+SteveL Posted February 1, 2003 Share Posted February 1, 2003 With the debris spread out over such a large area, the task of finding the bits and pieces is quite daunting. Are any cachers out there hunting specifically for shuttle fragments? I would think the skills the caching community could bring to the salvage effort could greatly assist. Many of us are avid hikers, familiar with navigating and marking waypoints with a GPS, have developed a skill for finding objects in the wild that might otherwise go unnoticed. SteveL These are my opinions and only my opinions, unless you share them as well, which would make them our opinions, but I am not of the opinion that I can express your opinion as my opinion without your prior expression of said opinion, and then my re-utterance of that opinion would, in my opinion, be foolish unless I were expressing agreement to your opinion, and then it wouldn't be my opinion but your opinion to which I only agree. Quote Link to comment
+Treasure Hunters Inc. Posted February 1, 2003 Share Posted February 1, 2003 I mentioned earlier today that it might be helpful to NASA if the lat/lon of each of the pieces of debris could be determined and kept with each piece when it was removed from where it fell. I said local Texas cachers should try to help out. $1000 Bill geocaching is living in a 30 foot circle Quote Link to comment
Cache Canucks Posted February 1, 2003 Share Posted February 1, 2003 Judging by some of the most recent reports on CNN (ie: the discovery of charred and dismembered human remains), this might be a 'search' best left to the professionals ...IMHO. Quote Link to comment
+The Leprechauns Posted February 1, 2003 Share Posted February 1, 2003 Yes, the professionals will conduct a thorough search, I'm sure. But with the out-of-the way places that our adventures take us, and the skills we have in spotting things that look out of place, I won't be surprised at all if, over the next year or so, geocachers in Texas should stumble upon pieces of wreckage. I would think that the proper thing to do would be to mark a waypoint, NOT touch the found item, and report the coordinates to the local authorities. What a terrible thing to have to think about while out in the field for a hike. x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x If there's no accounting for stupidity, then why do I need to file a tax return? Quote Link to comment
Cache Canucks Posted February 2, 2003 Share Posted February 2, 2003 quote:Originally posted by The Leprechauns:"...with the out-of-the way places that our adventures take us, and the skills we have in spotting things that look out of place, I won't be surprised at all if, over the next year or so, geocachers in Texas should stumble upon pieces of wreckage. I would think that the proper thing to do would be to mark a waypoint, NOT touch the found item, and report the coordinates to the local authorities..." Certainly, I agree. My previous comment was in response to one of the lead statements in this thread: "...Are any cachers out there hunting specifically for shuttle fragments?..." ...as opposed to being any reference to someone who might otherwise 'happen upon' a piece of debris. I can't help but think (and there's already reports of this being the case) that there will be those who deliberately seek out pieces of wreckage - or whatever - out of some perverse sense of voyeurism ...all under the guise of 'helping with the search effort'. I'd like to believe that nobody in the geocaching community would fall into that category. Quote Link to comment
+SearchRescueDog Posted February 2, 2003 Share Posted February 2, 2003 quote: Yes, the professionals will conduct a thorough search, I'm sure. From a search & rescue standpoint I could not agree with you more. One of the things that causes lots of problems to the incident commander on ANY type of incident is "Freelancing" (people showing up and doing there own thing). I would strongly discourage anyone from going out to do this. quote: I would think that the proper thing to do would be to mark a waypoint, NOT touch the found item, and report the coordinates to the local authorities. It also would not be a bad idea to flag the item as well if you carry flagging tape in your gear. In the case of human remains I would recommend using a cell phone and remaining at the location if possible. Quote Link to comment
+Web-ling Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 The North Texas Geocaching Association has been in contact with NASA, but we haven't gotten a reply yet. Quote Link to comment
+Breaktrack Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 Since my children and I do hunt in the areas in Texas I have already added a roll of the bright green marking tape in case we run into anything while out Geocaching in the future. I plan to mark the area with a piece of the tape tied to a tree nearby and mark a waypoint on my GPSr. Afterwards we'll call the given number to report where it is. Just in case. "Trade up, trade even, or don't trade!!!" My philosophy of life. Quote Link to comment
+VentureForth Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 My aunt in Nacogdoches told me that the majority of volunteers were coming from the Forestry college at Stephen F Austin University in Nacogdoches. Ironically, the only people arrested for treasure hunting or illegal possesion of shuttle debris were also SFA students, with reports of debris being found in one particular fraternity's house. --------------- Go! And don't be afraid to get a little wet! Quote Link to comment
+geospotter Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 quote:Originally posted by SearchRescueDog: quote: Yes, the professionals will conduct a thorough search, I'm sure. From a search & rescue standpoint I could not agree with you more. One of the things that causes lots of problems to the incident commander on ANY type of incident is "Freelancing" (people showing up and doing there own thing). I would strongly discourage anyone from going out to do this. Well, gee, I just watched a news report that stated that the "professionals" MISSED the shuttle's nose-cone. Huge hole and they missed it! After the pros had left the land owner decided to have a look and found it. (Hadn't the pros also searched the park where Chandra Levy's body was found.) Quote Link to comment
+Hiemdahl Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 I contacted several of the agencies, but there was no interest. My best guess is that they are so busy with the current efforts that they have not had time to even think about the offer. BTW the search area has been enlarged to include Tarrant (Foth Worth) county, with at least unconfirmed reports of debris as far west as Arizona. The only local group that has been contacted are the Ham operators to assist in communications. I hope something does come up where we can put our talents to work assisting the search efforts. Hiemdahl Quote Link to comment
+LoneHowler Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 In my local paper it mentioned that the searchers were using GPS units More to see, More to do Quote Link to comment
+Web-ling Posted February 5, 2003 Share Posted February 5, 2003 quote:Originally posted by LoneHowler:In my local paper it mentioned that the searchers were using GPS units More to see, More to do Yeah, but have you seen their GPS units? They sit in a backpack with an antenna array sticking out the top. The response we've gotten is, no thanks, unless you have one of the MONSTER GPS units. Quote Link to comment
+Team Shuey Posted February 5, 2003 Share Posted February 5, 2003 quote:Yeah, but have you seen their GPS units? They sit in a backpack with an antenna array sticking out the top. The response we've gotten is, no thanks, unless you have one of the MONSTER GPS units. http://www.ntga.nethttp://www.web-ling.com I seen the GPS units that they are using on TV tonight. They are actually made by Garmin, and are about 5" wide, and 8" long. Reminded me of the package scanners that FedEx uses to scan shipments. I know it was a Garmin because it was printed in the upper left side of the unit. Team Shuey Riverview, Florida Shuey's Web Site Buy CamelBaks CLICK HERE Quote Link to comment
chloew Posted February 5, 2003 Share Posted February 5, 2003 Check the Nacogdoches newspaper for more detailed updates on the search and the makeup of search teams. From the information I've read so far it seems the authorities prefer not to have free lancers running around the woods but will take any information about possible debris submitted by the public. The offical search teams are made up of members from a number of different local and federal groups and include one 'GPS' person with the large backpack GPS device from Trimble and Garmin seen on TV. Though if anybody from the area hears about opportunities to volunteer for searching please post it here. chloew - Austin, TX Quote Link to comment
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