NASA Loses Contact With Shuttle Columbia

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Zojuist op de site van de NYT
NASA Loses Contact With Shuttle Columbia
During Landing and Declares an Emergency

Warnings From NASA on Falling Debris; Bush Calls Meeting
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

APE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA declared an emergency and feared the worst
after losing communication with space shuttle Columbia as the ship
and its seven astronauts soared over Texas several minutes before its
expected landing Saturday.

As the minutes wore on, there appeared to be no hope for their
survival.

Television stations showed what appeared to be debris falling, and
NASA warned Texas residents to beware of any falling objects. NASA
also announced that search and rescue teams were being mobilized in
the Dallas and Fort Worth areas.

Inside Mission Control, flight controllers hovered in front of their
computers, staring at the screens. The wives, husbands and children
of the astronauts who had been waiting at the landing strip were
gathered together by NASA and taken to secluded place.

"A contingency for the space shuttle has been declared," Mission
Control repeated over and over as no word or any data came from
Columbia.

In 42 years of U.S. human space flight, there had never been an
accident during the descent to Earth or landing. On Jan. 28, 1986,
space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff.

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