Space Shuttle Columbia
by Marci RanzerThe Space Shuttle Columbia was first launched in 1981. However, it wasn’t until 2003, on its 28th mission, that the Space Shuttle Columbia became infamous.
On February 1, 2003, the Columbia Space Shuttle was scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. However, the anticipated landing did not go as planned. The events of this day ended in tragedy. About 15 minutes before the Columbia Shuttle scheduled landing, the Shuttle disintegrated at nearly 40 miles above the Earth, at a speed of 12,500 miles per hour.
Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster
During re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere the Space Shuttle Columbia broke up into flames over Texas. The shuttle was scheduled to land at 9:16 A.M. on February 1, 2003 however, at 8:59 A.M. the last response from the mission commander was received in Mission Control. At 9:12 A.M. soon after the last response from the shuttle’s mission commander was heard, people were reported to have seen the shuttle start to break apart.
After the tragedy, scientists with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration began to investigate the cause of the Space Shuttle Columbia accident. The Space Shuttle Columbia investigation board went to work immediately. During the investigation they found a puncture on one of the shuttle’s wings. The investigators discovered that due to this hole, the support structure was destroyed and the hole caused exceedingly hot gasses to enter through the wing. This caused the entire shuttle to break apart during the powerful heat of re-entry into the Earth.
The 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia Crew
• There were seven crew members on the Columbia Space Shuttle, five men and two women.
• William C. McCool piloted the Space Shuttle Columbia. McCool was a United States Navy commander.
• Rick D. Husband was the Commander of the Space Shuttle Columbia. Husband was a mechanical engineer. He was also a United States Air Force colonel and was the pilot on a shuttle before becoming Commander of the Shuttle Columbia.
• Michael P. Anderson was the Payload Commander. Anderson was a physicist. He was also a United States Air Force lieutenant colonel.
• Ilan Ramon was the Payload Specialist. Ramon was from Israel and the first Israeli astronaut. He was a colonel in the Israeli Air Force.
• Kalpana Chawla was a Mission Specialist. Chawla was the first female astronaut born in India. She was an aerospace engineer.
• David M. Brown was a Mission Specialist. Brown was a United States Navy captain. He was skilled as an aviator and a flight surgeon.
• Laurel Clark was a Mission Specialist. Clark was a United States Navy captain as well as a flight surgeon.
• Not one of the seven crew members survived the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
Space Shuttle Columbia Facts
• The Space Shuttle Columbia was the oldest shuttle owned by NASA.
• Construction on the shuttle began in 1975 in California.
• The Columbia Shuttle is also referred to as the flagship of the shuttle fleet.
• Columbia was the first shuttle to go into orbit.
• The shuttle was first launched in 1981.
• John Young was the commander of Columbia on the shuttle’s first flight into space.
• The Space Shuttle had experienced engineering problems even before its 2003 launch.
• The shuttle was not only the oldest shuttle, it was also the heaviest.
• The shuttle flew on 28 missions and completed 4,808 orbits.
• In total (including the final flight) Columbia spent 300.74 days in space and flew 125,204,911 miles.
Following the terrible destruction, a massive ground search began in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas. Thousands of volunteers were involved in the ground search. During the search crew member remains and vehicle fragments from over 2,000 debris fields were recovered. The Space Shuttle Columbia accident caused some Americans to fear the idea of further space flight. Israel and India were also greatly affected by the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. Soon after the destruction of the Space Shuttle Columbia and the tragic loss of its crew, the space shuttle program was suspended. It wasn’t until July 26, 2005 that another NASA space shuttle returned into space.
