NASA loses contact with Space Shuttle

[SpongeBobSquarePants]

Originally posted by Tyger




The crew van coming back fromthe tarmac empty.

That is very hard to look at......

[fire1811]

always remember!

[TigerMan]

I pray that there families are able to make it through this. It's difficult for us as spectators on our TV's to watch, I can only imagine how difficult it be for friends and family members. My prayers go out to them. RIP.

[billmi]

Originally posted by Tyger


At the speed the orbiter goes in the "S" turns, a wingnut may as well be a wrecking ball.

On NASA TV, during the ongoing press conference, some of the stats were read off from telemetry at the time of loss of contact. The Orbiter was traveling at just over 18 Mach (compared to the SR-71's declassified world record top speed of around 3.2 Mach.)

-Bill

[ttoad4000t]

I was outside playing basketball with some friends, then heard a loud boom (sonic boom) I live right next to an Air force base, so i figured it was just a jet flying over, so I look up, and i actully saw it...Its really sad, and my best wishes go out to the relatives of the crew...

[TigerMan]

Originally posted by ttoad4000t
I was outside playing basketball with some friends, then heard a loud boom (sonic boom) I live right next to an Air force base, so i figured it was just a jet flying over, so I look up, and i actully saw it...Its really sad, and my best wishes go out to the relatives of the crew...

So you actually saw it? That will be something you'll never forget. NBC is showing an animation that gives an idea of what possibly happened. They even said people took pieces and have placed them on several online auction sites (didn't say exact ones, but we can assume ebay).

[Tyger]

There's one thing that's bothering me here

I keep watching this press confrence here, and ther's one thing that bothers me.

I got out my old books for this one. At about 16 minutes to touchdown, the shuttle will be in "Blackout", something that nnobody ha really talked about. "Blackout" is when the heat from re-entry causes the electrons to be stripped from the air around the returning spacecraft. It creates a pocket of ionised air around the vehicle, and that blocks all communications from earth. I was under the impression that they had satelite technology to defeat "Blackout" by now (they talked about doing it in the late 80's.) Or they could have had communications with the space station, because the radio frequency can go UP, just not DOWN.

It's also in this time that the orbiter goes from it's space orbiting systems to the "aero-control". Translation, they go fromthrusters to "winged gliding".

About 16 minutes from landing, they begin the first of the "S" turns. Up to that point, the orbiter is entering the atmosphere nose up (28 to 38 degree angle) to let the underside tiles absorb all the heat. Something about this is really bothering me, because it looks like that's when this happened, right around the first "S" turn. They've talked about the left wing a few times, and this "Foam" that broke off from the ET (The yellow big tank that holds liquid O2 and Hydrogen on launch.

The "S" turns are done manually by the crew literally with the stick. It's done in blackout, so they can't communicate with the ground at the time.

It's the timing of the 16 minute mark, becasue that's when the commander and pilot take over the controls. That's why I'm really thinking that it's a wing problem. What caused it, I can't even imagine. But I'm looking at the standard timeline of a landing, and 16 minutes is a critical point.

It's just bothering me, that's all.

-Tyger

[SpongeBobSquarePants]

Originally posted by TigerMan


So you actually saw it? That will be something you'll never forget. NBC is showing an animation that gives an idea of what possibly happened. They even said people took pieces and have placed them on several online auction sites (didn't say exact ones, but we can assume ebay).

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=14050

There u go the idiot is actullay holding it.

[Koosh]

That is why I don't like speculating... right now we don't know all the facts. We won't know all the facts for some time. Until we do, we are really just making guesses as to what happened. For all we know aliens could have brought the shuttle down...

[SpongeBobSquarePants]

Just incase ebay delets this i want everyone to see it.

[TigerMan]

Yeah the whole speculation right now is on the tile thing. Who knows what it will be tomorrow.

[SpongeBobSquarePants]

here is the rest

[pbzmag]

I just checked the link and it's gone. I find it sick that they try to sell pieces of wreakage from a tragedy! I do really doubt that the piece is real though. That piece should be still to hot to hold.

[Koosh]

this was the email I sent to the guy:

I sure hope there is a special place in hell for people like you. Trying to sell items that by all right are not even yours, on top of that you are turning a national traged into a get rich quick scheme.

You deserve to be shot.

-Josh Rysavy

[billmi]

Thanks for hunting for more info Tyger.


When I searched E-Bay, I got two hits, both of which are now suspended/deleted actions. Pretty much if they are legit, they've just attempted to sell stolen property, a punishable crime.

See you on the field,
-Bill Mills