Space News During Crisis

The tragic events of Tuesday, September 11, 2001 have not only cast our country into war, they have also had a deep impact on points of national interest. The economy, and perhaps national safety have been forever changed, but other facets of life have also been affected. It seems difficult to write about the intricacies of Apollo space hardware or upcoming Shuttle flights when our nation has been wounded so badly. However, like all government agencies, companies, and even family households, life must go on. Since the focus of this column is space exploration, here are a few stories generated by last week's events.

By 11:42 a.m. E.S.T. last Tuesday, Kennedy Space Center and the surrounding government support buildings were evacuated. Only security and what is called a "ride out crew" (personnel who make sure vital systems remain working under any circumstance) remained. This evacuation was similar to how NASA reacts when a hurricane is hitting the shoreline of Florida. By Thursday, Kennedy had reopened, but was dealing with the added danger of the incoming tropical storm Gabrielle. Vandenberg AFB and space facilities in California were also evacuated on Tuesday. Because the next Shuttle launch is not scheduled until November, all four Orbiters were housed in either the processing hangers or the Vehicle Assembly Building.

Like most Americans, I was asking myself "what next?" on Tuesday morning. The thought of a doomed jet airliner ramming into a launch pad or the mammoth Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy had crossed my mind. It appears that things have returned only to semi-normal around NASA facilities. Obviously, however, security and how it is carried out on a day-to-day basis has been forever changed.

Three people with a rather unique view of this situation are the three astronauts currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS) Alpha. While they are not on Earth, they did state that their prayers and best wishes were with those most greatly affected by the tragedy. Reports of their observations have been nothing more than startling these past few days. Frank Culbertson, the commander of the third and current mission aboard Alpha, could see the long plume of smoke coming from New York City with the naked eye. He also relayed to ground control that he and the other two members of the crew have seen the United States in a way that no other crew had ever previously viewed it. Because of the FAA's closure of airports and grounding of planes last Tuesday morning through Thursday, the skies above the US were free of what he called a " spider web of contrails." (Perhaps the most unsettling effects of last week's events were that for the first time in decades there was no air traffic overhead. I found this unsettling on the ground and I can't imagine how it felt 250 miles above the Earth).

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