NASA Loses Contact With Shuttle Columbia
POSTED BY: NewsAdmin
UPDATED: Monday, August 17, 2026 04:38
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Well, who says they did...besides them that is? My point in saying that is that when there's no way to save the crew and it's already too late to abort, they would likely choose to go on with the mission. That's my guess anyway - that a hard call was made and evaluation couldn't be made at the time of the insulation impact and the minutes afterward.
At what altitude did that occur, I wonder. Anyone see that yet?
Quote:
Finger pointing aside, what I would like to know is why there wasn't a visual inspection of the shuttle by the astronauts themselves while they were in space? It only makes sense to verify that the shuttle is physically ready for re-entry. Is a space walk around the shuttle that difficult of a task to perform?
According to astronauts interview around here (I live in Houston, so we have lots to draw on) report that a visual inspection might not have been done because it would have done nothing except confirm that there was damage or been inconclusive and in either case would have been pointelss. Two possibilities exist:
(A) There appears to be no damage but ther was. Ship breaks up anyway.
(B) The is damage. Such damage would be utterly irreparable in orbit.
There's also the possibility that there were no EVAs on board. If they don't have them included in the mision parameters they aren't on board for payload reasons. That's also why linking and evecuating to the Space Station was not an option - Columbia didn't have the docking ring needed to make the link. It wasn't part of the mission, so wasn't on board.
In any of the above instances the astronauts had no means of returning safely to earth and the oly recourse was to risk reentry and hope for the best; hope the tiles remained intact.
This is all supposition, except for th epayload stuff. That's via Sally Ride this morning on GMA and locally.
Mal: “The next time you decide to stab me in the back, have the guts to do it to my face.”
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21 years later
A Cold War mystery: Why did Jimmy Carter save the space shuttle?
https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/12/a-cold-war-mystery-why-did-jimmy
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Ars solves the mystery by going directly to a primary source—the president himself.
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Moving NASA HQ from DC to Space Coast still on lawmakers’ minds
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/07/13/moving-nasa-hq-from-dc-to-s
pace-coast-still-on-lawmakers-minds/
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owned by the American people by way of institute / agency, the Federal Government doesn’t even own it?
Texas Ted wants a Shuttle
White House told only way to move Space Shuttle Discovery is to chop it up
https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/02/dismantling_discovery/
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it will never be 'routine'
China's Shenzhou-20 crewed spacecraft has delayed its return mission to Earth after the vessel was hit by space debris
https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/chinas-shenzhou-20-retu
rn-mission-delayed-due-space-debris-impact-2025-11-05/
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NASA begins contracting process to potentially relocate Space Shuttle Discovery to Houston
https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/nasa/2026/03/20/54673
2/nasa-discovery-space-shuttle-houston-contract-bid-proposal/
NASA’s Proposed Post-ISS Pivot Leaves Partners ‘Concerned and Confused’
https://aviationweek.com/space/commercial-space/nasas-proposed-post-is
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things are exploding...it has implications
USA NASA, Space-X, Russia and a bunch of international partners with the ISS
CyberBoroshno’s preliminary analysis says FP-5 Flamingo missiles likely struck Building 106A at RKC Progress in Samara, the only Russian facility serially assembling Soyuz-2 launch vehicles. The building reportedly handles onboard electrical systems, instruments, circuit boards, control systems and cabling. Building 106B, used for final assembly, is located nearby. The full scale of damage is still being assessed through satellite imagery
https://x.com/NOELreports/status/2088525434816201041
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Astronauts Marooned On Moon Could Be Abandoned Under Current NASA Plan
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinholdenplatt/2026/07/19/astronauts-ma
rooned-on-moon-could-be-abandoned-under-current-nasa-plan/
The 8 American Astronauts Who Died Before Apollo 11
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