Sunday 4 May 2003

NASA: no way to save Columbia during reentry An internal NASA report prepared after the Columbia accident and released this week concluded that there was no way to save the Columbia and its crew. A number of actions could have been taken if the crew had been aware of the damage to the wing, such as jettisoning the spacelab module or cooling the wing, but they would have reduced the heating by a maximum of seven percent, not enough to prevent the disaster. [spacetoday.net] 8:02:42 PM    comment []  Google It!

Briton 'shot dead in Gaza' Journalists are in more danger now than ever before, it would seem. Several died during the recent war in Iraq and a few weeks ago, Israeli Defence Forces shot dead a Palestinian camerman and now a British journalist, James Miller, has been shot dead in Gaza while filming a documentary. [BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition] Update: According to The Independent, Miller was shot at close range while carrying a white flag and was in a group of people calling out that they were journalists. 7:56:17 PM    comment []  Google It!

That Spam in Your Mailbox? It May Be From Me George Johnson at the New York Times draws attention to the unsung victims of spam. The people whose names are fraudulently added to the Reply To header and have to deal with the thousands of bounced messages. [New York Times: Technology] 7:48:11 PM    comment []  Google It!

Imagining a Better Kitchen The New York Times technology page has a piece on futuristic kitchen gadgets. [New York Times: Technology] 7:43:07 PM    comment []  Google It!

ISS crew returns safely to Earth The two US astronauts and Russian cosmonaut who have just completed a five and a half month tour of duty on the International Space Station, returned safely to Earth on Sunday morning. However, their Soyuz TMA-1 capsule landed approximately 500 km away from the designated landing zone in Kazakhstan. Engineers atribute the off-course landing to a steeper than expected re-entry path that would have increased the maximim G-force experienced from 7G to 9G. After a two and a half hour search, the capsule was spotted and the three - Ken Bowersox, Don Pettit, and Nikolai Budarin - were recovered. Bowersox and Budarin were reported to have walked to the rescue aircraft while Pettit had to be helped aboard. [spacetoday.net] 7:36:40 PM    comment []  Google It!

FBI whistleblower gets the axe Agent Jane Turner, as 25-year veteran of the FBI, is to be fired from the agency, for "tarnishing" its image. What exactly did she do? She uncovered evidence that FBI agents were looting private property from the rubble of the World Trade Centre. She joins an illustrious roll of honour of people who have done the right thing and have been rewarded by losing their job. 7:08:46 PM    comment []  Google It!

© Copyright 2003 David Stewart. Last update: 24/06/2003; 20:57:24.