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Space Shuttle Columbia Breaks Up Over Texas

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the not-looking-good dept.

An anonymous reader writes "NASA lost communication with space shuttle Columbia shortly before its scheduled landing on Saturday. It was unclear whether there were any other problems." Various news programs have been showing debris falling from the sky, and NASA has declared an emergency.Update: 02/01 15:29 GMT by H : Confirmation has come - the shuttle has broken up over Texas while coming in for landing Florida.

10 of 2,115 comments (clear)

  1. NASA site mission STS-107 by EaglesNest · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here's the yet not-updated NASA site for mission STS-107.

  2. Photos by PD · · Score: 5, Informative

    I have my photos on my website:

    www.pdrap.org, link from the front page.

    The actual photo page is here

    I didn't actually see the space shuttle until it had exploded, so all my photos are of the shuttle as it burns and breaks up. The instant that the shuttle exploded was dramatic. One second I'm looking for it, the next, it was a bright burning ball of fire.

    Very sad. Columbia was my favorite shuttle.

    --
    If tits were wings it'd be flying around.
    1. Re:Photos by gimpboy · · Score: 5, Informative

      i'm working on it right now. it's slower than dirt :). i emailed the guy and asked for a tar ball. when it's done it will be here:
      http://sage.che.pitt.edu/~harrold/tmp/shuttle/www. pdrap.org/photo_albums/columbia_disaster/

      it's going to be a while though.

      --
      -- john
  3. BBCTV and NASA TV by sh0rtie · · Score: 5, Informative


    BBC news live (needs Real/Helix player)
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsa/n5ctrl/live/now2.ram

    Story
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/2716369.stm

    NASA TV Live (Real/Helix Player)
    http://quest.nasa.gov/ltc/ram/nasalive-v.ram

  4. Several Comments by p_trekkie · · Score: 5, Informative

    1. No Surface to Air missile can reach above 100k feet.

    2. There is almost no fuel on the space shuttle during reentry.

    3. Most likely cause of destruction was damage to heat shield.

    4. Survival is possible... space shuttle was relatively slow, already mostly throught the atmosphere the crew may have been able to bail out, and they do have parachutes.

    5. This does not bode well for manned space exploration

    1. Re:Several Comments by Temkin · · Score: 5, Informative

      1. No Surface to Air missile can reach above 100k feet.

      True of shoulder launched missiles, but I'm not so sure about things like the Aegis SM2's, or fighter launched air-to-air missiles. However, it's safe to say, it's very very unlikely it's a missile.

      2. There is almost no fuel on the space shuttle during reentry.

      Compared to the main tank, true. But they use thruster rockets right down to the point they drop subsonic, and these thrusters use hypergolic (self igniting) fuels.

      4. Survival is possible... space shuttle was relatively slow, already mostly throught the atmosphere the crew may have been able to bail out, and they do have parachutes.

      Not at 200,000 feet. Entry interface is at 400,000 feet. Region of maxiumum heating is at 43 miles up, or 227,040 feet. At that point, they're still doing 15,000 miles per hour. They exit ionization blackout 12 minutes before touchdown, still doing 8200 miles per hour. Surviving egress from an aircraft above Mach 1 is dangerous. Above Mach 3, pretty much not surviveable, unless you have some kind of armored escape pod.

      5. This does not bode well for manned space exploration

      Agreed. I think we need to replace the shuttle system. It's 30 year old technology.

      Temkin

  5. Timestamped report from Spaceflight Now by joe_janitor · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here's a timestamped update of the final minutes of the mission on the Spaceflight Now site.

  6. Shuttle, Gliding, x-plane, and a theory by visionik · · Score: 5, Informative

    Their is a good description of what happens during the shuttles landing at:

    http://www.x-plane.com/orbiter.html

    x-plane is an amazing flight simulator that uses an amazingly realistic flight model - great "physics" in video game software speak - and can simulate shuttle landings. The shuttle is a glider. I'm a glider pilot, but certainly not anything like a shuttle pilot ... however I have flown a shuttle on X-plane for what its worth.

    The shuttle changes its bank during the phase of the landing it was in to reduce speed. It's not banking to try change its course, it banks to increase drag and reduce speed. The shuttle just rotates over oneo its left or right side a bit.

    The shuttle switches back and forth from banking right to banking left to stay on course while performing these drag increasing maneuvers.

    FYI, these maneuvers are also done with the shuttle at a very steep angle of attack - as high as 70 degrees. This angle is also used to increase drag to slow the shuttle down.

    The last confirmed communication happened shortly after the shuttle made its first switch from being banked right to being banked left.

    It is very possible that the switch to being banked left introduced a change in force which led to a structural failure of the wings or control surfaces which are used during the landing. Given the high drag, high angle of attack, banked flight angle the orbiter would be in at the time, the shuttle would almost immediately start spinning end over end at 12,000 mph, disintegrating almost instantly.

    Nasa also reported that one of the last data events they received from the shuttle was a "loss in tire pressure". It's alternatively possible that this could happen after an internal explosion in the shuttle, with part of the explosion debris puncturing the tire.

    Below is a chronology from spaceflightnow.com - Notice the change in bank angle time.

    1401 GMT (9:01 a.m. EST)

    Columbia is out of communications with flight controllers in Houston. Now 15 minutes from landing time.

    1359 GMT (8:59 a.m. EST)

    At an altitude of 40 miles, shuttle Columbia has entered Texas.

    1357 GMT (8:57 a.m. EST)

    The shuttle is now 43 miles over New Mexico. Columbia is now reversing its bank to the left to further reduce speed.

  7. Re:This is terrible by bokmann · · Score: 5, Informative

    There is a Soyuz space cupsule on the ISS that can be used to return the astronauts currently there (2 Americans, 1 Russian). This is, in fact, why the ISS has been limited to 3 astronauts; it is all they had the room for on the escape capsule.

    I think this will actually help Russia's space program; unless we want to close up the ISS and come home, Nasa is going to throw some big bucks Russia's way... They now have the only vehicle that can get to and from the ISS, at least as long as the shuttle is grounded.

  8. Unbelievable by NixterAg · · Score: 5, Informative

    I live in Nacogdoches, Texas, which is near where some of the debris fell. At around 8 this morning, I heard a low rumble, almost like an earthquake or something. Then the house starting shaking off and on for about 20-30 seconds. My first thought was to check the major appliances in the house (heat pump, hot water heater, etc.) simply because we don't get earthquakes in this neck of the woods. My wife also got up and said the house was shaking and it woke her up (and it is no small feat to wake her up early on a Saturday morning).

    I ruled out any problems with the house and went online hoping maybe to find seismic information or news about an explosion or something. Within a few minutes, I saw the alert on CNN.com suggesting they'd lost contact with Columbia. I instantly knew that's what the rumbling was and I started to fear the worst.

    It's not terribly uncommon to hear sonic booms when the shuttle goes over (we seem to be in the path when the shuttles land at Cape Canaveral) but it also isn't uncommon to have low flying B-52s and B-2s. Needless to say, this is a horrible tragedy. Personally though, it's one thing to see it on TV. It's quite another to have it take place in your back yard.