RE: [Leica] COLUMBIA

[Adam Bridge <abridge@mac.com>]

On 2/1/03 Austin Franklin  wrote:

>
>I've heard this said, but what, exactly, is the toxic?  Do you know, or are
>you just restating what was stated by the media?
>

I understand that traces of the hypergolic (? - ones that combust when brought
into contact with each other without need for an igniting spark or flame) fuels
may be present. One ingredient is high-molar nitric acid. I forget the other.

You may remember that after the shuttle lands there is a period of a half-hour
where the lander is ventilated and the ground-crew checks for leaks and does an
atmosphere analysis to make sure its safe for unprotected ground-crew to
approach and help the astronauts "egress". (Thank you PT Barnum).

Is it likely that these substances are still present after what happened? Who
knows. Maybe it will help people to do the right thing and call authorities.

There is the posibility that debris may have started to fall as early as the
Owens Valley here in California. Now perhaps some CalTech photographer was using
a long-lens Leica to photograph the re-entry.

I've watched a shuttle re-entry - one flew over in the early morning as it
re-entered on its way to the Cape. It was spectacular - a bright glowing ball of
plasma - very purple - that left a ruler-sharp line across the sky. It crossed
horizon to horizon in about a minute. There were tears in my eyes watching, just
as there were when I saw a sunset launch from Orlando - the glowing orange
clouds from the boosters and the intense white dots of the shuttle main engines
were clearly visible. I had watched the launch from the TV and then ran outside
when the Orlando TV showed a helicopter shot and there it was, rising. Amazing
that my only words were "Go.....go". Instinctive. Clearly the boy who sat
through hours of holds to watch the Mercury flights on TV isn't very far away.

Adam Bridge
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