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Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - geoboy - 1st February 2003
This is terrible news. :( My condolences to all 7 crew members. One of them was the first Israeli astronaut who I am sure was a hero for many people of Israel. Terrible, terrible news. :(
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - Private Hudson - 1st February 2003
There's too much intentional death in this world, netherlone all of these accidents.
Only a few days ago there was a major rail tragedy in Sydney, many people dead.
Sad to think about these things which are heavily funded and supposedly secure and safe, going completely wrong. Even though they are freak occurances.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - EdenMaster - 1st February 2003
It's a sad event, this is going to do to the US Space Program exactly the same thing Challenger did. Put it to a dead halt. I hope that they figure out what happened so that these brave people did not die in vain.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - A Black Falcon - 1st February 2003
The first time NASA ever lost anyone on reentry... this really is awful. It definitely will, like Challenger, hurt the space program a lot... I wonder what will happen to the International Space Station now. :(
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - Darunia - 1st February 2003
I woke up at 9:30 to watch Mystery Science Theater, but fortunately enough before I could put on the sci-fi channel, i heard the disaster...back then, there was no official word that it'd been lost; they'd only lost contact...I still had hope that it'd just reappear without trouble. This is horrible...yet another day of infamy, the second one in two years.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - Dark Jaguar - 1st February 2003
They can't put a TOTAL hault on it this time though, because there happen to be some people floating around in orbit in ISS right now who need food and stuff. I haven't heard the details on this, but what a terrible accident...
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - geoboy - 1st February 2003
Well, there are 3 people still up in the International Space Station who have to get back home <i>sometime</i>. Plus, Bush addressed in his speech that the space program will continue which hopefully means there will be no NASA budget cuts...
I'm sure once we learn exactly what went wrong and fix it, shuttle launches will continue as normal.
On another note, it really pisses me off how stupid people are picking up the debris. Not only are they being hospitalized for be exposed to toxins, but they're handling any evidence we have to figure out what went wrong. We can't move forward if we don't know what went wrong. Handling the evidence makes man kind take one small step backwards.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - Great Rumbler - 1st February 2003
This is a really terrible tragedy. My condolences to the families of the 7 crew members.
The shuttle started to break up less the a hundred miles from where I live.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - Dark Lord Neo - 1st February 2003
This is bad
Quote:Originally posted by A Black Falcon
I wonder what will happen to the International Space Station now. :(
The Russians have already said that their next mission will go ahead on schedule, and NASA's next mission wasn't planned until March so hopefully they will have figured out what happend by then, if not a small delay should have to much of an effect on the station.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - EdenMaster - 1st February 2003
Well, as for the people up in the ISS, they have a special launch module there at all times so that they can return to earth if they need to. Also, the Russians send up convoys of food and other essentials regularly, and NASA has nothing to do with it (I don't think).
I must have heard "If you find any debris, don't touch it" a million times. First off, it's gotta be incredibly hot, and for another thing, if a big honking piece of metal fell out of the sky and landed in my lawn, whether or not I knew where it came from, I'd leave it there. What benefit could picking up a white-hot piece of metal with your hands have?
Sometimes I just look at the human race and can only shake my head. Did anyone else see on CBS when somebody acually prank called saying they had a piece of debris in their lawn, then insulted Dan Rather? I hope that guy really did have a piece of debris, fall right on his head and crush him. I'd have cheered.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - Dark Jaguar - 1st February 2003
Incredibly hot? Well maybe on impact, but really how long could that thing stay hot? I'm sure all of it has cooled down by now.
However, seriously it's stupid to touch things that fall down from outer space. Don't these idiots watch sci-fi shows where the guy touches the meteor and suddenly becomes a monster?
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - EdenMaster - 1st February 2003
Or that one Simpsons episode where Milhouse touched a star and his entire arm dissolved (he thought it was pretty cool) :).
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - Darunia - 1st February 2003
I was horrified to find that no one at my work hardly mentioned it. The guy in charge nonchalantly said that it was being made into too big of a deal. What the hell has happened to America?
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - Fittisize - 1st February 2003
Eh. Maybe they just dont' take death as seriously as you do. Nothing wrong with that.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - OB1 - 2nd February 2003
I've been watching the news for a while today and I just can't believe this has happened. This is the first time something like this has happened, and they don't even know why it happened.
And then that Iraqi official calls this "God's retribution" or something like that because one of the astronauts was the first Jewish pilot, and that the Americans are wrong for wanting to attack Iraq.
It's a sad, sad world.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - Dark Jaguar - 2nd February 2003
This isnt' the first time something like this has happened, it happened 3 times before. They don't know why it happened because it JUST happened. They need to do some research and find this stuff out you know, and you can't expect it to be immediate.
Darunia, there's one reason they might not care. To them this is the same thing as a plane crash or a train wreck. To be honest, it really is. However, that doesn't mean this isn't a tragic accident that didn't affect anyone.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - OB1 - 2nd February 2003
Three other shuttles disintigrated during re-entry? That's the first I've heard of that.
And it's not a mystery because it just happened. They really don't know what the hell happened. According to NASA the shuttle was in perfect working condition before it went down.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - A Black Falcon - 2nd February 2003
Um, DJ, this is the first time NASA ever lost any space vehicle that had people on it on reentry. The Soviets did lose one ship during reentry in the 60's, but that's the only time that happened... thats why this is so surprising... nothing like this had happened before... I wonder how long it will take to figure out what happened, and how badly this will affect the ISS. I don't want to see something bad happen to it after all these years and billions of dollars spent on it...
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - Dark Jaguar - 2nd February 2003
Oh, I didn't mean on re-entry, I meant something like this happened before, one blowing up on launch, and another blowing up in mid flight to space. I assumed when you said "nothing like this has happened before" you meant nothing ever happened to a space vessel before.
Like I said, of COURSE they have no idea what happened. Often they have no idea what happened in a plane crash. Everything is going fine and suddenly it takes a dive and crashes straight into the ground. The only thing they know about this is that it exploded.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - OB1 - 2nd February 2003
This is quite a bit different from a plane or train crash, DJ.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - A Black Falcon - 2nd February 2003
And there's a big diffrence between crashing on re-entry and blowing up while launching the shuttle like happened to Challenger... or the fire that destroyed the Apollo 1... or that depressurization that killed the Russian astronauts on their one failed reentry...
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - Dark Jaguar - 2nd February 2003
The details most assuredly, but those types of accidents are just as tragic. What I don't like is some people acting like a train crash is "less bad".
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - A Black Falcon - 2nd February 2003
Not less bad... just MUCH more common, and thus ignored... while there were 'only' 7 people killed in this (compared to MANY more in the many transportation disasters in even just the last month), its more rare so a lot of people do seem to take it as special while train crashes are ordinary so not as bad... I don't agree with that, but can certainly see why they'd think that way...
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - Dark Jaguar - 2nd February 2003
Yeah, same hee... It's just a bit of a shame really. Of course, it's also not the best of things to get all cynical about all this stuff like I am.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - lazyfatbum - 2nd February 2003
I bought the nose cone of the Columbia for $60 on ebay. They had body parts but they were too expensive, if I need body parts i'll adopt a cat.
Seriously, this shit happens. It has to happen, we're not demi gods that can traverse the universe unharmed for an eternity. We know it and the astronauts are *trained* to know it. Once you leave the ground in a machine that's built to travel on earth and in space, there's a trillion components that can slip up at any given time from design flaw, outside influences or human error and each one of them can be fatal. That's the risk and all astronauts know it.
Honestly, I think all the money NASA gets should go on research alone with unmanned experimentation for every 5 years, 3 years of it being unmanned testing, then repeat the process. leading to a manned vehicle launch on the 10th year, then heading back for more research. We would actually accomplish more than we do now. There's too many scientists and generals who want Star Trek results with their money and time, sending up launch after launch to unfuck what the last group did, so let's give it to them in finely tuned chunks every 10 years. The atmosphere was never meant to be a freeway for space travel, we have to kiss it's ass a little and respect our own short comings.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - Dark Jaguar - 2nd February 2003
The problem is as lazy said, shuttles are WAY too complicated. The challenge now is making something that can do what a shuttle does, but is as simple as a helicopter, and can go to space and back in one stage. Simplicity in the technology is the goal now, not more complexity, which as has been said, just means more can go wrong.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - Dark Lord Neo - 2nd February 2003
I was reading an article saying that even the origional builders of the space shuttles didn't think they would last as long as they did, or at least still be in use. Perhaps re-usable crafts aren't the best way to go.
And Darunia I agree with DJ, perhaps they don't consider this any different from a plane crash, yesterday people were killed in a train wrek somewhere(I can't remember off hand where exactly the wrek was) and 7 high school students died in an avalanche, I'm sure that there were many more accidents yesterday.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - Dark Jaguar - 2nd February 2003
Reusable is the only way to go if it's to be a common thing. This is the general consensus I've heard from people who actually know about this anyway. Shuttles weren't expected to last this long because even though they are a step up from rockets, they are still horribly complex multistage space ships. The idea is to get them, as I said, down to single stage ships that are simplistic in design. In fact, there's a reward of... a lot of money (I forget the figure) to anyone who can provide a workable solution to this.
Here's my idea. Get a ship, and a moron. Get the moron to forget how to fall properly, and set the coordinates.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - lazyfatbum - 2nd February 2003
Good idea.
But they have the X-10 shuttle in the works (all in one wonder ship) which looks like a piece of cake.... litteraly. And alot of airlines have planes coming out that have either near orbital or fully orbital capabilities (the latter one being hailed as an 'Air Cruise Ship' which would be mainly for entertainment, not traveling, but who knows)
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - Darunia - 2nd February 2003
I've been hearing about those ships for years now; and it seems as though we're no closer to having one. I've seen pictures of them too; it looks really cool, like from a movie. I hope they get their asses in gear and build one soon! Maybe the Columbia will serve to that effect...
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - lazyfatbum - 2nd February 2003
Probably. With this disaster NASA will have no problem getting the okay to build a fully working model of the X-10. Right now it exists mainly on a computer screen and draft boards but prototypes are rumored to exist.
The 'space planes' do exist however and sit in large hangers waiting to be finalized, approved, and used.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - He Who Annoys All - 2nd February 2003
Testing the shuttles with unmaned flights over the next howevermany years would be a good idea but there are many things up there that require humans to go up with whatever the payload is. There are many sattilites and things that they can send up in unmaned rockets but there are still many other sattilites and peices of the ISS that have to be partialy assemblled in orbit. And some of the devices all ready up there will have to be replaced within the next ten years because they are obsolite or fell out of orbit. They probably will stop launces for a while while they reasurce the probem, which the think may be a peice of foam the fell off of the external fuel tank and struck the left wing (this wasn't the first time foam fell from the tank, 2 launches before Columbia a peice of foam fell of the tank and struck one of the bosters; no real damage in this incident), but Bush(I think, may have been someone else) said that the next shcedualled lunch will take place. Whether or not his is a good idea remainse to be seen, but the space program will be back up at full opperation sooner or lator.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - Dark Jaguar - 2nd February 2003
I think maybe if Bush gave NASA some pressure to get the X-10 model lazy's talking about, or any other succesful model that's been made since that was announced, succesfully made and launched, we'd see a brave new step that would, more importantly to people who don't care about mankind's future expansion, be far cheaper. Shuttles with their throw away million dollar parts are just plain wasteful, and no one in their right mind would run an air port where you threw away more than half the plane before the trip was over.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - lazyfatbum - 2nd February 2003
"the exploration of space will never be without risk. But it is mandatory that we use the best technology, human expertise and human dedication available to minimize that risk at all times. And it is certain that the benefits to humanity are worth the risk we cannot avoid."
~Astronaut John Young, Assistant Director; Johnson Space Center and Commander of the first Space Shuttle Mission
![[Image: space-shuttle-types.jpg]](http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/space-shuttle-types.jpg)
From left to right: The X-33, The Venture Star and the Current Space Shuttle design.
"X-10" came from the aerodynamics that was implemented for the first generation designs of these space planes (100% recoverable) and has since gone through a name change for whatever reason. Perhaps they found even better aerodynamics or just got sick of saying "X-10". Notice the size of the Venture Star... my guess is that a plane like that would be for something a bit more than orbits... the "X-33" is the one that we should see being used more often.
And it gets better, NASA has put together a cheap way to send people in to space using a small rocket and a payload device simmilar to that of the first manned orbital missions. You blast off, orbit the Earth and land with a parachute all while inside a bucket the size of a volkswagon, and all the leg room of a coach flight sitting behind a woman who weighs one cubic ton.... count me out. I'll wait till they make the IMAX 3-D ride of it.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - Sacred Jellybean - 3rd February 2003
Whoa dudez, its the space plane from 2001! I like this thread.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - WhiteFleck - 3rd February 2003
I think the coolest idea for space travel is that huge slingshot idea. Basically, we'd build a HUGE tower that extends really far out, and then the earth's rotation gives it extra speed as it slides to the end. Finally it reaches the end, and POOF! it's in orbit! Or something.... I saw it on HowStuffWorks.com... great site.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - Dark Jaguar - 3rd February 2003
If you're going to do that, you might as well make it an elevator. Either way, they both have a pretty big change of falling down like 2 seconds after they are made that high.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - OB1 - 3rd February 2003
The elevator that goes nowhere? And then they could make the skyscraper made out of toothpicks and a giant magnifying glass.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - Fittisize - 3rd February 2003
Spaceshuttles are at the very edge of human mechanics as we know it...it's pretty remarkable to go to space and return. It is damn near impossible, at that. That is why astrounauts are the best of the best, they are the only ones that can handle such complex machines. (Columbia is the most complex machine ever built) IMO, a simpler space shuttle is hardly concievalbe right now...in a hundred or so years maybe. But we do not have the technology to make a less complex machine go into space right now. People take for granted how much training and technology is needed to go into space...and how every time you are risking your life. I guess that's what TV does to you.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - Darunia - 3rd February 2003
Au contraite. The shuttles were built in the mid '70s...an era when computers only beginning to not take up who rooms. If thirty years of computers can reduce those computers to our computers, I'm sure that thirty years of space shuttles can help us produce a newer, superior and less complicated end product
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - He Who Annoys All - 3rd February 2003
The shuttles currently in use were estimated to be able to be used on one hundred missions. Columbia was only on its 28th, give or take a few. And it had just recieved a few new parts, such as new engines and a new computerised cockpit. Thats another reason why the accident was such a shock. I just saw on the Discovery Channel that there was something wrong with the tiles on the left wing on Columbia. The wing was getting extremily hot and creating alot of drag. The ship was banking to even out the drag, but it still disintigrated. Just why is still a mistery, but NASA is starting to find answers to some of the questions.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - geoboy - 3rd February 2003
I heard this morning on NBC that there is a conflict going on at NASA with a group called the "space mafia" or something like that. Basically, there is a fight between engineers and former NASA pilots (who now have a prestigious hierarchy at NASA and are the ones who set a lot of the rules). The engineers want to make the shuttles nearly (if not completely) automated. The former pilots, however, are a bunch of old geezers who believe things need to be less automated, because that is how it was in their day which is just the way they’s liked it. Automation completely eliminates human error as long as it is tested and refined for many, many, years. And the great thing about testing automation is you don’t endanger human lives in the process! I’m not saying this happened because of human error. I just think automation is one of the many steps we need to take to head in the right direction.
On another note: I found school to be very depressing today. In history class, the teacher brought up the Columbia tragedy and immediately the majority of the class responded with “the space program is a waste of money” and wouldn’t take the discussion seriously at all. I tried to argue how essential space exploration is to all human kind but I was over shadowed by obnoxious idiots who wouldn’t listen anyway. They’d much rather see the money go into their own pockets so they could spend it on clothes, drugs, and gasoline, which is what the majority of the kids in my class spend their money on. Too many people are near sighted and self centered. They can only think a week into the future and won’t sacrifice anything because they only see the short-term outcome rather than the benefits of such things in the long run.
God I can’t wait to leave this stupid planet. :)
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - A Black Falcon - 3rd February 2003
Some people have responded to the tragedy by saying that the manned space program should be scrapped and only drones should be sent into space... I find that ridiculous. I think that we should have a lot more missions to and people going to space, not less... we do need a better launch vehicle, though. Its really too bad that NASA seems to have shelved those next-gen shuttle replacement ideas... some of them seemed good, and NASA just can't rely on the aging shuttles for too much longer. But they have to, because a replacement is years away... I don't see how they get out of it -- they have to use the shuttles. I just wish a better (faster, cheaper, safer, etc) vehicle was available sooner.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - A Black Falcon - 3rd February 2003
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/04/health/psychology/04PSYC.html
Good New York Times article about the human reaction to death -- how the astronauts dying gets a bigger reaction than other things because it has a real face on it and has big symbolic value... it also says that people attach more meaning to things when they have a name -- more nameless dead people mean less than fewer ones who are recognisable... the article isn't anything really new but its interesting. Only problem? You've got to be registered at the NYT site to read it... free, though. I'd post it, but its way too long to do that, and its not THAT hard to sign up. If you care about reading it that is.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - geoboy - 3rd February 2003
You really can't rush these things, though. Why can't the next 5 years be nothing but unmanned missions? There is far more to be learned with the mechanical technology than the often pointless expiriments humans do in space. I am aware that there is an operational space station which we shouldn't abandon. It gives the U.S. and Russia (among other countries) something constructive to do together.
At any rate, when I said "automated", I meant that computers do all the work navigating and stuff while humans aboard the shuttle just enjoy the ride or monitor gauges. That's almost the way it is now, but there is still quite a bit of manual work that done.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - geoboy - 3rd February 2003
I've heard a lot of debates about "why is it when 7 people die in this tragedy, there is huge media coverage, but while thousands of children in Africa die every day, nobody pays attention to that?" I myself began to wonder and I believe it's already been said. When the lives of countless, nameless people from a country most people don't care about or has absolutely no effect on them die, it's really no wonder why not many people care and why it doesn't get excessive media coverage. It's so routine it's like having an entire week devoted to why the tomato sauce stain on Tom Brokaw's sock won't come clean.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - OB1 - 3rd February 2003
Why would he have a tomato sauce stain on his sock?
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - Dark Jaguar - 4th February 2003
The man only eats with his shoes off, which I totally understand. Work shoes SUCK.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - Fittisize - 4th February 2003
I think that the Canadarm should have been on this flight...as a means to see if there was any damage to the ship before reentry. But, alas, it can't be changed now.
We talked about this in class, too. But for the most part nobody really cared at all. I myself, honestly, don't really care for the deaths. (if it would have been someone close to me I would have reacted differently, I'm sure) It is a natural thing, even when it is caused by unnatural circumstances. Exactly how these people died and what went wrong is what I'm really interested in, though.
Space shuttle Columbia dissinegrates on re-entry - EdenMaster - 4th February 2003
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