We Are A No For Go

The news was relayed to the shuttle's 7-member crew after the astronauts were suited up and strapped into their seats in preparation for liftoff. Space Shuttle Discovery's commander, Steve Lindsay, readily agreed with the assessment that it was not a good day for a space launch. "Yeah, we copy," said Steve Lindsay. "We looked out the window and it doesn't look good today. And we think that's a great plan." Columbia re-entered the atmosphere after a 16-day scientific mission. NASA lost radio contact at about 0900 EST, minutes before the expected 0916 landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Video recordings show the craft breaking up in flames over Texas at an altitude of approximately 39 miles and a speed of 12,500 mph. Following the tragedy, NASA scientists determined that a hole was punctured in the leading edge on one of Columbia's wings, made of a carbon-carbon composite. The hole had formed when a piece of insulating foam from the external fuel tank peeled off during the launch 16 days earlier, puncturing the edge of the wing. Hot gases, referred to by many reports as plasma, penetrated the interior of the wing, destroying the support structure and causing the rest of the shuttle to break apart during the intense heat of re-entry. The collected debris is currently stored on the 16th floor of the Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC. MASA Administrator Sean O'Queef has vowed that Columbia will not be sealed away as the debris from the Challenger was. The debris from Challenger is permanently entombed in two Minuteman missile silos at KSC. Not that you were wondering.