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Space Shuttle Columbia disaster

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Crew of STS-107

STS-107 was a space shuttle mission by NASA using the Space Shuttle Columbia. The entire seven member crew was killed on February 1, 2003, when the shuttle disintegrated after re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

During their mission, the crew had paid tribute to the crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger, lost during launch on January 28 1986.

At about 9:00 a.m. EST (14:00 UTC) on February 1, 2003, NASA's Mission Control at Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas lost radio contact with the space shuttle Columbia at the end of mission STS-107 as it descended from orbit toward its landing destination at Cape Canaveral near the John F. Kennedy Space Center and Jacksonville, Florida. Contact was lost at about 203,000 feet (38 miles or 62,000 metres) above north central Texas at over 12,500 miles per hour (20,000 kilometres per hour = 6 km/s = Mach 18). At time of the communications disruption Mission Control was discussing abnormal sensor readings with Columbia. Columbia began their last message with the words "Roger, uh ..." but nothing more was transmitted. Telemetry and tracking data was also lost at the same time. The shuttle was expected to land at 9:16 EST; however it failed to arrive and apparently disintegrated over north central Texas.

NASA's Space Shuttle Program Manager, Ron Dittemore, reported that "The first indication was loss of temperature sensors and hydraulic systems on the left wing. They were followed seconds and minutes later by several other problems, including loss of tire pressure indications on the left main gear and then indications of excessive structural heating."

NASA declared an emergency and alerted search and rescue teams in the area.

The re-entry was being shown live on TV as Columbia flew over Dallas, Texas. Video footage showed initially two then multiple contrails and flaming debris falling from the sky. Later amateur video footage was broadcast showing the disaster from several different angles. It was clearly apparent that Columbia had suffered a catastrophic structural or mechanical failure.

At about 9:05 residents of north central Texas (first reports from Palestine, Texas) reported a loud boom, a small concussion wave and contrails and debris in the clear skies above the counties southeast of Dallas. More than 2,000 debris fields, as well as human remains, were found in sparsely populated areas southeast of Dallas from Nacogdoches in eastern Texas, where a lot of debris fell, to western Louisiana and the southwestern counties of Arkansas. Pieces of debris fell from the sky for many minutes and were reported in fields, on roads, and striking buildings, causing some damage and starting some small structure and grass fires. Some minor injuries were also reported as a result of people handling hot items of wreckage, with several dozen going to hospital, although no-one reported being hit by falling debris.

During lift-off, it had been observed that a piece of insulation foam falling from an external fuel tank had appeared to strike the shuttle's left wing. After reviewing the data at that time, it was concluded that the "event did not present a safety concern." Immediately after the disaster, it was suggested there might be a connection. NASA officials refused to speculate and cautioned against making snap judgements about the cause of the disaster, but conceded the incident might be connected. However, they moved swiftly to secure all mission data to ensure no evidence was lost in anticipation of a wide ranging "Mishap Investigation" inquiry. The shuttle program was suspended. NASA also issued warnings to the public that any debris could contain hazardous chemicals, that it should be left untouched, its location reported to local emergency services or government authorities and that anyone in unauthorised posession of debris would be prosecuted.

STS-107 was also delayed for 6 months (the original launch date was 19 July 2002) because of cracks in the propellant feed lines to the 3 main engines - a defect that could have caused catastrophic failure. There are suggestions of a connection between this and the disaster.

With the addition of the first Israeli astronaut to the crew, security surrounding the launch and landing of the space shuttle had been increased to avoid any potential terrorist attack. The Cape Canaveral launch facility, like all sensitive government areas, had increased security measures put in place in the wake of the September 11 attack.

Because of the high altitude of the shuttle when the incident occurred, it is thought highly unlikely that terrorist actions were involved. Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the United States Department of Homeland Security, stated that "There is no information at this time that this was a terrorist incident."

With the Shuttle program suspended, the long term future of the International Space Station is in jeopardy, as the space shuttles were the delivery vehicle for station modules. While the station will probably continue to be supplied in the meantime by the Russian manned Soyuz and unmanned Progress ships; it cannot be expanded without the shuttles.

Shuttle Crew of Flight STS-107

NASA flight STS-107

(These links had articles at them at the time they were published.)

  1. NASA Emergency Notice - 02/01/2003 - A warning for persons in the crash site area that debris may contain hazardous chemicals.
  2. NASA News Release - 1 PM EST February 1
  3. A Reuters Report on the Disaster
  4. A BBC Report
  5. A CNN Report
  6. A report from IRN
  7. A report, with comments, from Fatal News
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