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N0KFQ > TODAY 01.02.12 20:40l 66 Lines 2975 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 17145_KB0WSA
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Subj: Today in History - Feb 1
Path: IZ3LSV<IW0QNL<JH4XSY<JE7YGF<F6CDD<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 120201/1820Z 17145@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.48
Feb 1, 2003:
Columbia mission ends in disaster
On this day in 2003, the space shuttle Columbia breaks up while
entering the atmosphere over Texas, killing all seven crew
members on board.
The Columbia's 28th space mission, designated STS-107, was
originally scheduled to launch on January 11, 2001, but was
delayed numerous times for a variety of reasons over nearly two
years. Columbia finally launched on January 16, 2003, with a crew
of seven. Eighty seconds into the launch, a piece of foam
insulation broke off from the shuttle's propellant tank and hit
the edge of the shuttle's left wing.
Cameras focused on the launch sequence revealed the foam
collision but engineers could not pinpoint the location and
extent of the damage. Although similar incidents had occurred on
three prior shuttle launches without causing critical damage,
some engineers at the space agency believed that the damage to
the wing could cause a catastrophic failure. Their concerns were
not addressed in the two weeks that Columbia spent in orbit
because NASA management believed that even if major damage had
been caused, there was little that could be done to remedy the
situation.
Columbia reentered the earth's atmosphere on the morning of
February 1. It wasn't until 10 minutes later, at 8:53 a.m.--as
the shuttle was 231,000 feet above the California coastline
traveling at 23 times the speed of sound--that the first
indications of trouble began. Because the heat-resistant tiles
covering the left wing's leading edge had been damaged or were
missing, wind and heat entered the wing and blew it apart.
The first debris began falling to the ground in west Texas near
Lubbock at 8:58 a.m. One minute later, the last communication
from the crew was heard, and at 9 a.m. the shuttle disintegrated
over southeast Texas, near Dallas. Residents in the area heard a
loud boom and saw streaks of smoke in the sky. Debris and the
remains of the crew were found in more than 2,000 locations
across East Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. Making the tragedy
even worse, two pilots aboard a search helicopter were killed in
a crash while looking for debris. Strangely, worms that the crew
had used in a study that were stored in a canister aboard the
Columbia did survive.
In August 2003, an investigation board issued a report that
revealed that it in fact would have been possible either for the
Columbia crew to repair the damage to the wing or for the crew to
be rescued from the shuttle. The Columbia could have stayed in
orbit until February 15 and the already planned launch of the
shuttle Atlantis could have been moved up as early as February
10, leaving a short window for repairing the wing or getting the
crew off of the Columbia.
In the aftermath of the Columbia disaster, the space shuttle
program was grounded until July 16, 2005, when the space shuttle
Discovery was put into orbit.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: n0kfq@winlink.org
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