R.I.P. Shuttle Columbia

Sat Feb 01, 2003 4:02 pm by Shark747

Almost 17 years to the day of the Challenger disaster NASA and the space program has experiened another catastrophe at 9:00 am eastern time all contact was lost with the Space Shuttle Columbia. The Columbia was in the process of re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. There are no reports of survivors and there is video showing a smoke trail and the disintigration of the shuttle, so it doesn't look good. They say that damage to the heat tiles that may have occured during lift off which may have led to this.

R.I.P Columbia

Edited by - Shark747 on 01-02-2003 16:07:23

Edited by - Shark747 on 01-02-2003 16:14:17

Sat Feb 01, 2003 4:13 pm by Peet-Air

Nothing is certain yet, but it looks bad.
Watching CNN.

Sat Feb 01, 2003 4:15 pm by Wizard

My condoleanses to the families of the astronauts.

"God bless this acid house!"
"I was near the scene of another crime at the time, officer."

Sat Feb 01, 2003 4:47 pm by DEATH AT THE DOOR

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/02/0 ... dex.html' Target=_Blank>Check CNN's website

-----

Would you care to follow me... --DEATH

Sat Feb 01, 2003 4:47 pm by Rheinland Destroyer

It does look bad indeed but I still have hope there were some survivors.One of the local viewers who actually sawy what happened said it took a hard right for some reason.

Sat Feb 01, 2003 4:49 pm by Wizard

Rheinland, from what I've heard it was re-entering Earth's atmosphere. It is very unlikely that anyone can survive such temperatures.

Sat Feb 01, 2003 4:49 pm by Nash

This is a horrible tragedy. My thoughts and preys are with the crews and there familys.

Sat Feb 01, 2003 4:51 pm by Boscoe

Watching it now, just showed a closer video, the shuttle exploded into 5 discernable pieces. Not confirmed by NASA, but there's no chance of any survivors. My prayers to the families of the 7 astronauts.

Sat Feb 01, 2003 4:57 pm by Rheinland Destroyer

Actually it all happened at around 200,000 feet & they say that the escape system has an upper limit of 70,000 feet in which the the crew use an escape hatch to jump out with a parachute but I don't know that they were traveling over Mach 6 which might be a problem.

Sat Feb 01, 2003 5:08 pm by Tachyon

My thoughts go to their families. I feel sick...

Sat Feb 01, 2003 5:17 pm by Peet-Air

Yes me too Tachyon.
I always follow as much as possible from the shuttle flights, but it doenst get much media-attention here.
I have a Columbia poster hanging on the wall here :s
I wonder what caused the accident.

Edited by - Peet-Air on 01-02-2003 17:24:08

Sat Feb 01, 2003 5:31 pm by Balthazar

Sorry to hear the bad news..

Balthazar

Sat Feb 01, 2003 5:38 pm by Shark747

I live in Florida so coverage here has been very heavy. They are all basically saying they don't know what happened but the did mention there was some possible wing damage from debris during liftoff. NASA is about to have a press conference so maybe they will say.

This is horrible, I was 5 when the Challenger blew up, I never thought I would see something like this happen again. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the crew members, and pray for the safe return of the 3 astronauts aboard the international space station whenever NASA decides to bring them home.

Edited by - Shark747 on 01-02-2003 17:41:37

Sat Feb 01, 2003 5:41 pm by Nspire

If NASA doesn't get their act together, China is going to take the lead in the space-race.

Sat Feb 01, 2003 6:17 pm by El Poyo Diablo

Whoah there Nspire, hang on a sec. If there's one thing we don't need to worry about it's the Chinese taking the lead in the space race. They just sent their first UNMANNED capsule into space only three years ago. Their space program right now is where ours was at in the early sixties. Believe me they have alot of cathing up to do. This is a great tragedy for the space program though. The first Israeli astronaut as well as seven other dedicated crew members. I alos heard that this was supposed to be the Columbia's last flight before it's de-commissioning...how sadly ironic.

Important Message

You are browsing the archived Lancers Reactor forums. You cannot register or login.
The content may be outdated and links may not be functional.

To get the latest in Freelancer news, mods, modding and downloads, go to
The-Starport