Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy. 10 Years ago today

[Deberg_1990]

Feb 1 2003, Shuttle busted up over Texas.....


Where were you?




http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp...21475e6dab.1d1




With somber ceremonies, the United States on Friday commemorated the loss of the space shuttle Columbia and its seven-member crew on the tenth anniversary of the disaster.

Columbia, NASA's first space shuttle orbiter to be put into service, disintegrated during re-entry on February 1, 2003, as it was ending its 28th mission.

All seven astronauts on board died in the landmark incident that triggered the end of the shuttle mission.

"Ten years ago, seven brave astronauts gave their lives in the name of exploration when America's first flight-ready space shuttle, Columbia, failed to return safely to Earth," President Barack Obama said in a statement.

At a ceremony at the Space Mirror Memorial on the grounds of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, those remembering the dead included Evelyn Husband Thompson, the widow of the shuttle commander Rick Husband, as well as former astronauts and representatives of the US space agency, NASA.

Meanwhile, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and a delegation gathered at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington where three of Columbia's crew members are buried.

Columbia's demise was triggered when a loose piece of insulating foam from the external fuel tank that had peeled off during the shuttle's launch 16 days earlier struck one of Columbia's carbon composite wings.

After the incident, the administration of former president George W. Bush decided to put an end to the shuttle program, allowing the three remaining orbiters to fly only as long as it took to complete the International Space Station -- in 2011 -- and to honor Washington's commitments to its partners.

Aside from 45-year-old Husband and his co-pilot William McCool, 41, the crew consisted of: Kalpana Chawla (41), Michael Anderson (43), Laurel Clark (41), David Brown (46) and Ilan Ramon (48), Israel's first astronaut.

Six of the seven were married and together they had a total of 12 children.

Friday's annual Day of Remembrance also honors others killed in other space-related incidents.

Three American astronauts died after a fire swept through the Apollo 1 aircraft during a test run in January 1967, and the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in January 1986 shortly after take-off killed all seven crew members aboard.

"As we undertake the next generation of discovery, today we pause to remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice on the journey of exploration," Obama said.

[TLO]

I can't believe it has been that long. Seems like only yesterday I was in 8th grade and watching the events unfold on TV that day.

RIP to that brave crew

[007]

Originally Posted by Big Smoke

I can't believe it has been that long. Seems like only yesterday I was in 8th grade and watching the events unfold on TV that day.

RIP to that brave crew

Damn, I'm old. I was a junior for the Challenger disaster.

[mlyonsd]

I still remember the three astronauts killed in a capsule fire on the ground while training for an Apollo mission.

I was very young but still remember it on the news on an old B&W.

[houstonwhodat]

Originally Posted by crispystl420

That would be ****ing terrible. Did they continue to announce the real time status of shuttle liftoffs on the loudspeaker after that? probably not a good idea.

No they still do it.

My best friends wife is an engineer at JSC (Johnson Space Center). They've been to several launches.

Those people are at the VIP viewing center next to the Saturn V exhibit at Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island

About 3 miles from Pad 39A.

Have you ever seen a Saturn V rocket close up?

Amazing what engineers and scientists can come up with.

Several stories high and nothing but fuel with a little tiny capsule on top.

Mercury rockets by comparison look like little toys.

[Molitoth]

I watched a documentary last night on this and what is sad is that a lot of engineers were extremely worried about the damage to the shuttles wing from the foam piece hitting it during take off, and even though they tried to tell the people in charge, it was ignored.

Nobody believed a small piece of foam could put a hole in it until they replicated it after the fact.

If those astronauts were to do a space walk to check the damage of the wing, they could've attempted to dock with the next shuttle up and came back alive, but some people at NASA got lazy.

[Demonpenz]

columbia didn't get as much run because we had just lost thousands of american lives in 9/11 plus tons of body's coming home from the War in iraq/Afganistan.

[007]

Originally Posted by Molitoth

I watched a documentary last night on this and what is sad is that a lot of engineers were extremely worried about the damage to the shuttles wing from the foam piece hitting it during take off, and even though they tried to tell the people in charge, it was ignored.

Nobody believed a small piece of foam could put a hole in it until they replicated it after the fact.

If those astronauts were to do a space walk to check the damage of the wing, they could've attempted to dock with the next shuttle up and came back alive, but some people at NASA got lazy.

Just proves there are idiots at all levels. They think they are so smart that they don't have to listen to other smart people.

"And this is the best that you c - that the-the government, the *U.S. government* can come up with? I mean, you-you're NASA for cryin' out loud, you put a man on the moon, you're geniuses! You-you're the guys that think this shit up! I'm sure you got a team of men sitting around somewhere right now just thinking shit up and somebody backing them up! You're telling me you don't have a backup plan, that these eight boy scouts right here, that is the world's hope, that's what you're telling me? "

[bevischief]

Originally Posted by sedated

Im sure it has just slipped from memory, but this is the first Ive heard about the Columbia, have no recollection of it at all.

You are too young.

[bevischief]

Originally Posted by houstonwhodat

No they still do it.

My best friends wife is an engineer at JSC (Johnson Space Center). They've been to several launches.

Those people are at the VIP viewing center next to the Saturn V exhibit at Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island

About 3 miles from Pad 39A.

Have you ever seen a Saturn V rocket close up?

Amazing what engineers and scientists can come up with.

Several stories high and nothing but fuel with a little tiny capsule on top.

Mercury rockets by comparison look like little toys.

Been there done that. I have also seen the Russian stuff. Also have seen some of the Chinese stuff as well. Also have seen American astronauts doing their stuff in the pool in Houston. I went to 25th anniversary of the space camp at the Kansas Comosphere I was the only oldest classment to make it not in age but when I went. My brother was the the second for that weekend.

[TLO]

We went to a shuttle launch, like got special passes and stuff that let us be relatively close to the launch just a year or so before this happened. It is an absolutely breathtaking sight. I wish I could remember which shuttle it was that launched....

[alpha_omega]

And now it's been 20.

RIP Columbia crew.