Sunday, February 09, 2003

Radar Shows Object `in Vicinity4 of Shuttle February 9 2003 Radar Shows Object `in Vicinity4 of Shuttle February 9 2003 HOUSTON -- Department of Defense officials scouring routine radar samples have discovered evidence of an object "in the vicinity" of the space shuttle Columbia as it settled into orbit during the second day of its mission, NASA officials said Saturday night. According to the radar images, the object neared the Columbia then appeared to pass by, officials said, and may have struck it. The data, which NASA was only beginning to analyze, could mark a pivotal turn in the exhaustive but thus-far frustrating investigation into the craft's Feb. 1 disintegration over Texas. Several former NASA officials said it could support the notion that the space shuttle was not the victim of a launch-pad accident, as many have surmised, but was struck by some sort of space junk or a tiny meteorite. Some analysts believe an impact like that, even if it was so soft that it was not detected by the crew, Columbia's computers or Mission Control in Houston, could have opened enough of a wound to destroy the craft. "Whether this is something pertinent or not, that data is still being assessed," said NASA spokesman James Hartsfield. "We don't have answers yet. We're getting information that is interesting, but we have to assess it." U.S. Navy Lt. Mitch Holmes confirmed Saturday night that the Department of Defense has turned the data over to NASA. He said the U.S. Air Force Space Command operates a bank of radar and optical telescopes that track an estimated 8,500 pieces of man-made debris in space, each at least as large as a baseball. One of those pieces is believed to be the item that popped up on the radar. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-nushuttle9feb09,1,3413986.story?coll=la%2Dhome%2Dheadlines Note: The articles at the LA Times require you to fill out a subscription request.  This article recaps what has been reported elsewhere. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/ - LRK - 11:18:38 AM    comment []

From Excitement to Horror: Columbia's Last Flight Online From Excitement to Horror: Columbia's Last Flight Online http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/09/weekinreview/09WORD.html?th=&; -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- February 9, 2003 From Excitement to Horror: Columbia's Last Flight Online By TOM KUNTZ he 1937 Hindenburg airship disaster was carried live to a large radio audience. The 1986 space shuttle disaster happened live on network television before millions of stunned viewers. Almost from the beginning, the 9/11 attacks were broadcast live worldwide. Last weekend's shuttle disaster also unfolded live, but the primary medium was arguably not radio or television. It was the Internet. A small audience of space enthusiasts learned of trouble in real time by tuning in to mission control in Houston via NASA TV's Webcast (also available via satellite dish and some cable providers). Some of the shuttle trackers in the western United States also kept an eye on the skies, and shared their impressions online. An illustration of their reactions, moving from excitement to confusion to horror, can be found in an online discussion for shuttle buffs on the Free Republic Web site; it was begun by a reader 38 minutes before the Columbia's scheduled 9:16 landing (www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/833885/posts). The first sign of something wrong comes at 9:05 — at least 11 minutes before The Associated Press moved the first wire-service alert and the TV networks began live coverage (which had the first video of the breakup, shot minutes before). Excerpts from the online discussion follow. All times are Eastern unless otherwise noted. The discussion was begun by "leadpenny" at 8:38 a.m.: Space shuttle Columbia is in a descent for the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and will pass over the San Francisco area around 6:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Route will take the shuttle over Las Vegas, Flagstaff, etc. NASA has still not decided which runway will be used. Landing will be at 9:16 a.m. Eastern. From leadpenny at 8:42: I'm watching on NASA TV but I believe you can also watch at nasa.gov. Just north of Hawaii now. snip -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can see the rest of the article at http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/09/weekinreview/09WORD.html?th=&;pagewanted=print&position=bottom and the running log at http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/833885/posts - LRK - 8:57:19 AM    comment []

Outer Space: After the Space Shuttle: Archive Entry From Brad DeLong's Webjournal Outer Space: After the Space Shuttle: Archive Entry From Brad DeLong's Webjournal http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/movable_type/archives/001554.html February 06, 2003 Outer Space: After the Space Shuttle Outer Space Gregory Benford tries to move us beyond the space shuttle--that strange craft that was both the most expensive (at $300 million per mission) and the least reliable (one catastrophic loss of vehicle and crew for every sixty missions) system for getting stuff and people up to near-earth-orbit ever devised. The big question that NASA never talks about is: what are we doing dinking about with humans--instead of teleoperated robots--in near earth orbit anyway? What can people do in near-earth orbit that is worth doing that unmanned remote-controlled craft cannot? It never talks about it because it is a question that has no answer. Once we decide to go to other planets the lightspeed lag dictates that we will need to send humans out into the Great Deep. As Benford writes, the medium-term goal is "Mars. Did life arise there, and does it persist beneath the bleak surface? No robot remotely within our capability can descend down a thermal vent or drill and find an answer. Only humans are qualified to do the science necessary, on the spot." But before we start going to Mars (and the other potentially very interesting places in the solar system), we need to learn about two things: How to make a closed biosphere work in zero gravity (as Benford writes, "the [current space] station recycles only urine... it is camping in space, not truly living there"). Second, how to make centrifugal force serve as a substitute for Terran gravity (as Benford writes, "decades of trials show clearly that zero-g is very bad for us. The Russians who set the endurance records in space have never fully recovered. Going to Mars demands that crews arrive after the half-year journey able to walk, at least. No crew returning from space after half a year ever have, even for weeks afterward. So we must get more data, between one gravity and none. Mars has 0.38 g; how will we perform there? Nobody knows. Spinning a habitat at the other end of a cable, counter-balanced by a dead mass like a missile upper stage, is the obvious first way to try intermediate gravities. The International Space Station has tried very few innovations, and certainly nothing as fruitful as a centrifugal experiment"). The shuttle and the International Space Station are not helping us. They do remarkably little science--and, as far as I can see, next to none that could not be done by unmanned missions. Like vampires, they suck NASA's entire budget dry. And so we can't even begin to work on the biosphers and the low-gravity questions. From: Semi-Daily Journal Brad DeLong's Thoughts of the Moment on Economics, and on Other Topics as Well http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/movable_type/archives/001554.html See the write up by Gregory Benford Beyond the Shuttle at the above link. - LRK - 8:43:24 AM    comment []

Rick Husband's Video on Dangers of Shuttle's Re-entry Procedures Rick Husband's Video on Dangers of Shuttle's Re-entry Procedures http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/tv/avweektv1.jsp?url=http://www.connectlive.com/aviationweek/News-NASA-STS107_RH.ram Very nice presentation on how you de-orbit and prepare to land.  - LRK - 8:24:20 AM    comment []

NPR: A History of Manned Space Travel NPR: A History of Manned Space Travel http://discover.npr.org/rundowns/segment.jhtml?wfId=962272 A History of Manned Space Travel » from Weekend Edition - Sunday, Sunday , February 02, 2003 Liane Hansen offers a history of manned space travel. 8:12:30 AM    comment []