We should drop the bowling ball out at 300,000 feet at mach 18. Brent, will your plane go that fast? I would be surprised if anything made it all the way back to earth. I am surprised they found a lot of the stuff they found in Texas. -----Original Message----- From: Jim Gibson [mailto:xajax99@yahoo.com] Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2003 4:01 PM To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Searching for debris Here is another one. The bowling ball idea is sounding better all the time. HOUSTON -- Columbia investigators are looking for help from experts who track meteors entering Earth's atmosphere so they can better predict where in the California mountains a potentially telling piece of debris from the doomed shuttle might have landed. NASA ( news <http://rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/space/sc_space/inlinks/*http://rd.yahoo.com/D ailyNews/manual/*http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news?p=%22NASA%22&c=&n= 20&yn=c&c=news&cs=nw> - web sites <http://rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/space/sc_space/inlinks/*http://rd.yahoo.com/D ailyNews/manual/*http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=NASA&h=c> ) officials are interested in finding the material because it could help pinpoint what part of Columbia's heat shield failed first and allowed superhot plasma to flow into the spacecraft. It is belived this eventually led to the break up of the vehicle and loss of seven astronauts. So far there has been no luck locating any confirmed pieces of debris west of Texas despite hundreds of reports, NASA officials said Tuesday. But in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California there is strong hope that one or two larger pieces of debris, perhaps a reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) panel from the leading edge of Columbia's left wing, might be sitting among the trees. Several eyewitnesses in the area saw Columbia fly overhead on Feb. 1 and saw one or two large pieces fall in flames away from the vehicle, followed by several relatively tiny pieces of debris. A few moments later, residents throughout the mountain range heard sonic booms and strong rumbling noises much like thunder, said Doug Kohl, a former shuttle engineer who now lives among the Sierra Nevada mountains. _____ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! <http://rd.yahoo.com/O=1/I=brandr/vday03/text/flow/*http://shopping.yahoo.co m/shop?d=browse&id=20146735> Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day
David I believe meteors have to have a certain mass before they make it all the way to earth without burning up all of their material. Perhaps if the shuttle had decenagrated any sooner, there is a good chance nothing would have made it. Patrick, Kim or Chuck could probably shed light on that. Jim David Dunn <david.dunn@albertsons.com> wrote:We should drop the bowling ball out at 300,000 feet at mach 18. Brent, will your plane go that fast? I would be surprised if anything made it all the way back to earth. I am surprised they found a lot of the stuff they found in Texas.-----Original Message----- From: Jim Gibson [mailto:xajax99@yahoo.com] Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2003 4:01 PM To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Searching for debris Here is another one. The bowling ball idea is sounding better all the time. HOUSTON -- Columbia investigators are looking for help from experts who track meteors entering Earth's atmosphere so they can better predict where in the California mountains a potentially telling piece of debris from the doomed shuttle might have landed. NASA (news - web sites) officials are interested in finding the material because it could help pinpoint what part of Columbia's heat shield failed first and allowed superhot plasma to flow into the spacecraft. It is belived this eventually led to the break up of the vehicle and loss of seven astronauts. So far there has been no luck locating any confirmed pieces of debris west of Texas despite hundreds of reports, NASA officials said Tuesday. But in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California there is strong hope that one or two larger pieces of debris, perhaps a reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) panel from the leading edge of Columbia's left wing, might be sitting among the trees. Several eyewitnesses in the area saw Columbia fly overhead on Feb. 1 and saw one or two large pieces fall in flames away from the vehicle, followed by several relatively tiny pieces of debris. A few moments later, residents throughout the mountain range heard sonic booms and strong rumbling noises much like thunder, said Doug Kohl, a former shuttle engineer who now lives among the Sierra Nevada mountains. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day
Well if you don't like decenagrated, how about discinegrated. I missed it so bad my spell checker couldn't even figure out what I was trying to say. Jim Jim Gibson <xajax99@yahoo.com> wrote: David I believe meteors have to have a certain mass before they make it all the way to earth without burning up all of their material. Perhaps if the shuttle had decenagrated any sooner, there is a good chance nothing would have made it. Patrick, Kim or Chuck could probably shed light on that. Jim David Dunn <david.dunn@albertsons.com> wrote: We should drop the bowling ball out at 300,000 feet at mach 18. Brent, will your plane go that fast? I would be surprised if anything made it all the way back to earth. I am surprised they found a lot of the stuff they found in Texas.-----Original Message----- From: Jim Gibson [mailto:xajax99@yahoo.com] Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2003 4:01 PM To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Searching for debris Here is another one. The bowling ball idea is sounding better all the time. HOUSTON -- Columbia investigators are looking for help from experts who track meteors entering Earth's atmosphere so they can better predict where in the California mountains a potentially telling piece of debris from the doomed shuttle might have landed. NASA (news - web sites) officials are interested in finding the material because it could help pinpoint what part of Columbia's heat shield failed first and allowed superhot plasma to flow into the spacecraft. It is belived this eventually led to the break up of the vehicle and loss of seven astronauts. So far there has been no luck locating any confirmed pieces of debris west of Texas despite hundreds of reports, NASA officials said Tuesday. But in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California there is strong hope that one or two larger pieces of debris, perhaps a reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) panel from the leading edge of Columbia's left wing, might be sitting among the trees. Several eyewitnesses in the area saw Columbia fly overhead on Feb. 1 and saw one or two large pieces fall in flames away from the vehicle, followed by several relatively tiny pieces of debris. A few moments later, residents throughout the mountain range heard sonic booms and strong rumbling noises much like thunder, said Doug Kohl, a former shuttle engineer who now lives among the Sierra Nevada mountains. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day
--- Jim Gibson <xajax99@yahoo.com> wrote:
David I believe meteors have to have a certain mass before they make it all the way to earth without burning up all of their material. Perhaps if the shuttle had decenagrated any sooner, there is a good chance nothing would have made it.
It's a combination of speed, mass, and composition that determine if a meteor becomes a meteorite. Micro-meteorites lose speed fast, and essentially float down from around 200,000 ft. relatively unscathed. Some meteroites can travel over 70,000 mph relative to the earth, and Columbia was doing what, say around 15,000? But even assuming that a piece of debris didn't burn-up completely, and made it all the way down, if it got caught in the jetstream it could have been carried hundreds of miles off the flight path. Then, dropping out of the jetstream, it would have been at the mercy of winds nearer the surface, which might have been blowing in a completely different direction. IMO, looking for debris west of Texas would be the act of the ultimate optimist. Not saying it's not there, but it will be as hard to find as winning the lottery. Someone in authority said weeks ago that it could take up to two years or more to recover all the debris that IS recoverable. Eventually weathering will take it's toll, and some pieces will never be found. Sooner or later the investigation team will have to make a decision based on what they have in-hand. C. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day http://shopping.yahoo.com
participants (3)
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Chuck Hards -
David Dunn -
Jim Gibson