debris area for shuttle extended

[g99]

The debris area hs been extended all the way to Colifornia. NASA is looking for debris that has come off the Shuttle bofore the actual breakup. They say it might be key to the investigation.

Also the nose cone of the shuttle has been found.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/0...rap/index.html
(scroll down near the end for the nosecone and clifornia part.)

[nebularain]

From the article above:

A newly surfaced video shows the doomed shuttle over California, with what appear to be pieces falling off of it as it re-enters the atmosphere. This could indicate that Columbia was already in trouble well west of Dallas, Texas, where its final disintegration occurred. (See the video)

Was anyone able to get the video to work?

[g99]

They had the video on all the news networks. I havn't seen it on the web yet. Try one of the 24 hour networks, they will probobly show it on the hour every hour.

[g99]

The video in the above link for the shuttle breaking up is in realplayer, but they require you to be a part of a pay service to view it. [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img]

[Eirik]

not sure what video this is, but I've seen now two different videos, one taken in Nevada and one in Arizona, of the shuttle streaking across a night sky. In both, people can be heard commenting loudly about the flashes coming off of the shuttle, clearly not being aware that the craft was only moments from shattering. On the Arizona tape, someone speculates that it might be ice breaking off the shuttle.

I imagine that they might find some tiles scattered throughout the California/Nevada/Arizona/New Mexico area. If they're out there, at least, I hope they find them.

[g99]

I think they are talking about the Arizona one. That is the one i saw. There might be a new california one, but i can't access the net version. It probobly is the arizona one. They said they released the arizona one today.

If anyone has access to the CNN videos can you tell us? I don't feel like paying to see one video.

[AstroGman]

I do know that the shuttle travels over california as it travels from west to east on it,s reentry trajectory.So sure there could have been debris in california.

[kilopi]

I saw a claim that a radio station in Sacremento CA was saying Tuesday morning that the CHP is warning people to watch for re-entering shuttle fragments, and someone said he personally saw some.

[Rue]

Looks like it might be true.

"NASA asked the California Highway Patrol on Monday to alert law enforcement agencies statewide to be on the alert for any debris sightings. CHP spokesman Steve Kohler said Tuesday the agency was waiting for information from the space agency on the possible debris sightings announced by Kostelnik. "


http://www.ktvu.com/news/1957283/detail.html

[calliarcale]

Initially, reports of things seeming to come off the Shuttle over California were largely discounted -- this is because it is quite normal to see what looks like stuff coming off of it, which is really just balls of plasma breaking off of the shockwave in front of the orbiter, not the orbiter itself. But perhaps once experts saw what people had videotaped, they started to reconsider. In any case, whatever can be recovered will be useful in the investigation. If stuff is found in California, it should be documented in situ and then transported to a location where it can be better inspected.

[kilopi]

If the debris was still coming down on Monday in California, couldn't it be coming down anywhere around the world?

[calliarcale]

Yes; high-altitude winds can carry things a very long ways, especially if it gets into the jet stream. Very light debris might travel for thousands of miles, though most of that will have either burned up as it fell from 200,000 ft, or will have escaped from a cluster of much heavier debris that protected it from reentry and carried it below those fast winds.

NASA will likely be interested in any debris that is found anywhere in the world, but the most interesting debris (from an investigator's standpoint) will be in the flight path.

[Rue]

Calfornia video here.

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/TECH/spa...rap/index.html

Under the paragraph that starts:

"A home video shows the shuttle over California...."

[kilopi]

The account I saw Monday seemed to describe debris coming in Monday morning at orbital speeds, burning up and leaving a trail. The implication seemed to be that somehow parts were skipped back into orbit and were coming down a dozen or so orbits after the disaster. I'm wondering if I didn't misunderstand the account, or maybe there's another explanation for what was observed.