"We're still going to watch and we're still going to pay attention," STS-121 commander Steve Lindsey said at the time. After STS-121's safe conclusion, NASA deemed the program ready to move forward and shuttles resumed flying several times a year. NASA also had more camera views of the shuttle during liftoff to better monitor foam shedding.ĭue to more foam loss than expected, the next shuttle flight did not take place until July 2006. In July 2005, STS-114 lifted off and tested a suite of new procedures, including one where astronauts used cameras and a robotic arm to scan the shuttle's belly for broken tiles. The shuttle's external tank was redesigned, and other safety measures were implemented. Returning to flight and retiring the space shuttle program It is in the nation's interest to replace the shuttle as soon as possible," the report stated. "The shuttle is now an aging system but still developmental in character. It also called for more predictable funding and political support for the agency, and added that the shuttle must be replaced with a new transportation system. "Cultural traits and organizational practices detrimental to safety were allowed to develop," the board wrote, citing "reliance on past success as a substitute for sound engineering practices" and "organizational barriers that prevented effective communication of critical safety information" among the problems found.ĬAIB recommended NASA ruthlessly seek and eliminate safety problems, such as the foam, to ensure astronaut safety in future missions. See how the Columbia shuttle accident occurred in this infographic. 1, 2003, in a tragic disaster that killed the shuttle's seven-astronaut crew. NASA's space shuttle Columbia was destroyed during re-entry on Feb. "This is indeed a tragic day for the NASA family, for the families of the astronauts who flew on STS-107, and likewise is tragic for the nation," stated NASA's administrator at the time, Sean O'Keefe. Later that day, NASA declared the astronauts lost. Shortly afterward, NASA declared a space shuttle 'contingency' and sent search and rescue teams to the suspected debris sites in Texas and later, Louisiana. The caller said a television network was showing a video of the shuttle breaking up in the sky. Twelve minutes later, when Columbia should have been making its final approach to the runway, a mission controller received a phone call. Mission Control made several attempts to get in touch with the astronauts, with no success. At 8:59:32 a.m., Husband called back from Columbia: "Roger," followed by a word that was cut off in mid-sentence.Īt that point, Columbia was near Dallas, traveling 18 times the speed of sound and still 200,700 feet (61,170 meters) above the ground. The Capcom, or spacecraft communicator, called up to Columbia to discuss the tire pressure readings. This image was received by NASA as part of the Columbia accident investigation. The image was taken at approximately 7:57 a.m. 1, 2003, as it passed by the Starfire Optical Range, Directed Energy Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. Experts believe the crew died instantly.This image is a view of the underside of Columbia during its entry from mission STS-107 on Feb. Joseph Kerwin, a biomedical specialist at the Johnson Space Center, who carried out the Challenger investigation said: “The forces to which the crew were exposed during orbiter break-up were probably not sufficient to cause death or serious injury.”īy contrast, Columbia was travelling at over 20,000 km/h at an altitude of 63,000 metres when it broke up. Some evidence emerged that at least some of the crew remained conscious for several seconds after the explosion that tore the shuttle apart.Ĭhallenger exploded at an altitude of 14,640 metres, only 73 seconds after lift off. After the 1986 Challenger explosion, which also resulted in the death of seven astronauts, the cause of death was never positively established. The cause of death will be more difficult to establish. The center also handled the remains of victims killed in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001.įorensic experts are confident the remains of the astronauts can be formally identified using standard techniques such as matching dental records, fingerprints and DNA. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, which handled the bodies of the Challenger crew after it exploded in 1986. The remains may in due course be sent to the Charles C. NASA had initially stated that remains from all seven astronauts had been recovered, but later issued a retraction.
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