Archive through February 01, 2003
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Archive through February 01, 2003
Kaili | Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 12:41 pm     Wiseowl, I'm refusing right now to start an arugment on this thread. However- so sorry I might have offended you by wondering why "Bush" (I see no reason you put his name in quotes- I used his name and it is his name- I refer to every president merely by their last name because everybody knows what his title/job is) hadn't yet made a statement. It was not an attenpt to "politicize" the thread, I started the thread this morning!!! I think you may be a bit defensive for no apparant reason. The fact taht I wondered why the president hadn't made a statement (or anyone else for that matter) an hour after the event was just a pure and simple thought. Please do not read too far into what I say- If I wanted to make a political statement I would have no problem outright doing so. Sorry to disappoint... |
Wiseolowl | Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 12:43 pm     Another hymn sung to the Navy Hymn tune: O Thou within whose sure control The surging planets onward roll, Whose everlasting arms embrace The sons of every clime and race: Here thou, O Lord, our earnest prayer For those who travel by the air. Across the ocean, dread and deep, Above the forest's lonely sweep, Or when through seried clouds they rise And hidden are from mortal eyes: Hear thou , O Lord our earnest prayer For those who travel by the air. Uphold their shining argosies Upon the vast ethereal seas; Encompass thou their valiant wings In all their brave adventurings: Hear Thou, O Lord our earnest prayer For those who travel by the air. from The Book OF Common Praise |
Sadiesmom | Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 12:47 pm     Copied: His name is Anthony Beasley, an astronomer at the California Institute of Technology. He was watching, naked eye, with his wife and claims that several "bright pieces of white light" broke off the shuttle and fell behind it over the Owens Valley, east of the Sierra Nevadas in California. He said it almost appeared as though the shuttle were throwing flares off. He felt at the time that this was abnormal, and immediately felt the shuttle was losing tiles and that perhaps things weren't happening as they should. The astronomer called it a "zipper effect," where one tile peels off and the ones behind it follow in rapid succession. Since the interview, on ABC they are now speculating more toward missing tiles and not a wing as being the culprit. Early speculation, I know. The astronomer added that several of his colleagues were photographing this event, perhaps telescopically, and that the photos should be available eventually. |
Wiseolowl | Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 12:52 pm     Kaili I know I'm being a little sensitive - didn't mean to single you out - problem is I made a New Years resolution not to talk politics or religion - which gets me and everybody else upset - and by making the comment I did - I probably broke the rule - am just having a difficult time posting in threads where politics isn't brought up - Won't be surprised if one of these days somebody in the Cat thread will post how Pres. Bush has cut back on mange research which will seriously affect the population's general health!!lol - hope we can be friends. |
Whoami | Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 12:52 pm     All the talk of debris. The morbid thought that crosses my mind is, what of the bodies? Or is it expected that nothing will be left of them? How awful!
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Karuuna | Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 12:59 pm     The press conference notes that most of the early warning signs that something was wrong were all around the area of the left wing. They also noted that sometimes that what looks like something being given off is plasma (re what the astronomer saw). There was no thermal problem recorded until immediately before the shuttle was lost over Texas. |
Kaili | Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 01:00 pm     Wiseolowl- no offense taken and I consider the debate done and over. I have my political opinions and they are very strong but I don't feel this is the place for them. Additionally, I thought he gave a good response. I didn't want to be political about it, but as the representative of this country I wanted to hear what he would say about it. As for the mange reasearch, don't know about that but I have heard there have been cuts to the spay/neuter program for feral cats I blame the politicians. |
Sadiesmom | Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 01:00 pm     I would expect they were cremated, which is something that must have been acceptable to the astronauts. Things happen in life where you do not recover bodies. It is hard, but families can accept it as long as they don't believe the astronauts were in pain. |
Kaili | Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 01:04 pm     At least they died doing something they loved to do- and I assume it was fast and hopefully as painless as possible. I would assume the bodies were burned at a high enough temperature that they remains are gone. Better that way than finding bits and pieces. I heard there were a lot of animals on board as well for scientific research |
Sadiesmom | Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 01:05 pm     Wiseowl, My concern now is the shortage on money and I do dearly love this program, I am so afraid people will use this as an excuse to reduce NASA funding even more. Every time I hear some one who can control the funding, I get nervous. The astronauts will always be brave heros, but more than that they are the people who pushed the envelop of our science. Under appreciated and probably underpaid. They were working to build our future. |
Zachsmom | Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 01:22 pm     I agree Sadie..I am a strong advocate of space exploration and science..we should be funding more and more money to space programs..it shouldn't be an option to decrease spending. |
Seamonkey | Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 01:33 pm     There have been reports of body parts, I won't go into detail there. Some families would want something to bury. I would think most of the astronauts would consider space an appropriate place. My one small thought of consolation when I heard about this was that at least they got to complete the mission and from the video clips that have been running on MSNBC they greatly enjoyed themselves. I always hated that Christa McAuliff and the others on Challenger lost that opportunity immediately. Sad time. |
Sadiesmom | Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 02:04 pm     don't believe the body parts report. I would find it very hard to believe that there woould be any identifiable reports of body parts. It's a h@ll of a trip down and very hard to believe that anything not metal or ceramic would survive. People have been calling in flase reports all day. |
Wiseolowl | Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 02:08 pm     Sadie I think you're right - the detractors will use this to downgrade the program - but the boosters will argue for more money to modernize it for safety reasons. IT is one of those govt agencies that seems not a subject of party division - rather the politicians who have NASA or aerospace industries in their disricts/States tend to be supporters and vice versa. There are some however who support it because think it's right and noble. Time and the state of the economy will tell which side wins - but letters and emails to Congress can't hurt. Politicians test the wind direction more than professional golfers do!! |
Jkm | Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 03:07 pm     I have been at work all day and have not see any of the coverage yet -- my hubby called me earlier to let me know. My oldest daughter wants to become an astronaut -- she has set her goal to be on the 2028 mission to Mars...... dh said she's been glued to the tv -- hopefully he'll distract her soon. We're doing year end inventory/ etc -- been a long, long day. My kids weren't born yet when Challanger blew up -- I was in college....... We just saw Sally Ride at a lecture a few months ago........ Unbelievable, truely unbelievable....... |
Nathalia | Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 03:13 pm     Does anyone know if they routinely suspend domestic air travel in the air space of where the shuttle may cross over? It was a horrible tragedy and my condolences go out to all of the families. We are lucky however that we were spared any further tragedy in the air and on land. |
Karuuna | Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 03:20 pm     They did suspend air travel in one area immediately afterward, and the debris field continues to cause problems. For the most part the shuttle is high above airplane altitude capability; but when the shuttle passes into that range, it's descent is handled by FAA, the same group that handles airplane traffic, in order to avert any problems. |
Zeno39 | Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 03:30 pm     Having been a military wife for 3l years, and with my husband with a top secret clearance. I do know how some things operate when a disaster such as this happens. (My husband never told me anything secret, before someone brings that up). Anyway, it is a very good possibility that they told the public not to touch anything if they came across the debris for the simple reason that they need every single thing found to try to put it together as to what happened. They had to say the material was hazardous, because you would see people picking up some of it for a souvenir,etc. Some people are just plain ignorant, and some just don't care. As far as any planes in their area, they were too far up for any other vehicles to be. Also, the extent of the heat it caused means they would not be able to survive, and died as soon as the explosion happened. No bodies would be found, because there were no bodies left to find. As far as Bush is concerned, he cannot say anything until NASA has made an official announcement. Hope this has helped some of you with your earlier questions. |
Nathalia | Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 03:42 pm     Thanks Karuuna...I was wondering after I sent that question if it was a silly question or not. Zeno...I just saw on tv that they DID find what looked to be at least a four foot object with a sheet over it and a hearse standing by. Also, a helmut..not in the same place. I guess we will see. |
Zeno39 | Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 03:49 pm     If they do find any remains, then it is a miracle. Thanks for adding that. I'm not saying it couldn't happen, it is just that in all probability, it would not happen. Things have been known to happen when you think otherwise. So, like you said, we shall see. |
Whoami | Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 04:45 pm     What a sad day. It will definetly be a "where were you when.." moment. I got up today about 10:30. By 11:30, I had my computer booted up. My first stop was the Survivor TCG thread in the Games folder, to see if Kethcup's server had been fixed. One brief note from him to the effect of "no game being played today in honor of the shuttle crew." My first thought (and thoughts are hard to form in my very non-morning person head, when I first get up) was, "well, that's nice to remember them (thinking of Challenger). But, the anniversary is a few days past yet. So, I agree with the gesture, but why not honor them a few days ago?" Then, another poster said they didn't feel much like playing today anyway. Finally, it dawned on me, and I thought, "OMG. Not again." Went directly to my home page and looked up the news, and confirmed the worse. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of these seven astronauts. Truly a tragic day. My mind goes into all sorts of wierd thoughts. Like, I'm wondering now what the names of the other shuttles are. I think I know of Enterprise and Endeavor. What's the remaining third one? The thought crossed my mind that we shouldn't be naming any more shuttles with a "C" word. That's not meant as a joke or anything. Just that many superstitions are often recognized, even in something as scientific as the Space Program. |
Karuuna | Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 04:52 pm     I believe the fifth one is Discover. |
Zachsmom | Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 05:11 pm     Discovery..the third one is Discovery |
Sadiesmom | Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 05:35 pm     Disclaimer: This is not meant to start controversy or debate over content. It is just interesting to see what is printed in Saudi Arabia article <snip> "Asked why NASA was advising extreme precaution at the crash sites, Gagnon said: “We haven’t heard that there was a nuclear payload on this shuttle, but one of the great hallmarks of the Bush administration is increased secrecy. I must admit that when NASA said no one should go near a site because of the toxic potential of the fuels and ‘other reasons,’ I couldn’t help but wonder what those reasons are.” Due to cuts in NASA’s budget in recent years, NASA has been forced to turn to the Pentagon for increased funding, said Gagnon. The result is that the space shuttles are now also NASA missions and carry both military and civilian technologies. “What you have now is the military takeover of the space program. NASA is not just about gazing at the stars, it now also has a political and military agenda.” What is of concern, he said, is that the Pentagon in now working on a program called the “Space Based Laser.” “Its nickname is the ‘Death Star,’ and its job is to destroy other country’s satellites, and also hit targets on the Earth below. NASA hopes to have the first operational tests by 2016 or 2017,” Gagnon explained. “This would give the US full control and domination of space and the earth below, because whoever controls space will control the Earth.” |
Ryn | Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 05:52 pm     Sounds like the arabian version of the National Enq. THe US does have military missions, but when they do they are labeled as such and are not talked about much. |
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