Geronimo : What if Osama Bin Laden was killed prior to 9/11?

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InsertCoolUsernameHere

TBH what's happened to the shuttle could be anything. Like, the CNN headline simply referring to "shuttle trouble" could suggest that whatever happened didn't destroy it, but I rewatched some of the CNN coverage of the Columbia disaster and it took awhile for them to start explicitly saying the vehicle broke up; for most of the first half hour or so after it disintegrated the reports were just that NASA had lost communication with Columbia. So there's definitely a chance the shuttle was destroyed. If so, I feel like it'd probably be the main "Where were you when it happened?" moment of TTL 2000s.

Who knows, maybe someone from OTL figured out how to travel to the Geronimoverse and the shuttle got swallowed by a rip in the space-time fabric :p

Regardless, I can't wait to see what happens next. Keep up the great work!!!
 
Teaser: STS 133
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    • Iwanh

    Iwanh

    1712263625780.png

    Shuttle blasts off for Hubble repair.
    Sep 11, 2007 -- Updated 2020 GMT (0420 HKT)
    By John Zarrella
    CNN

    KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida (CNN) -- The space shuttle Atlantis blasted off successfully Tuesday afternoon on NASA's sixth repair visit to the Hubble Space Telescope.

    The spacecraft rocketed into mostly sunny skies right on schedule at 2:01 p.m. ET.

    Atlantis will spend five days upgrading the Hubble, the orbiting observatory that's been scanning the universe for almost two decades.

    It’s been over 3 years since the last Hubble servicing mission in 2004 and the telescope is designed to go that many years between fixes.

    There are always risks with space travel and this is no different, a concern NASA has is the chance of striking orbiting space debris from past missions. Thousands of objects hurtle through the heavens, some as large as several feet in diameter, and the Hubble's orbit is more crowded with space junk than that of the international space station, which orbits at a lower altitude, NASA said, made up of a mix of satellite and missile debris.

    However, according to Nick Johnson NASA’s chief scientist for space debris, the risk of a critical strike is still very low “"It's not something that you really need to lose sleep over, the debris risk is only slightly higher than an ISS mission”.

    Launch director Doug Lyons wished the crew good luck and Godspeed just before liftoff. "We're ready to take Hubble to look further than ever” replied commander Stephen Frick, referring to the new telescope upgrades aboard Atlantis.

    "Every time we return from a Hubble mission, Hubble is essentially a new telescope -- much more powerful," said Jeffrey Hoffman, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who flew on the first Hubble repair mission in 1993.

    "And when this crew finishes with it, it's going to be like a thousand times more sensitive for making new discoveries than it was when it was first put in orbit, and that's incredible," he said.

    Also on hand for the launch was "Star Wars" director and writer George Lucas as well as the Harlem Globetrotters. Packed aboard Atlantis is the lightsaber used by the character Luke Skywalker in 1983's "Return of the Jedi" to mark the 30th anniversary of the first "Star Wars" film.

    1712264055399.png

    (Left to right) Atlantis prepares to launch from Kennedy Space Center, Atlantis crew prepares to depart, Chewbacca gifts a lightsaber to NASA​
     
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    • InsertCoolUsernameHere

    "According to Nick Johnson NASA’s chief scientist for space debris, the risk of a critical strike is still very low. 'It's not something that you really need to lose sleep over, the debris risk is only slightly higher than an ISS mission'."

    This will not end well
     
    JCC the Alt Historian

    JCC the Alt Historian

    Iwanh said:
    View attachment 899064
    Shuttle blasts off for Hubble repair.
    Sep 11, 2007 -- Updated 2020 GMT (0420 HKT)
    By John Zarrella
    CNN

    KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida (CNN) -- The space shuttle Atlantis blasted off successfully Monday afternoon on NASA's sixth repair visit to the Hubble Space Telescope.

    The spacecraft rocketed into mostly sunny skies right on schedule at 2:01 p.m. ET.

    Atlantis will spend five days upgrading the Hubble, the orbiting observatory that's been scanning the universe for almost two decades.

    It’s been over 3 years since the last Hubble servicing mission in 2004 and the telescope is designed to go that many years between fixes.

    There are always risks with space travel and this is no different, a concern NASA has is the chance of striking orbiting space debris from past missions. Thousands of objects hurtle through the heavens, some as large as several feet in diameter, and the Hubble's orbit is more crowded with space junk than that of the international space station, which orbits at a lower altitude, NASA said, made up of a mix of satellite and missile debris.

    However, according to Nick Johnson NASA’s chief scientist for space debris, the risk of a critical strike is still very low “"It's not something that you really need to lose sleep over, the debris risk is only slightly higher than an ISS mission”.

    Launch director Doug Lyons wished the crew good luck and Godspeed just before liftoff. "We're ready to take Hubble to look further than ever” replied commander Stephen Frick, referring to the new telescope upgrades aboard Atlantis.

    "Every time we return from a Hubble mission, Hubble is essentially a new telescope -- much more powerful," said Jeffrey Hoffman, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who flew on the first Hubble repair mission in 1993.

    "And when this crew finishes with it, it's going to be like a thousand times more sensitive for making new discoveries than it was when it was first put in orbit, and that's incredible," he said.

    Also on hand for the launch was "Star Wars" director and writer George Lucas as well as the Harlem Globetrotters. Packed aboard Atlantis is the lightsaber used by the character Luke Skywalker in 1983's "Return of the Jedi" to mark the 30th anniversary of the first "Star Wars" film.
    ​
    View attachment 899067
    (Left to right) Atlantis prepares to launch from Kennedy Space Center, Atlantis crew prepares to depart, Chewbacca gifts a lightsaber to NASA​
    Click to expand...
    I've got a bad feeling about this.

    KingSweden24 said:
    The fact that the launch occurs on September 11 does not augur well, either
    Click to expand...
    If the shuttle ends up exploding and killing everyone on it, then September 11th will become a day that will live in infamy, but for a different reason.

    Also, I wonder if President John Edwards will give an address the nation about the tragedy, similar to how Ronald Reagan did after the Challenger blew up back in 1986.
    ThePinkRabbit said:
    I would have been at home sick during this day. I would have likely seen what happened on TV.
    Click to expand...
    I would've been in the fourth grade.
     

    Wmh-fanatic

    The launch would've been on September 10, considering it says it launched on Monday. 9/11/07 was a Tuesday, so this would've been from the next day
     
    baliebox4916

    baliebox4916

    its crazy how its on september 11

    nearly a decade after 9/11 would have happened IOTL
    i would have been starting the 5th grade around this time (and they probally would have shown us this on their bell satellite reciever (as im canadian), which is fitting because this would have been the first and only time back home where my mom switched to bell expressvu since the 90s

    and like with my sister/cousins and the challenger disaster this sounds like it would be what to gen Z what the challenger disaster was to gen X and older millennials
    also kinda scared of whats gonna happen to george lucas and the member of the harlem globetrotters

    (the harlem globetrotters i dont care about as its a mix of sports and a school assembly both of which even as a kid i found boring because i was a gamer/anime fan but GEORGE LUCAS! 😨)

    this is gonna be like an alternate timeline where the actor who played big bird actually went on the challenger
    (except much worst because its not an actor for the most likable/cutest character in a pre school show but rather the walt disney of live action sci fi/fantasy)
     
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    Wmh-fanatic

    JCC the Alt Historian said:
    It's possible that Iwanh actually meant to write Tuesday instead of Monday.
    Click to expand...
    I suppose so, though if the incident/disaster is because of a debris collision in orbit (as I assume based on the foreshadowing), it could happen on the day after launch, September 11, and I’d think the date of the actual accident would be more noteworthy than the launch date

    Either way I’m looking forward to this update, I’ve always loved the Shuttle
     
    Aluma

    Aluma

    I know its heavily unlikely but Im kinda hoping our expectations get blown by this not turning out to be a disaster

    TTL already had a 9/11 style attack in Russia after all so it would be cool if the date 9/11 continues to be just another normal day in the year rather than something remembered as a tragedy

    Though the idea of it being a time echo also intrigues me
     

    Wmh-fanatic

    My bet is that based on what's foreshadowed in the article, Atlantis is either hit by space debris (maybe something like the movie Gravity?) or burns up on reentry. A terrorist hijacking would be very difficult if not impossible for the shuttle, though if I am proved wrong on that one I'd be very interested to see how it would transpire.
     
    Aluma

    Aluma

    Wmh-fanatic said:
    My bet is that based on what's foreshadowed in the article, Atlantis is either hit by space debris (maybe something like the movie Gravity?) or burns up on reentry. A terrorist hijacking would be very difficult if not impossible for the shuttle, though if I am proved wrong on that one I'd be very interested to see how it would transpire.
    Click to expand...
    Plot twist the shuttle falls into the Twin Towers
     
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