SHUTTLE REPORTED DOWN !!

[Guest]

Shuttle late for landing.... preliminary reports state..... fears that it went down. If this is true, may the good Lord keep their souls.NASA mission control lost communication with Columbia... they are presuming that it broke up during re-entry.

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

This is posted at 26 minutes after 9:00 a.m. est....Columbia has been out of contact since 9:00. No contact, no telemetry. Due to land at 16 minutes after the hour. "Something drastic" has happened according to NBC. No debris found or detected yet. Was on course.Columbia is the oldest shuttle in the inventory.

[Guest Brent Hebert]

I was standing outside waiting to see it pass over south Louisiana at about 8:02 am CST, however nothing happened. As I turned on the news, the report had come in that the shuttle was late and could not be bound.The news is showing video from Dallas that indicate multiple contrails that is not normal. Brent Hebert

[Tabs 2,790]

NBC's got footage of wrekage streaming in over Dallas... not good folks, not good.

[Sonar5 3]

Video on TV shows Space Shuttle breaking up over Texas.Video showed multiple objects, and NASA has lost contact since 8 am CST.Prayers for the Families and Crew.This Mission is for Columbia, the oldest Ship in the Fleet, and also Carried an Israeli Astronaut, which means it was a high security mission.One of the highest risks is upon re-entry, where the ceramic tiles are subject to the greatest amount of heat.If the tiles have failed, there would be no protection for the ship.The shuttles have lost individual tiles in the past, but who knows what happened here. We may never know if there is no trace evidence.At that altitude, there is not much hope for the crew to survive at that speed.May God be with Them all.Regards,JoeHome Page STS-107http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/Columbia Background:http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/resour...s/columbia.htmlGround Track Info:http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/groun...ksc255/DOL.htmlPicture of Crewhttp://home.attbi.com/~sonar5/Shuttle/sts107-s-002.jpgMission Patch:http://home.attbi.com/~sonar5/Shuttle/sts107-s-001.jpgLaunch Video:Quick Time Video:http://home.attbi.com/~sonar5/Shuttle/sts107fd01c.movLaunch Video:Real One PLayer:http://home.attbi.com/~sonar5/Shuttle/sts107fd01c_56.rm.ram**************************************************************There is now speculation that on launch, some of the insulation from the large external fuel tank broke off during launch and made contact with the leading edge of the wing on the shuttle.Conjecture at this point, but being reported none the less.********************************

[Guest]

They reported as Columbia was going up...that a piece of foam had come off the tank and hit a wing...but NASA concluded the damage--if any--would be minor.Makes you wonder....Geez.....My thoughts to the families that were waiting at the landing-site. My Lord.....Mitch Robbins

[Chris18 2]

Just turned on CNN and :-boom saw those pictures. That's a very very sad moment. :( :( :( From Austria, Europe all my deepest condolences to all family relatives of the astronauts and to all people which were involved in this shuttle project.

[Guest]

My prayers for the crew...My condolences for NASA...My hopes for America...Now a question that needs to be raised...Anyone find it ironic that this happens with the first Israeli astronaut to fly?Just a thought as I am sure this is why the military is involved now, per NBC news.God rest their souls.J. Jason VodnanskyJetStar Airlines http://www.jetstarairlines.comVATSIM Senior InstructorMSP Chief Instructor

[Guest]

http://foxnews.com/story/0,2933,76960,00.html

[Tabs 2,790]

Yeah it's a bit ironic, but seriously - what terrorist device could reach up 200,000 feet and hit a craft doing Mach 6+? This Shuttle was almost 30 years old - I bet structural failure is gonna end up being the cause.

[Guest]

I'm speechless, like the wind has been knocked out of me...May You Rest in Peace my Fellow Aviators....Rest In Peace....Ken

[Guest]

This is notable, extracted from the news link below:"On launch day, a piece of insulating foam on the external fuel tank came off during liftoff and was believed to have struck the left wing of the shuttle.Leroy Cain, the lead flight director in Mission Control, had assured reporters Friday that engineers had concluded that any damage to the wing was considered minor and posed no safety hazard."http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...8-2003Feb1.htmlMy prayers and thoughts go out to the crew, their family, and all other NASA personnel and their family.bt

[Guest PaulL01]

>Yeah it's a bit ironic, but seriously - what terrorist >device could reach up 200,000 feet and hit a craft doing >Mach 6+? This Shuttle was almost 30 years old - I bet >structural failure is gonna end up being the cause. Maybe due to the collision of debris but I doubt that it would be fatigue or structural failure. The shuttle Columbia as well as all other Space shuttles have a 100 flight life expectancy and Columbia has flown no where near that many missions.

[Guest Dominik Mann]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2716369.stmOh no...not again :'( ...As I just wrote to a friend..."they strove to find ways for the betterment of man in pursuit of goals larger than those we face on the soil of this planet."They returned not to the face of this planet, but to that of a place which none of us yet knows, and about which we can thus far only speculate, but which will, I am sure, be more friendly and peaceful than the mad world they left.S!

[Guest]

A sad day indeed. It occurred to me, as I was watching this unfold, that we have footage of the STS-107 launch here in the library. It was included on the latest FSTV video. The launch was quite spectacular, and it is the way that I prefer to remember Columbia and her crew. Our prayers go with the astronauts and their families.