Saturday, February 01, 2003

What does it mean?. I'd have waited awhile, but the TV mediots are already trying to place the events of today into A Grand... [Samizdata.net] Dale Amon on the implications of the crash. Apparently the Russians actually do use unmanned cargo rockets to resupply the station, so apparently I'm overly cautious about the use of computer control. comment () trackback ()  6:50:13 PM     Once again Dave is providing excellent coverage of breaking news on the event.  I wonder what is going to happen to the three astronauts on the space station given that the three remaining shuttles are likely to be grounded for an extended period of time. [John Robb's Radio Weblog] There's a Soyuz kept docked to the station at all times as an emergency escape craft. It is rotated as part of the crew replacement. I agree that NASA is likely to ground the shuttles for a long time. There is the old Soviet Shuttle, Buran, but it hasn't been used in something like 15 years. Even if it wasn't destroyed, getting it into service would probably take almost as long as building a new shuttle from scratch. Perhaps unmanned rockets can be used to resupply. I doubt it, though--I sure wouldn't trust a computer or remote control for a docking maneuver. I hope the ISS doesn't end up abandoned because of NASA's bureaucratic games. comment () trackback ()  10:58:28 AM     U.S. Probes al-Qaida Figure's Iraq Moves [AP World News] Abu Musab Zarqawi, a Jordanian who is considered one of the top al-Qaida lieutenants still at large, passed through Baghdad last summer for medical treatment. He also has been tied recently to Ansar al-Islam, a Kurdish Islamic extremist group in northern Iraq, said the officials, speaking this week on condition of anonymity. He may be in northern Iraq -- in a region outside Saddam's control -- but officials said they aren't certain of his whereabouts. [...] Officials said Zarqawi is now believed to be working closely with Ansar al-Islam, which trained some members in al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden's Afghan camps. But Ansar al-Islam, which operates in a region where Saddam's forces used chemical weapons, is not believed to be working with Iraqi leaders. Perhaps instead of trying to invent a connection between Saddam and bin Laden, the government ought to start asking our Kurdish "friends" about the presence of known al-Qaida terrorists in their territory? comment () trackback ()  10:44:35 AM     Andrew Juby: "My roommate has access to Goddard Space Flight Center's Orbital Information group server. He can pull up data on just about any non-classified orbiting object. We checked it this morning and pulled up some data on Columbia, and ran it by the aerospace major across the hall. It appears that at about 2 or 3AM, as Columbia was into its descent, it pulled up." [Scripting News] And another detail via somebody's weblog. comment () trackback ()  10:04:04 AM     Columbia feared lost. I have little information at present. The news over here has not cut in over the sports and soaps, but... [Samizdata.net] Here's a summary of possible causes by Dale Amon, who's quite knowledgeable on the space program. comment () trackback ()  10:02:52 AM     Nasa shuttle lost on re-entry. Seven shuttle astronauts are feared dead after Nasa loses contact with space shuttle Columbia minutes before it was due to land. [BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition] The Shuttle broke up over Texas. It doesn't look good. comment () trackback ()  9:59:39 AM

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