{"id":50924,"date":"2003-02-01T21:12:09","date_gmt":"2003-02-01T21:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.soulhuntre.com\/items\/date\/2003\/02\/01\/a-turning-point-columbia-is-gone\/"},"modified":"2003-02-01T21:12:09","modified_gmt":"2003-02-01T21:12:09","slug":"a-turning-point-columbia-is-gone-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/legacyiamsenseiken.local\/2003\/02\/01\/a-turning-point-columbia-is-gone-2\/","title":{"rendered":"A turning point\u2026 Columbia is gone."},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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as it was<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Alright. Let’s take this one head on. The [[e2|space shuttle]]<\/p>\n

[[e2|Columbia]] was lost during<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

STS-107<\/a>. Something bad happened<\/a>,<\/p>\n

and at the speeds and temperatures the shuttle experiences during re-entry any<\/p>\n

little problem is catastrophic. <\/p>\n

Needless to say, this is a tragedy<\/b>. My sympathies go to the families<\/p>\n

of her crew, and to those who worked on her because no doubt each and every one<\/p>\n

of them will wonder what they might have missed, or how they could have<\/p>\n

prevented this from happening.<\/p>\n

My main concern<\/i><\/b> is that this disaster will have exactly the<\/p>\n

wrong effect, once again causing the US to dampen or slacken its efforts to gain<\/p>\n

and keep mastery of space, both around our planet and in our solar system. it is<\/p>\n

imperative in my mind that we grow beyond our single world – we must remember<\/p>\n

that tragedies must bring us caution, nor terror and weakness. If<\/p>\n

9\/11<\/a><\/p>\n

taught us anything, it is that fear must not rule us.<\/p>\n

There is no reason or me to try and cover this tragedy in detail, as events<\/p>\n

are already being covered in both the [[wp|mainstream]] and [[wp|blogstream]]<\/p>\n

media, where the [[e2|February 1, 2003|feelings of many users]] are already<\/p>\n

apparent. The<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

official page for Columbia<\/a> has already been updated.<\/p>\n

I will provide links to the best places to keep an eye on all this, and<\/p>\n

update this entry as necessary as time goes on. There is a lot of information<\/p>\n

here, so click the [more] link if you have one.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Here is a summary taken from the current entry at the [[wp|Wikipedia]]: <\/p>\n

\n

"At about 9:00 a.m.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

EST<\/a> (14:00<\/p>\n

UTC<\/a>)<\/p>\n

on<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

February 1<\/a>,<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2003<\/a>,<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

NASA<\/a>‘s Mission Control at<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center<\/a> in<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Houston, Texas<\/a> lost radio contact with the<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

space shuttle<\/a> <\/i><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Columbia<\/em><\/a> as it descended from orbit toward its landing<\/p>\n

destination at<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Cape Canaveral<\/a> near the<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

John F. Kennedy Space Center<\/a> and<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Jacksonville<\/a>,<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Florida<\/a>. Contact was lost at 203,000 feet (39 miles) above north central<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Texas<\/a> at over 12,500 miles per hour (Mach 18). The loss of contact was<\/p>\n

expected and planned by NASA as a standard consequence of the shuttle passing<\/p>\n

through the<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

ionosphere<\/a>. The shuttle was expected to land at 9:16 EST; however it<\/p>\n

failed to arrive and apparently disintegrated over north central Texas." – [[wp|Space_Shuttle_Columbia_disaster|full<\/p>\n

text]]<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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on radar<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Blogstream Coverage:<\/b><\/p>\n