The space shuttle Columbia exploded over Texas.  THis is terrible

My familiy woke me up, I thought it was world war 3   Jeez this is horrible    God be with them all.                                On my order, all 28thVBW operations are in stand down for one week.

This must be especially tragic for you, Richie.  We can only hope that it won't be a major, long-term setback to the space program.

P.S.  You've probably seen the other thread on this at the Cafe SimV forum.

I've just seen the full bulletin. Oh my God.
This is terrible beyond belief. Only 16 minutes from touchdown and it appears to have come to pieces! Apparently it was doing mach 18 and 200,000 feet when communication was lost. This is a tragic day.
Oh and I apologise for my earlier typo, its 17 years since the previous shuttle disaster.

Ozzy

I heard as I got in from work, still can't beleive it.
I'm too young to remember Chalenger, but it caused the program to stop for about a year didn't it, I rekon this is the end of the shutle.
May they rest in peace.

It truly is a sad event.  I don't know about other states or countries, but here in Houston they've had it on non stop.  Once is enough, I don't need constant reminders.  But I think the media is playing it a bit more responsibly.  With 11.9 the media had a field day.  Today, they're kind of just reporting the facts and talking with NASA officials and former astronauts.  Provided you don't watch NBC or FOX, though.  FOX hypes up everything for ratings, and NBC relentlessly pours in their opinions on everthing.  Condolences to NASA and the families of the seven crew members.

Very sad news, thoughts go out to seven families in their time of need.

Rest in Peace

Will

A few things to note:
1) The two shuttles that were lost did not blow up. Columbia was pretty obvious that it was torn apart by aerodynamic stress after a deviation from the flight profile. The Challanger was also torn apart by stress after a deviation from the flight profile. ( I refer to just the obiter, not the external tank.)

2) This is a certian blow to the american manned space program, but its effects will be felt in other nations that are either building their own shuttle-type vehicle, or counted on the shuttle to place an experiment or satiliite in space.

3) You will forever remember where you were and what you were doing when the news broke. I remember being on my grandfathers lap when Neil Armstrong planted his feet on the moon. Jan 28, 1986 I was watching the launch of Challanger on a little 13' B&W TV that was sitting on a cardboard box in Minot, ND. Sept 11, 2002 I was home watching the Disney Channel when my son's speech therapist told us. Now the point to this part. I work in a nursing home as Certified Nurse Aide, and I now have...forever planted in my mind....the sight of an elderly mans $hitty butt that I was cleaning when another aide told me.

So why did I bring up that last part? First and formost I am NOT making light of what happened. Just like 17 years, I was in tears. In my way of dealing with tough times I have always found a way to laugh at myself and as you can see, each memory I have is humourous in a way

So in light of that...can anybody here top my "memory" of Feb 1, 2003?

Yes I can top it! During the early 80's I was walking, with my tool box to work on an A-3B Whale, at NAS Roosevelt Roads PR. It was about 0100 or so and two A-7 SLUFFS collided at the end of the runway, about a mile or so away. The ensuing eruption of JP made me drop my tool box and fall to my knees praying to GOD the end would come quickly for me. You see at that time the USA was in the middle of the cold war and I thought we had been nuked by the Soviets. Yes I was young and scared s***less but I thought I was dead. NOT FUNNY but very funny.