieces, some parts of machinery ... there's been a lot of pieces about 3 feet wide."
NASA declared an emergency after losing communication with Columbia as the ship soared across Texas at an altitude of about 200,000 feet while traveling at six times the speed of sound.
Nacogdoches police spokesman Greg Sowell said there were several reports of falling debris in the East Texas city 135 miles northeast of Houston.
He did not know exactly how many reports.
Nacogdoches enacted its emergency operations center and was sending emergency crews to the reported debris, he said.
"At this point we're just trying to get it out to the public to not touch or tamper with this debris in any manner due to the possibility of toxic substances being on the debris," Sowell said.
Jeff Hancock, a 29-year-old dentist, said he found a chunk of debris in his office.
"There's actually a piece in my office. It came through the roof of my office. It's about a foot long metal bracket," he said.
Ed Rohner, Nacogdoches airport manager, said some type of tank ended up on a runway.
"We have one large, several foot in diameter, some type of tank that was in the middle of a runway. We've got pieces of debris all along the entrance road to the airport," Rohner said.
"I don't know what it is. It's a large, round metal tank, several feet in diamater."
Members of the National Guard were on hand to protect the debris.
R.T. Gregory, a waiter at Aubrey's Cafe in Nacogdoches said he and about 50 other people gathered around a taped-off piece of metal debris in the parking lot of the Commercial Bank of Texas around 9:20 a.m. He said the debris was about 4 feet long and 4 feet wide.
He said a fire truck, police car and several other vehicles were at the scene.
"There was a lot of people coming, I guess just wanting to see it," Gregory said.
There also were confirmed reports of debris in Cherokee and Rusk County in East Texas, Department of Public Safety dispatcher Natalie Gordon said.
In Lufkin, there were no confirmed repots, but officers were fanning out to verify numerous reports. "We have way too many to verify," DPS supervisor Michelle McLean said.
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(Canada.com News)
NEWS STORY
Space shuttle Columbia disintegrates in sky over Texas; debris seen falling
Canadian Press
Saturday, February 01, 2003
CREDIT: (AP/Terry Renna)
NASA security remove the space shuttle Columbia flag from the flagpole at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., after the Space Shuttle Columbia apparently broke up over Texas, Saturday. (AP/Terry Renna)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Space shuttle Columbia apparently broke apart in flames as it streaked over Texas toward its scheduled landing Saturday, killing all seven astronauts: six Americans and an Israeli.
NASA didn't immediately declare the crew dead; however, the U.S. flag next to its countdown clock was lowered to half-mast.
Officials in Washington said that there was no immediate indication of terrorism, and that President George W. Bush was informed and awaiting more information from NASA.
In north Texas, several residents reported hearing "a big bang" at about 9 a.m., the same time all radio and data communication with the shuttle and its crew of seven was lost.
Television footage showed a bright light over Texas followed by smoke plumes streaking diagonally through the sky. Debris appeared to break off into separate balls of light as it continued downward. NASA declared an emergency after losing contact with the crew and sent search teams to the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Just over an hour after the shuttle had been expected to land, officials at Kennedy Space Center announced over loud speakers that a statement on the fate of the shuttle would be issued shortly. NASA warned people on the ground in Texas to stay away from any fallen debris.
It was the 113th flight in the shuttle program's 22 years and the 28th flight for Columbia, NASA oldest shuttle.
Inside Mission Control, flight controllers hovered in front of their computers, staring at the screens after contact was lost. The wives, husbands and children of the astronauts who had been waiting at the landing strip were gathered together by NASA and taken to a secluded place.
"A contingency for the space shuttle has been declared," Mission Control sombrely repeated over and over as no word or any data came from Columbia.....(cut because of character limit)
....."Anytime you lose contact like that, there's some big problem. Of course, once you went for several minutes without any contact, you knew something was terribly wrong," Glenn said.
A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Saturday there was no threat made against the flight and that the shuttle was out of range of a surface-to-air missile.
Security had been extraordinarily tight for Columbia's 16-day scientific research mission because of the presence of Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut.
Columbia's crew had completed 80-plus scientific research experiments during their time in orbit.
Only three of the seven astronauts had flown in space before, the shuttle's commander, Rick Husband, Michael Anderson, and Kalpana Chawla. The other four were rookies: pilot William McCool, David Brown, Laurel Clark and Ramon.
Just in the past week, NASA observed the anniversary of its only two other space tragedies, the Challenger explosion, which killed all seven astronauts on board, and the Apollo spacecraft fire that killed three on Jan. 27, 1967.
A brief look at the six Americans and Israel's first astronaut aboard space shuttle Columbia:
Commander Rick Husband, 45, U.S. air force colonel from Amarillo, Texas. The former test pilot was selected as an astronaut in 1994 on his fourth try. He made up his mind as a child that that was what he was going to do with his life.
"It's been pretty much a lifelong dream and just a thrill to be able to get to actually live it out," he said in an interview before Columbia's launch, his second spaceflight.
Pilot William McCool, 41, U.S. navy commander from Lubbock, Texas, and father of three sons. He graduated second in his 1983 class at the Naval Academy, went on to test pilot school and Payload commander Michael Anderson, 43, the son of an air force man who grew up on military bases. He was flying for the U.S. air force when NASA chose him in 1994 as one of only a handful of black astronauts. He travelled to Russia's Mir space station in 1998. The lieutenant colonel was in charge of Columbia's dozens of science experiments. His home is in Spokane, Wash.
Kalpana Chawla, 41, emigrated to United States from India in 1980s and became an astronaut in 1994. On only other spaceflight, in 1996, she made mistakes that sent a science satellite tumbling out of control. Other astronauts went on spacewalk to capture it.
David Brown, 46, a U.S. navy captain, pilot and doctor. He joined the navy after a medical internship, went on to fly the A-6E Intruder and F-18. He became an astronaut in 1996. Columbia's mission was his first spaceflight.
Laurel Clark, 41, a navy diving medical officer aboard submarines, then flight surgeon who became an astronaut in 1996. On board Columbia to help with science experiments. Has eight-year-old son. Her home is in Racine, Wis.
Ilan Ramon, 48, a colonel in Israel's air force and the first Israeli in space. His mother and grandmother survived Auschwitz death camp. Father fought for Israel's statehood alongside grandfather. Ramon fought in Yom Kippur War 1973 and Lebanon War 1982.
He served as a fighter pilot 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, flew F-16s and F-4s. He was chosen as Israel's first astronaut in 1997, then moved to Houston the next year to train for shuttle flight. His wife and four children live in Tel Aviv.
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very tragic
edit- supermod, please move to enlightenment
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ni pour ni contre; ça m'est égal
"The weight of this sad time we must obey,/ Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say./ The oldest hath borne most; we that are young/ Shall never see so much, nor live so long."
King Lear (V.3.300-304)
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02-01-2003 06:27 PM
ah but my english teacher was crying *sigh* 
