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Astronauts knew of wing damage
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news report
Thursday February 06, 2003 02:06 by Irene Brown
NASA might not have told them even if Mission Control knew NASA also is evaluating a photograph taken from an amateur photographer in California that shows a mysterious purple electrical bolt striking the orbiter over California. Astronauts knew of wing damage
The leading theory of what doomed Columbia 16 minutes before its planned touchdown in Florida is that a critical portion of the ship's heat-resistant tiles was damaged 80 seconds after launch by a piece of what engineers think is foam insulation falling off the shuttle's external fuel tank. The debris hit was noted the day after Columbia's Jan. 16 liftoff during analysis of launch video. "The crew knew there was potential impact damage," NASA's deputy associate administrator for spaceflight Michael Kostelnik said at a news briefing. However, engineering analysis, which was passed along to the crew daily, concluded the damage would not be a safety of flight issue. Even if it had, the question is whether NASA would have spelled that out to the crew. In an interview with the Orlando Sentinel, an unnamed participant at NASA's internal briefings said, "Maybe they felt it was the only conclusion they could reach because otherwise, what could they do? Do you tell the crew their vehicle might break up?" NASA has no ability to repair tile damage while the shuttle is in orbit and has no contingency plans for a spacewalk to the underside of the ship. Shuttle program manager Ron Dittemore said spacewalking astronauts likely would cause even more damage to the delicate structures if they did. Also, the shuttle had no power or equipment to change orbit and, for example, seek a safe haven aboard the International Space Station, he added. Sen. George Allen, R-Va., said in a televised speech on Tuesday that the brother of Columbia astronaut David Brown disclosed receiving an e-mail from orbit that conveyed the crew's "concern" about the left wing, the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch reported in Wednesday's paper. According to the report, the senator said Doug Brown, who lives in Virgina, told him his brother's e-mail said the crew had taken a photo of the left wing. Kostelnik, however, said from inside the crew cabin the astronauts would not have been in a position to see the underside of the wing and the crew's e-mails to family members and friends were private. He hastened to add, however, the NASA-appointed board investigating the disaster would welcome any communications from the crew families relevant to the ongoing probe. Though NASA currently is trying to understand how the debris impact could have triggered the loss of the vehicle, other theories about the spaceship's demise -- including an orbital debris hit -- have not been ruled out. NASA also is evaluating a photograph taken from an amateur photographer in California that shows a mysterious purple electrical bolt striking the orbiter over California, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Another observer in Arizona videotaped what appears to be a small white object falling off the shuttle as it flew over Arizona. NASA lost all tracking and communications with Columbia minutes later over Texas. |
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Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5Enough of the 'mysterious bolt' crap already.
An amateur photographer takes a photo of a very bright object, and ends up with a 'mysterious bolt' on his picture. How often does this have to be repeated, before people manage to put two and two together? Are you missing some vital part of your brain?
I'm getting fed up of lampooning this crap!
Why did Mr Bush sack the head of Cyber security the day after the shuttle crashed, not the head of NASA?
An internet worm released in the early hours of Saturday morning could have been responsible?
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/attack_internet_030127.html
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/attack_internet_030128.html
A good page to make a FAVORITE is
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/launches/next_launch.html
The shuttle is run by a private company United Space Alliance which is Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Their shares are really slumping now along with a lot of other investors. The "loose tile" story is better than telling investors and the public in general the truth. Maybe?
http://www.unitedspacealliance.com/
Jesus, do you wear gloves to protect yourself against computer viruses too?
A hacker group attacked and struck down servers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory