Yahoo! News Sat, Feb 01, 2003
Space Shuttle Apparently Disintegrates
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By MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle Columbia apparently disintegrated in flames over Texas minutes before it was to land Saturday. TV video showed what appeared to be falling debris, as NASA ( news - web sites) declared an emergency and warned residents to beware of fallen objects.
Residents in north Texas reported hearing "a big bang" at about 9 a.m., the same time all radio and data communication with the shuttle and its crew of seven was lost.
In Washington, officials said President Bush ( news - web sites) had been informed and was awaiting more information from NASA. Officials said there was no indication of terrorism.
Six Americans and Israel´s first astronaut were on board Columbia.
Inside Mission Control, flight controllers hovered in front of their computers, staring at the screens. The wives, husbands and children of the astronauts who had been waiting at the landing strip were gathered together by NASA and taken to secluded place.
"A contingency for the space shuttle has been declared," Mission Control repeated over and over as no word or any data came from Columbia.
In 42 years of U.S. human space flight, there had never been an accident during the descent to Earth or landing. On Jan. 28, 1986, space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff.
On Jan. 16, shortly after Columbia lifted off, a piece of insulating foam on its external fuel tank came off and was believed to have hit the left wing of the shuttle. Leroy Cain, the lead flight director in Mission Control, assured reporters Friday that engineers had concluded that any damage to the wing was considered minor and posed no safety hazard.
Columbia had been aiming for a landing at 9:16 a.m. Saturday.
It was at an altitude of 207,000 feet over north-central Texas at a 9 a.m., traveling at 12,500 mph when Mission Control lost all contact and tracking data.
Gary Hunziker in Plano said he saw the shuttle flying overhead. "I could see two bright objects flying off each side of it," he told The Associated Press. "I just assumed they were chase jets."
Television footage showed a bright light followed by smoke plumes streaking diagonally through the sky. Debris appeared to break off into separate balls of light as it continued downward.
Security had been tight for the 16-day scientific research mission because of the presence of Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut.
Ramon, 48, a colonel in Israel´s air force and former fighter pilot, had survived two wars. He became the first man from his country to fly in space, and his presence resulted in an increase in security, not only for Columbia´s launch, but also for its planned landing. Space agency officials feared his presence might make the shuttle more of a terrorist target.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ( news - web sites)´s office said it had no immediate comment Saturday.
A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was no threat made against the flight and that the shuttle, at an altitude of 207,000 feet over north-central Texas when it lost contact, was out of range of a surface-to-air missile.
Columbia´s crew had completed 80-plus scientific research experiments during their time in orbit.
Only two of the seven astronauts had flown in space before, the shuttle´s commander, Rick Husband, and Kalpana Chawla. The other five were rookies: pilot William McCool and Michael Anderson, David Brown, Laurel Clark and Ramon.
Just in the past week, NASA observed the anniversary of its only two other space tragedies, the Challenger explosion, which killed all seven astronauts on board, and the Apollo space craft fire that killed three on Jan. 27, 1967.
