Thoughts on the Columbia Accident

**ProfCrash** · February 1st, 2003, 06:27 PM

It seems to me appropriate to remember the brave people who are bringing us closer the the worlds we dream of one day discovering.

**ProfCrash** · February 1st, 2003, 06:29 PM

This is the info I pulled about the crew off the BBC website.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rick Husband, 45, a colonel in the U.S. Air Force, was a test pilot and veteran of one spaceflight.

He served as commander for the flight and was due to guide in and land the shuttle.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

William McCool, 41, a commander in the U.S. Navy, was a former test pilot prior to the mission.

He was selected by NASA in 1996 and served as pilot for what was his first shuttle mission.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Michael Anderson, 43, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force, was a former instructor pilot and tactical officer, and a veteran of one spaceflight.

Prior to the flight, Anderson had more than 211 hours experience in space.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

David Brown, 46, a captain in the U.S. Navy, was a naval aviator and flight surgeon.

Selected by NASA in 1996, he served as mission specialist 1 for what was his first shuttle flight.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kalpana Chawla, 41, was an aerospace engineer and an FAA Certified Flight Instructor.

She served as Flight Engineer and Mission Specialist 2 on the shuttle, and had nearly 400 hours of experience in space.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Laurel Clark, 41, a commander (captain-select) in the U.S. Navy and a naval flight surgeon, was Mission Specialist 4 on what was her first shuttle mission.

Ilan Ramon, 48, a colonel in the Israeli Air Force, was a fighter pilot, and the first Israeli to go to space.

He received a bachelor of science in electronics and computer engineering from the University of Tel Aviv, Israel, in 1987.

**Wizz** · February 1st, 2003, 08:47 PM

Indeed, another sad day.

207,000 feet up, they lost temperature sensors. Not that the sensors indicated anything, just that they were no longer reporting. Same with the temp sensors in the landing gear wheel-well. Nothing indicating to the crew anything was wrong, and the last reported conversation was that the sensors were offline.

On take-off, some insulation struck the wing, but no mention that I've heard of which wing it struck.

I hope they find the cause soon, and answer what happened satisfactorily. I hope we can continue to explore space after this.

May God welcome these seven travelers home.

**ProfCrash** · February 1st, 2003, 09:11 PM

It struck the left wing, which is the wing that lost sensor readings. The NASA news brief I just listened to said it was not unusual to lose some sensors but that that the sensors where normally all connected to one box. They knew something was wrong when they realized that the sensor readings they lost were from different boxes and not the same one. They also said that once te shuttle was launched there was nothng that could be done to repair any damage (if there was damage) to the wing after launch.

The briefing stated that the lose of foam isulation was not unusual and that 2 out of 3 launches this happens and the body of the shuttle is hit. They say it is unlikely that this caused problems because the insulation is so light. But they don't know for sure that was what caused the problem. It is a place to start but they don't seem to think that this was problematic.

**Wizz** · February 2nd, 2003, 12:32 AM

<font face="georgia">Found this a bit ago. Offers details of the mission up to the loss of the shuttle craft.

http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/...n-sts-107.html

**Wizz** · February 2nd, 2003, 12:54 AM

<font face ="georgia">Ya know, another thing that hit "home" was I didn't even know there was a shuttle mission...and I probably missed a lot of them. Then, to find that I don't recognize any of the names of these astronauts, yet what they do is similar to what Columbus, Sir Francis Drake, Lewis and Clark did...

Anyway, there are some mailing lists at this site you can subscribe to

http://science.nasa.gov/news/subscribe.asp

There are several lists and you can check them off and subscribe. The messages are short enough to ignore if you don't have time.

Just in case, like me, you'd like to know when other missions are sending folks out to explore again.

**AsIs** · February 2nd, 2003, 02:32 AM

*hangs head in silence for a moment*

Here is a site where you can learn a bit more about all the astronauts and missions. I'll post more sites later.

I once met a astronaut when I was on a contract at Boeing. His name is Mark N. Brown. He is retired now, but it was engaging listening to him talk about being on the shuttle.

There is something very exciting about space exploration, which usually overshadows the danger. It takes a hero to go up into space. It is a shame that it takes a tragedy for us to learn the heros names.

I want to take a moment to reflect belatedly on Challenger's anniversary. It was a few days ago.

Richard Scobee, Judith Resnick, Gregory Jarvis, Ronald McNair, Michael Smith, Ellison Onizuka and the one who broke a nation's heart, Christa McAuliffe.

My thoughts go out to the family's of both the Challenger accident and now sadly again, the Columbia.

Sometimes, words fail...

**Nommy** · February 2nd, 2003, 02:49 PM

I keep up on all of thelaunches, whether it be the shiuttle or any other launches on earth. I get daily updates from Space.com. You can get quite a bit of info there.

**JaceSan** · February 3rd, 2003, 02:31 AM

I find some solace in the fact that both shuttle crews died doing something they loved. I didn't know all their names before the accidents, and may not even remember their names in the future. I do know that their contributions to mankind make mine pale in comparison.