 The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster refers to the complete destruction of the
Space Shuttle Columbia, which disintegrated over Texas on February 1, 2003
during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere on its 28th mission, STS-107. All
seven members of the crew were killed.
The loss of the Columbia was caused by damage sustained during launch when
most of the left bipod foam ramp broke off of, or was shed from, the main
propellant tank under the aerodynamic forces of launch and struck the
orbiter's left wing's leading edge. During this debris strike, one or more
thermal protection system (TPS), more specifically the Reinforced
Carbon-Carbon (RCC) panels on that wing were damaged. While the shuttle was
still in orbit, some engineers suspected damage to the thermal protection, but
NASA managers limited the investigation, feeling that nothing could be done
even if damage was found.
The damage to the TPS panel(s) allowed the hot gases of reentry to penetrate
and destroy the internal wing structure and, fairly quickly, the entire
vehicle. A massive ground search in parts of Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas
recovered crew remains and many vehicle fragments from over 2,000 debris
fields.
Memorials
On February 4, 2003, President George Bush and his wife Laura led a memorial
service for the astronauts' families at the Lyndon B Johnson Space Center. Two
days later, Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne led official
Washington in paying tribute at a similar service at Washington National
Cathedral. During that service, singer Patti LaBelle sang Way up There.
On March 26 the United States House of Representatives' Science Committee
approved funds for the construction of a memorial at Arlington National
Cemetery for the STS-107 crew. A similar memorial was built at the cemetery
for the last crew of Space Shuttle Challenger.
On August 6, 2003, NASA announced that the IAU had approved naming seven
asteroids discovered in July 2001 at the Mount Palomar observatory in honor of
the seven astronauts: 51823 Rickhusband, 51824 Mikeanderson, 51825 Davidbrown,
51826 Kalpanachawla, 51827 Laurelclark, 51828 Ilanramon, 51829 Williemccool.
A mountain peak near Kit Carson Peak and Challenger Point in the Sangre de
Cristo Range was renamed Columbia Point. A dedication plaque was placed on the
point in August 2003.
On October 28, 2003, the names of the astronauts were added to the Astronaut
Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
On October 29, 2003, at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne,
Florida, just down the road from the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, the
Crane Creek Apartments, a complex of seven buildings, which were under
construction were renamed Columbia Village. Each crew member is honored with a
building named after them.
Also during 2003, the city of Amarillo, Texas renamed its airport Rick Husband
Amarillo International Airport, after its native son and commander of STS-107.
On January 6, 2004, NASA announced that the landing site of the Mars rover
Spirit would henceforth be known as Columbia Memorial Station. On February 2,
it was also announced that NASA was naming a complex of hills east of the
landers The Columbia Hills, after the crew of Columbia. The Spirit lander
includes a memorial plaque to the Columbia crew mounted on the back of its
high gain antenna.
On January 10, 2004, Columbia Elementary school in the Brevard County School
District, planted seven oak trees, with plaques for each crewmember, and
dedicated eight new classrooms to the crew.
On June 13, 2004, Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska dedicated the plaza
east of the newly-constructed Hixson-Lied Science Building in Anderson's
memory.
On August 25, 2005, NASA announced the renaming of the National Scientific
Balloon Facility. It will be known as the Columbia Scientific Balloon
Facility.
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Photo of STS-107 crew in orbit. Picture was recovered from a roll of
film found in the STS-107 crash debris.
From the left (bottom row), wearing red shirts to signify their shift’s
color, are astronauts Kalpana Chawla, mission specialist; Rick D Husband,
mission commander; Laurel B Clark, mission specialist; and Ilan Ramon,
payload specialist. From the left (top row), wearing blue shirts, are
astronauts David M Brown, mission specialist; William C McCool, pilot; and
Michael P Anderson, payload commander. Ramon represents the Israeli Space
Agency. |
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