JD - wear a hat if you go out....
Is there any debris near you?
Will do, local news is saying for residents not to approach any items they might see from the shuttle as they would be toxic. I will tell you Bean's reaction was startling. Clearly she was more aware of something wrong than I was.
New Haven not that I know of the shuttle exploded approximately 100 miles South of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. But because of the altitude and speed of the shuttle debris could be anywhere.
I'd stay inside till Sunday.
The shuttle surely was not destroyed by the surface-to-air missile: it was out of range of the most advanced systems like C-300, Patriot or Arrow. But we cannot exclude sabotage in process of building the shuttle.
that shuttle was built a long time ago....
The oldest one of the fleet.
Appearently they had some problems just after the launch on Jan 16th, but NASA said that wouldn't cause any problems.
A piece of insulation used for re-entry (the size of a door) flipped off the body of the shuttle and hit the wing of the shuttle, they didn't think it would have done much damage....
I did a quick scan before posting this news, missed this one (and another one too) so just deleted mine (no responses yet.)
I of course immediately thought of Challenger. Hubby reminds me that Apollo was Jan 27th (Challenger 28th). Doesn't Mean anything, just interesting.
The conspiracy theorists will be out in force. Terrorism has been basically ruled out, but no doubt that will not deter some people.
Terrorism ruled out? Sweet dreams... It will take centuries to rule it out.
My sympathies for the loss of your countryman, Ilan Ramon, steissd.
I quite doubt it will take centuries.
At 12,500 MPH, faster than Mach 6, and an altitude of 200,000 feet (or twice as high as any intercepting missle can accurately fly) this shuttle disintegrated in the atmosphere as a result of some vulnerability in its hull.
There was not a bomb on board, either.
Another tragic accident.
I did not mean a bomb/missile either. But the flaws of the space shuttle might have been a result of either an error, or deliberate action of some saboteur on the stage of building the facility. I hope that my assumption about sabotage is wrong, but only thorough investigation of the causes of the disaster may exclude it.
My sincere condolences to the American people and administration for loss of the spaceship and its team. God bless.
Were there any radioactive components on board?
I hope GoAway is all right. I've been thinking about her all morning.
If the insulating foam hit the leading edge of one of the wings on take off, minor damage could lead to a catastrophic loss of control on re entry. I'm very sorry for the loss of life. I remember exactly where I was when Challenger blew up.
Two women were on board. One was a 41 year old Naval MD from Wisconsin.
I was just thinking about that as well, Steve.
