No Replacement For Displacement

Columbia is gone

If you've been paying attention to the media at all, you probably know by now that the shuttle Columbia has disintegrated upon reentry. Other than speculation, noone will really know why the shuttle disintegrated. Even though Columbia had been rebuilt prior to this mission, the reason for the disaster could be anything from a structural failure to an explosion in the remaining rocket fuel to a failure in the computerized landing systems(though the latter is least likely). The speed at the time of the loss of contact was 12,500 mph, and any of the aluminum pieces will just vaporize. The only parts that will be left will be the heaviest and most dense parts, motors, landing gear, etc. Nacagdoches(sp?), TX seems to be where most of the debris has come down.

Update: Fox News is reporting that an 8 foot fuel tank landed on the runway at the Nacagdoches airport.

Update: Glenn has a link to the NOAA weather radar which shows the trail of the debris on their radar. The reason why that would show up so well is because the aluminum and other metal bits vaporized, making a real big radar reflection. On an unrelated note, during WWII, the British used a similar technique to foil German radar. They dropped tons of aluminum foil, which clouded german radar at the time.

Update: In One report a 3 foot piece crashed through someone's office.

Update: Kay Bailey Hutchison is politicking about the NASA budget on Fox. In times of national tragedy, it's always nice to see senators engage in pork barrel politics.

Update: CBS is reporting that debris is "all over" Nacagdoches. There have been reports of some fires that mayh have started.

Update: Tyler, TX is reporting a 4 foot piece of debris.

Update: This is some speculation on my part, but most of the debris slowed down quite a bit before impact. The debris doesn't seemed to have caused any cratering on impact. There won't be much of anything left of the actual fuselage itself. The NOAA cloud is the fuselage

Update: Debris in Nacagdoches, TX; Shreveport, LA; AR; and Dallas.

Update: Here is the loop from the NOAA radar. The motion is probably due to prevailing winds, and the dispertion/descent of the vaporized aluminum from the shuttle.