Breaking news, Shuttle was doomed after liftoff

Chat about anything and everything... (well almost anything) Whether it be the front porch or the pot belly stove or news of interest or a topic of your liking, this is the place to post it.

Moderator: S2k Moderators

Message
Author
Rainband

Breaking news, Shuttle was doomed after liftoff

#1 Postby Rainband » Mon Feb 03, 2003 9:14 am

According to internal memo, "serious concern about damage after liftoff because of damage to tiles on the wing and possible hole" I will post more on this as it becomes available.


Image


From the final bits of data from the sky to the tiniest fragments on the ground, every virtual and real scrap from the space shuttle Columbia is being scrutinized to figure out why seven astronauts died 16 minutes from home.

In its final minutes, the shuttle experienced an unusually high temperature increase on its left side, lost a series of sensors on the left wing and then rolled unexpectedly to the left, according to a NASA data analysis.

The onboard flight computer system, which controls the shuttle as it navigates the treacherous heat of atmospheric re-entry, tried to compensate by coaxing the 90-ton orbiter to the right, shuttle flight control director Ron Dittemore said.

"It could be indicative of a rough tile or missing tile. We are not sure yet," said Dittemore, who cautioned against further speculation. "I don't have a smoking gun. I don't have anything that shows a root cause."

What could help clear up the mystery? Thirty-two seconds of raw data that the shuttle erratically transmitted after audio communication with the crew was lost.

"Teams are beginning the laborious process of looking through the data. It's going to take us some days and weeks to put it all together and make it correct," Dittemore said.

Some preliminary data, from before radio contact was lost, give clues to what happened in the final minutes. The temperature of the shuttle rose 60 degrees in five minutes on the left side of the fuselage, four times faster than the right. The left wheel well experienced a temperature spike, as well.

'Thermal rather than sensor problem'
The course corrections by the computer flight system were more extreme than in previous shuttle flights but were within the spacecraft's capabilities, Dittemore said.

"We are gaining evidence that this was thermal problem rather than a problem with sensors," Dittemore said.

NASA is looking into whether a seemingly minor glitch involving the shuttle's external fuel tank at the January 16 launch might have played a role in the catastrophe 16 days later.

In Louisiana, investigators turned their attention to Lockheed Martin's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana, where the shuttle's external fuel tank was built.

The tank was a version that NASA is phasing out in favor of lighter ones. NASA said there was never a safety concern with the older models.

Video footage, reviewed after launch, suggested that a piece of foam insulation from the tank struck the shuttle on the left side 80 seconds after liftoff.

Whether it knocked off or damaged any heat-resistant tiles, which protect the shuttle from almost 3,000-degree Fahrenheit temperatures as it brakes through the upper atmosphere, remains unknown.

Mapping wreckage, great and small
Yet on the ground, meticulous efforts to map the debris field and reconstruct as much of the shuttle as possible could help provide the answer.

In east Texas and Louisiana, emergency search crews marked the location of the smoldering wreckage parts this weekend, which included everything from fragments the size of coins to chunks as large as vehicles.

In some cases, human remains have been found, said Bob Cabana, director of flight crew operations at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

"Yesterday was probably the hardest day of my life," said the visibly shaken former astronaut.

Investigators, with the help of GPS satellites, hope to plot the location of each recovered piece, according to the Associated Press. The map could help them determine exactly how the shuttle broke apart, nearly 40 miles above east Texas on Saturday.

And in Louisiana, Barksdale Air Force Base is serving as a temporary command center in the shuttle disaster probe. On Monday, the base prepared for the arrival of shuttle parts, which investigators will begin to piece together as well as they can.

The Air Force is one of many government groups pitching in. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Transportation, FBI, and state and local authorities are taking part in the recovery efforts.

Along with a NASA-led investigation, the Air Force and Navy, which together lost five of the seven astronauts, will conduct a joint independent probe, headed up by retired Adm. Harold Gehman Jr.

"We have begun our work and we will work diligently and rapidly until this matter is cleared up," Gehman said Sunday as he took the reins of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board.
Last edited by Rainband on Mon Feb 03, 2003 10:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
0 likes   

Rainband

#2 Postby Rainband » Mon Feb 03, 2003 9:23 am

Memo stated that there was serious concern for re-entry problems due to 7and 1/2inch by 30 inch gash in heat tiles on left wing. OMG I wonder if the crew knew that they were in trouble 2 days before or if NASA didn't tell them :roll: :?: :?: This is very sad because if they knew there was problems why didn't they leave them up there and let another shuttle come get them? I understand that they might not have understood the danger but then why the memo?
0 likes   

Rainband

#3 Postby Rainband » Mon Feb 03, 2003 10:17 am

CAPE CANAVERAL, Feb. 3 — Two days before the Columbia disaster, a NASA engineering team sent an internal memo calculating a high probability that launch debris had caused a gash 7½ by 30 inches on the shuttle’s left wing, NBC’s Jay Barbree reported Monday. NASA engineers have talked of a heat spike and drag on the left wing, suggesting a potential problem with the thermal tiles there. But NASA’s chief told NBC News on Monday that the tiles are just one of many variables being investigated.


Image
0 likes   

Rainband

#4 Postby Rainband » Mon Feb 03, 2003 10:45 am

Now they are saying could have been a cause but...they are back pedaling fast..I would love to be a fly on the wall at NASA :wink:
0 likes   

Rainband

#5 Postby Rainband » Mon Feb 03, 2003 10:48 am

NASA news conference @ 11:30am eastern time!!!!!!
0 likes   

User avatar
mf_dolphin
Category 5
Category 5
Posts: 17761
Age: 67
Joined: Tue Oct 08, 2002 2:05 pm
Location: St Petersburg, FL
Contact:

Latest info...

#6 Postby mf_dolphin » Mon Feb 03, 2003 11:39 am

JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, Texas (CNN) -- NASA officials on Monday concentrated on whether a piece of debris that was dislodged during the launch of the space shuttle Columbia may have struck a seam on a landing gear door, a retired NASA engineer told CNN.

As a massive investigation sought clues to unlock the mysteries surrounding the final moments of the shuttle, investigators took a closer look at the spot where the debris -- possibly a piece of foam insulation or ice -- appeared to hit the shuttle's left side 80 seconds after liftoff on January 16. (Gallery)

The former official said the landing gear door, which protects vital wiring and sensors, is perhaps the most vulnerable part of the shuttle.

"Nature always finds the Achilles' heel, and for the shuttle, the Achilles' heel is this," the former official said.

If the debris struck at the seam, it could have created a fissure in the seal that protects the wheel well and the sensitive wiring that is housed in that area. NASA is exploring whether impact there may have created a blowtorch-like effect that could explain the increase in heat and the failure of the sensors in that location.

In its final minutes, the shuttle experienced an unusually high temperature increase on its left side, lost a series of sensors on the left wing and then rolled unexpectedly to the left, according to a NASA data analysis....
0 likes   

Rainband

Hmmmmm

#7 Postby Rainband » Mon Feb 03, 2003 8:48 pm

The New York Times reported Monday that five of the nine members of a NASA advisory panel were removed last year after they warned of looming safety troubles for the shuttle fleet.

NASA's administrator said Monday that any concerns that the advisory panel had raised about shuttle safety were focused on the future process, not upcoming flights, and Columbia would never have been allowed to lift off without passing a rigorous inspection.

"We're worried about safety every single day in this agency," Sean O'Keefe said. "There's not a single flight that takes off without going through a very, very rigid, extremely methodical safety regime."

O'Keefe said that, to his knowledge, the advisory panel members left because their tenures were up.

O'Keefe briefed President Bush and members of Congress on Monday about the Columbia investigation.

The White House said President Bush and first lady Laura Bush will attend a memorial service for the shuttle crew Tuesday in Houston, Texas.

Space shuttle flights have been put on hold until NASA can learn what caused the disaster. NASA said the international space station, where two astronauts and a cosmonaut remain, has enough supplies to last the crew until June. An unmanned Russian supply ship was launched to the space station Sunday. Authorities again warned the public not to touch any debris from the spacecraft because it could be contaminated with toxic residue from the shuttle's fuel system and could be crucial to determining what happened to Columbia.

Sheriff Thomas Kerss of Nacogdoches County, Texas, where much of the shuttle debris has fallen, also repeated warnings that the wreckage might contain explosive materials. Officials have said areas such as the shuttle's cabin door and parachute-deployment areas were rigged to be operated by explosive systems-----------------------------------------------------------
0 likes   


Return to “Off Topic”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 26 guests