NASA Loses Contact With Shuttle Columbia

[Bart Meerdink]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Dat zou wel eens 10 jaar vertraging in het ruimtevaart-programma kunnen
betekenen.

Stukje tekst van:
http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/status.html

[1440 GMT (9:40 a.m. EST)

During a mission status news conference yesterday, Entry Flight Director
Leroy Cain was asked about any possible damage to the shuttle's thermal
tiles during launch. The tiles are what protect the shuttle during the
fiery reentry into Earth's atmosphere.

Tracking video of launch shows what appears to be a piece of foam
insulation from the shuttle's external tank falling away during ascent
and hitting the shuttle's left wing near its leading edge.

But Cain said engineers "took a very thorough look at the situation with
the tile on the left wing and we have no concerns whatsoever. We haven't
changed anything with respect to our trajectory design. It will be a
nominal, standard trajectory." ]

Ondanks de aanwezigheid van een Israelier aan boord lijkt een aanslag of
sabotage hoogst onwaarchijnlijk, en bovenstaand stukje zou wel eens de
oorzaak kunnen aanwijzen. Die 'no concerns whatsoever' zouden weleens
voor 'op hoop van zegen' kunnen hebben gestaan. Voor die Leroy Cain was
het natuurlijk erg moeilijk om tot terugkeer via de nood-capsule te
besluiten (ook riskant, en weg Columbia).

Bart Meerdink

Cees Binkhorst wrote:
>
> 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.

**********
Dit bericht is verzonden via de informele D66 discussielijst (D66 at nic.surfnet.nl).
Aanmelden: stuur een email naar LISTSERV at nic.surfnet.nl met in het tekstveld alleen: SUBSCRIBE D66
Afmelden: stuur een email naar LISTSERV at nic.surfnet.nl met in het tekstveld alleen: SIGNOFF D66
Het on-line archief is te vinden op: http://listserv.surfnet.nl/archives/d66.html
**********