By Carol Eddy (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #333) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 10:42 am: |
News is reporting that the Space Shuttle has exploded........
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By Sarah (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1857) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 10:59 am: |
Carol, we don't have that news here yet.. has it been confirmed that Columbia has exploded.. are there any reports of debris?
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By Faith M. Senie (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #310) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 11:00 am: |
NASA lost contact with the shuttle at 9am ET this morning as it was coming over Texas on its way to Kennedy Space Center for its landing. When Merritt Island wasn't able to pick them up on radar or UHF comms by the time they were supposed to, NASA moved into their contingency plans.
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By Sarah (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1858) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 11:03 am: |
Then it must have broken up entering the Earth's atmosphere.. something was wrong from the start??
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By Sarah (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1859) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 11:07 am: |
OK, thanks Faith.. we have just been given the Breaking News here..
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By Stef Jarrell (BonaireTalker - Post #26) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 11:07 am: |
They are not yet ruling out possible survivors, although the film fottage is not encouraging.
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By Carol Eddy (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #334) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 11:24 am: |
Seems you all have the news now and it certainly doesn't look encouraging ........flashes me back to Challenger.
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By Cynde Lee (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5431) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 11:33 am: |
morning all...i just woke up and Michael is watching fox news, covering the tragedy. i am just sick. i watched this one take off a couple of weeks ago...i hadn't watched a take off in a long time, and i just remembered how amazing it was...i am just sick, my heart goes out to the families...
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By marianne & joost (BonaireTalker - Post #41) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 11:42 am: |
good afternoon/morning to you all,
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By Faith M. Senie (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #311) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 12:00 pm: |
cnn.com is now reporting that they're getting debris in East Texas...
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By Cecil Berry (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #2249) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 12:14 pm: |
Faith, I'm afraid they are gone. There is almost no chance anyone survived that breakup. Prayers for the families. NASA just lowered their flags to half staff, pretty sure indication.
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By Annette Bursey (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3323) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 12:15 pm: |
Oh my goodness. I just popped to the hair salon, and now this is happening. I was watching when Challenger exploded, I never thought I would see it again. Columbia exploded minutes before it was due to land they are saying. Annie B.
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By marianne & joost (BonaireTalker - Post #43) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 12:27 pm: |
Annie B, just check CNN, the're you say continously the sadly pic's
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By Annette Bursey (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3325) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 1:20 pm: |
Marianne, I did put the news on as soon as I read about it on this thread. I just can't watch it anymore at the moment. Annie B.
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By Martin de Weger (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #2230) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 1:29 pm: |
It's hard to believe. Our thoughts are with all the family and friends of the astronauts. I doubt if anyone can survive. It was at 60 KM above the ground...
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By Cynde Lee (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5433) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 1:32 pm: |
and they were traveling at 12,000 miles per hour...like i said, i am just sick.
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By Martine TLOUZEAU - Jean Paul GODARD (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #629) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 1:57 pm: |
We have been told in France too. It is horrible and so hard to believe. I don't think anybody could survive, I just wish the crew didn't suffer, but I am not sure. They certainly understood what was happening. I feel so sad and my thoughts are especially close to the families. Oh my God,it must be terrible for them.
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By Jake Richter (Moderator - Post #3811) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 2:40 pm: |
Very tragic
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By Cynde Lee (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5434) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 3:26 pm: |
jake, michael and i were talking about the date proximity as well. we couldn't remember the day that the apollo 1 wend down, but that is just very eerie...
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By Martin de Weger (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #2233) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 4:07 pm: |
That is kinda spooky, but I don't think it's more than a coincidence. I hope they find out what the cause was soon, so they can (try to) prevent this in the future.
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By Cynde Lee (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5435) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 4:48 pm: |
jake, thanks for moving this thread to a special place...martin, i am watching the nasa news conference now, they are reporting that they had some loss of heat sensor information on the left wing a few minutes before they lost contact with the shuttle...
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By Sarah (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1860) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 6:48 pm: |
Hi Cynde, I just watched that news conference too. When I first saw Carol's post, I couldn't help but think that maybe something happened at take-off. I certainly don't want to come to any conclusions, but I can't help but feel there's a connection between (what I have recently learned about), a piece of the protective foam coming loose and striking the shuttle's wing; then 16 days later this terrible disaster.
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By Ann Phelan (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #958) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 6:59 pm: |
How long was it on it's mission? I am so bad, I knew nothing about Columbia's launch. Perhaps while I was in Bonaire?
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By Annette Bursey (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3327) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 7:03 pm: |
Annie cc. I think Columbia took off 16 days ago. They are now saying it could be that the pilot controls may have failed. They have to manually pilot the craft to a 35 degree angle as it hits the earth's atmosphere. Annie B.
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By Faith M. Senie (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #313) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 7:53 pm: |
They were up there for 16 days, during which the mission went particularly well. Makes it even that much harder to have this happen on the way home...
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By Glen Reem (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1325) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 8:06 pm: |
I understand that during the launch a tile from the main fuel tank came loose and hit the left wing leading edge. Engineers evaluating the situation could not detect damage. Hidden damage and loss of heat shield tiles on reentry would be consistent with loss of heat sensor data, wing structure heating and then vehicle breakup.
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By Annette Bursey (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3328) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 8:07 pm: |
Faith. I agree, the media are having a field day with this. It is shocking enough as it is. Annie b.
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By Cynde Lee (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5436) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 8:23 pm: |
i watched the columbia take off this last time. it was weird as i hadn't watched a shuttle launch in a very long time. i was in awe of the whole thing as it had been such a long time since i had taken view of the splendor. i had the chance to visit the kennedy space center a few years ago, and it is certainly worth the trip...again, my heart goes out to their families, such a tragedy...
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By Annette Bursey (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3329) on Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 9:03 pm: |
Please God, keep them safe in eternal life. Let them sleep peacefully. Annie B.
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