#thedisaster

Columbia Space Shuttlle Infographic

Retrieved from:

Space Shuttle Disaster Infographic

Retrieved from:

Clark: O M G!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Clark: DUDE OMG

Clark: It broke up!

Clark: The shuttle broke up!

Ray: He's in Texas

Harwood: What!!!

Harwood: Are you serious?

Ray: Yes

Ray: North of Houston

source:

After a trip that rounded the earth for 16 days, the crew on the Columbia Space Shuttle were just minutes away from landing, when tragedy struck.

It was February 1st, 2003, and the Columbia was on its 225 trip around the earth, conducting research for NASA. NASA officials were aware that a foam part of the shuttle had broken off in takeoff, 16 days prior, and it had struck one of the wings on the spacecraft, had disregarded efforts to check the functionality of the wing. Coming in prepared for a normal landing at the Kennedy Space Center just before 9am, the readings of tire pressure temperature on the left side started to vanish. It was the side of the wing that was hit.

Shortly after, the communication to the shuttle was lost. Later on it was declared that there was indeed a hole in the left wing, which caused atmospheric gases to leak into the craft. This surge of gases would cause the destruction of the shuttle on its way towards earth, almost immediately knocking the crew unconscious from the pressure and killing them as the shuttle broke apart.  The crew of seven, Rick Husband, Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, William McCool, Ilan Ramon, who conducted daily experiments on board during the trip, all deceased in the destruction, leaving behind grieving families and a distraught America.

Over 84,000 pieces of debris from the shuttle were found, making up about 40 percent of the shuttle. NASA and the Columbia Accident Investigation Board began to complete an intense investigation of the events leading to the disaster, learning that many safety issues were present and needed to be fixed if they ever wanted to send a space shuttle up again. NASA retired current missions and space shuttles while working to create safer spacecraft makeup and procedures.

After two years of grounded shuttles, NASA was ready to test new safety measures in 2005 and 2006, after which they finally decided to resume the program, sending up multiple shuttles a year, reportedly much safer than before. The country and NASA are most definitely left with a permanent shock from the event, which abruptly put dreams and ambitions of space into harsh, deadly reality.

Sources:

Barbree, J. (2013, February 1). How the Columbia tragedy unfolded - and led to NASA's tough transition. Retrieved April 15, 2015, from http://science.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/01/16805696-how-the-columbia-tragedy-unfolded-and-led-to-nasas-tough-transition?lite

Howell, E. (2013, February 1). Columbia Disaster: What Happened, What NASA Learned | Space.com. Retrieved April 15, 2015, from http://www.space.com/19436-columbia-disaster.html