229-666: STS-118 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by the orbiter Endeavour . STS-118 lifted off on August 8, 2007, from launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida and landed at the Shuttle Landing Facility at KSC on August 21, 2007. This was the first flight of Endeavour since STS-113 in November 2002, which was also the last successful shuttle flight before STS-107 which culminated in
458-405: A U.S. Navy commander who was on his first spaceflight. The payload commander was Michael Anderson , a U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel who had previously flown on STS-89 . Kalpana Chawla served as the flight engineer; she had previously flown on STS-87 . David Brown and Laurel Clark , both Navy captains , flew as the mission specialists on their first spaceflights. Ilan Ramon ,
687-425: A ballistic trajectory , which was significantly steeper and had more drag than the previous gliding trajectory. The orbiter, while still traveling faster than Mach 15, entered into a flat spin of 30° to 40° per second. The acceleration that the crew was experiencing increased from approximately 0.8 g to 3 g, which would have likely caused dizziness and disorientation, but not incapacitation. The autopilot
916-518: A thermal soaking protective layer around the orbiter. In contrast with previous US spacecraft, which had used ablative heat shields, the reusability of the orbiter required a multi-use heat shield. During reentry, the TPS experienced temperatures up to 1,600 °C (3,000 °F), but had to keep the orbiter vehicle's aluminum skin temperature below 180 °C (350 °F). The TPS primarily consisted of four sub-systems. The nose cone and leading edges of
1145-499: A "team four" had been assembled, along with the operations and engineering teams, to assist in data analysis. The teams will look at options for repair if required, and make recommendations to the Mission Management Team after the analysis of tests and data. Shannon stated he had no doubt that if a repair was required, the crew could execute it without significant impact to the mission timeline. He reiterated that this
1374-603: A 4-by-5-by-12-inch (10 by 13 by 30 cm) chunk of bipod ramp foam broke away from the ET bipod ramp and hit the SRB-ET attachment ring near the bottom of the left SRB, creating a dent 4 inches (10 cm) wide and 3 inches (8 cm) deep. Following the mission, the Program Requirements Control Board declined to categorize the bipod ramp foam loss as an in-flight anomaly. The foam loss was briefed at
1603-492: A NASA engineer who had worked to design the Mercury capsule, patented a design for a two-stage fully recoverable system with a straight-winged orbiter mounted on a larger straight-winged booster. The Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory argued that a straight-wing design would not be able to withstand the high thermal and aerodynamic stresses during reentry, and would not provide the required cross-range capability. Additionally,
1832-444: A catastrophic breakup, and all on-board data recording soon ceased. Ground observers noted a sudden increase in debris being shed, and all on-board systems lost power. By 9:00:25, the orbiter's fore and aft sections had separated from one another. The sudden jerk caused the crew compartment to collide with the interior wall of the fuselage, resulting in the start of depressurization of the crew compartment by 9:00:35. The pieces of
2061-571: A colonel in the Israeli Air Force and the first Israeli astronaut , flew as a payload specialist on his first spaceflight. Columbia was launched from the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at 10:39:00 am. At T+81.7 seconds, a piece of foam approximately 21 to 27 inches (53 to 69 cm) long and 12 to 18 inches (30 to 46 cm) wide broke off from the left bipod on
2290-497: A crewed spaceflight engineer on both STS-51-C and STS-51-J to serve as a military representative for a National Reconnaissance Office payload. A Space Shuttle crew typically had seven astronauts, with STS-61-A flying with eight. The crew compartment comprised three decks and was the pressurized, habitable area on all Space Shuttle missions. The flight deck consisted of two seats for the commander and pilot, as well as an additional two to four seats for crew members. The mid-deck
2519-467: A future reusable shuttle: Class I would have a reusable orbiter mounted on expendable boosters, Class II would use multiple expendable rocket engines and a single propellant tank (stage-and-a-half), and Class III would have both a reusable orbiter and a reusable booster. In September 1969, the Space Task Group, under the leadership of U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew , issued a report calling for
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#17327724789372748-598: A glider. Its three-part fuselage provided support for the crew compartment, cargo bay, flight surfaces, and engines. The rear of the orbiter contained the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME), which provided thrust during launch, as well as the Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS), which allowed the orbiter to achieve, alter, and exit its orbit once in space. Its double- delta wings were 18 m (60 ft) long, and were swept 81° at
2977-601: A loss of pressure in the tires of the left landing gear. The pilot and commander then received indications that the status of the left landing gear was unknown, as different sensors reported the gear was down and locked or in the stowed position. The drag of the left wing continued to yaw the orbiter to the left until it could no longer be corrected using aileron trim. The orbiter's Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters began firing continuously to correct its orientation. The loss of signal (LOS) from Columbia occurred at 8:59:32. Mission control stopped receiving information from
3206-482: A mobile platform for astronauts conducting an EVA. The RMS was built by the Canadian company Spar Aerospace and was controlled by an astronaut inside the orbiter's flight deck using their windows and closed-circuit television. The RMS allowed for six degrees of freedom and had six joints located at three points along the arm. The original RMS could deploy or retrieve payloads up to 29,000 kg (65,000 lb), which
3435-454: A new S-Band Baseband Signal Processor and Transponder on the P1 truss. During a routine glove inspection, Mastracchio noticed a possible tear on the thumb of his left glove. To be safe, NASA managers decided to end the spacewalk at 20:05, and examination and photography of the glove was performed during suit removal. The spacewalk accomplished all but one of the tasks (MISSE retrieval). On the station,
3664-436: A pair of recoverable solid rocket boosters (SRBs), and the expendable external tank (ET) containing liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen . The Space Shuttle was launched vertically , like a conventional rocket, with the two SRBs operating in parallel with the orbiter's three main engines , which were fueled from the ET. The SRBs were jettisoned before the vehicle reached orbit, while the main engines continued to operate, and
3893-534: A partial-pressure version of the high-altitude pressure suits with a helmet. In 1994, the LES was replaced by the full-pressure Advanced Crew Escape Suit (ACES), which improved the safety of the astronauts in an emergency situation. Columbia originally had modified SR-71 zero-zero ejection seats installed for the ALT and first four missions, but these were disabled after STS-4 and removed after STS-9 . The flight deck
4122-530: A partially reusable system would be the most cost-effective solution. The head of the NASA Office of Manned Space Flight, George Mueller , announced the plan for a reusable shuttle on August 10, 1968. NASA issued a request for proposal (RFP) for designs of the Integral Launch and Reentry Vehicle (ILRV) on October 30, 1968. Rather than award a contract based upon initial proposals, NASA announced
4351-558: A phased approach for the Space Shuttle contracting and development; Phase A was a request for studies completed by competing aerospace companies, Phase B was a competition between two contractors for a specific contract, Phase C involved designing the details of the spacecraft components, and Phase D was the production of the spacecraft. In December 1968, NASA created the Space Shuttle Task Group to determine
4580-590: A planned increase in the yearly flight rate for assembly of the International Space Station. Despite a history of foam strike events, NASA management did not consider the potential risk to the astronauts as a safety-of-flight issue. The CAIB found that a lack of a safety program led to the lack of concern over foam strikes. The board determined that NASA lacked the appropriate communication and integration channels to allow problems to be discussed and effectively routed and addressed. This risk
4809-582: A planned orbiter re-fit and maintenance period that resulted in over 200 modifications to the orbiter. One of the most important modifications that debuted during STS-118 is an upgraded power-distribution module, the Station-Shuttle Power Transfer System (SSPTS). SSPTS allows Endeavour to tap into the ISS power supply, converting up to eight kilowatts of electrical power from 120-volts direct-current (120VDC) ISS main voltage to
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#17327724789375038-425: A point named entry interface. The damage to the TPS on the orbiter's left wing allowed for hot air to enter and begin melting the aluminum structure. Four and a half minutes after entry interface, a sensor began recording greater-than-normal amounts of strain on the left wing; the sensor's data was recorded to internal storage and not transmitted to the crew or ground controllers. The orbiter began to turn ( yaw ) to
5267-481: A port-side hatch that the crew used for entry and exit while on Earth. The airlock is a structure installed to allow movement between two spaces with different gas components, conditions, or pressures. Continuing on the mid-deck structure, each orbiter was originally installed with an internal airlock in the mid-deck. The internal airlock was installed as an external airlock in the payload bay on Discovery , Atlantis , and Endeavour to improve docking with Mir and
5496-623: A pressurized aluminum habitat that is carried inside the payload bay, has a capacity of 6,000 pounds (2,700 kg), and carried a variety of cargo and research projects, including supply materials for the ISS. It returned cargo, including the MISSE PEC 3 & 4, a Department of Defense payload that had been installed on the ISS. Launched in July 2006, the MISSE PEC-3 and 4 contained over 850 materials specimens that will be studied to determine
5725-658: A repair was necessary. Mission Specialists Barbara Morgan and Alvin Drew participated in an education event in the morning with students at the Challenger Center for Space Science Education in Alexandria , Virginia . The event was hosted by Dr. June Scobee Rodgers, wife of Challenger' s commander, Dick Scobee , and Founding Chairman of the Challenger Center. Morgan and Drew also spoke to reporters from
5954-526: A rescue vehicle. Some pre-launch tests would have been eliminated to allow it to launch on time. Atlantis would have launched with additional equipment for EVAs , and launched with a minimum required crew. It would have rendezvoused with Columbia , and the STS-107 crew would have conducted EVAs to transfer to Atlantis . Columbia would have been remotely deorbited; as Mission Control would have been unable to remotely land it, it would have been disposed of in
6183-675: A result of an O-ring failing at low temperature, the SRBs were redesigned to provide a constant seal regardless of the ambient temperature. The Space Shuttle's operations were supported by vehicles and infrastructure that facilitated its transportation, construction, and crew access. The crawler-transporters carried the MLP and the Space Shuttle from the VAB to the launch site. The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) were two modified Boeing 747s that could carry an orbiter on its back. The original SCA (N905NA)
6412-671: A second orbiter. Later that month, Rockwell began converting STA-099 to OV-099, later named Challenger . On January 29, 1979, NASA ordered two additional orbiters, OV-103 and OV-104, which were named Discovery and Atlantis . Construction of OV-105, later named Endeavour , began in February 1982, but NASA decided to limit the Space Shuttle fleet to four orbiters in 1983. After the loss of Challenger , NASA resumed production of Endeavour in September 1987. After it arrived at Edwards AFB, Enterprise underwent flight testing with
6641-670: A separate central processing unit (CPU) and input/output processor (IOP), and non-volatile solid-state memory . From 1991 to 1993, the orbiter vehicles were upgraded to the AP-101S, which improved the memory and processing capabilities, and reduced the volume and weight of the computers by combining the CPU and IOP into a single unit. Four of the GPCs were loaded with the Primary Avionics Software System (PASS), which
6870-410: A speech. After STS-4, NASA declared its Space Transportation System (STS) operational. The Space Shuttle was the first operational orbital spacecraft designed for reuse . Each Space Shuttle orbiter was designed for a projected lifespan of 100 launches or ten years of operational life, although this was later extended. At launch, it consisted of the orbiter , which contained the crew and payload,
7099-620: A standard mission specialist, who had once been a teacher. Prior to the Columbia disaster, the crew manifest for STS-118 was: The STS-118 mission delivered and assembled the starboard S5 truss segment of the International Space Station, as well as External Stowage Platform 3 , (ESP-3) and a replacement Control Moment Gyroscope (CMG). The mission was also the final flight to include the Spacehab Logistics Single Module. The Spacehab Logistics Single Module,
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7328-600: A system of reusable spacecraft where it was the only item funded for development. The first ( STS-1 ) of four orbital test flights occurred in 1981, leading to operational flights ( STS-5 ) beginning in 1982. Five complete Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles were built and flown on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. They launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida . Operational missions launched numerous satellites , interplanetary probes , and
7557-443: A tag indicating the coordinates where it was found. Staff attached photographs and catalogued each piece of debris. Recovered debris from inside the orbiter was placed in a separate area, as it was not considered to be a contributor to the accident. NASA conducted a fault tree analysis to determine the probable causes of the accident, and focused its investigations on the parts of the orbiter most likely to have been responsible for
7786-893: A tile; the exposed orbiter skin was a reinforced section, and a burn-through might have occurred had the damage been in a different location. After the mission, the NASA Program Requirements Control Board designated the issue as an in-flight anomaly that was corrected with the planned improvement for the SRB ablator. For STS-107, Columbia carried the SpaceHab Research Double Module, the Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment, and an Extended Duration Orbiter pallet. The mission passed its pre-launch certifications and reviews, and began with
8015-466: A total of 14 astronauts killed. A fifth operational (and sixth in total) orbiter, Endeavour , was built in 1991 to replace Challenger . The three surviving operational vehicles were retired from service following Atlantis ' s final flight on July 21, 2011. The U.S. relied on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to transport astronauts to the ISS from the last Shuttle flight until the launch of
8244-428: A two-part drag parachute system to slow the orbiter after landing. The orbiter used retractable landing gear with a nose landing gear and two main landing gear, each containing two tires. The main landing gear contained two brake assemblies each, and the nose landing gear contained an electro-hydraulic steering mechanism. The Space Shuttle crew varied per mission. They underwent rigorous testing and training to meet
8473-439: Is a fully trained astronaut who performs all the same duties that a regular astronaut does. Morgan became the first mission specialist educator in space on STS-118, and will share what she learned from the experience with students during and after her flight. Whether you're teaching school, or whether you're training as an astronaut, you put all you can into it, and get the most out of it. The mission marked: Endeavour (OV-105)
8702-508: Is absolutely no concern for entry. The crew were also sent a fifteen-second video of the debris strike in preparation for a press conference, but were reassured that there were no safety concerns. On January 26, the Debris Assessment Team concluded that there were no safety concerns from the debris strike. The team's report was critical of the Mission Management Team for asserting that there were no safety concerns before
8931-452: Is cooled by 1,080 interior lines carrying liquid hydrogen and is thermally protected by insulative and ablative material. The RS-25 engines had several improvements to enhance reliability and power. During the development program, Rocketdyne determined that the engine was capable of safe reliable operation at 104% of the originally specified thrust. To keep the engine thrust values consistent with previous documentation and software, NASA kept
9160-486: Is less critical than the leading-edge reinforced carbon-carbon tiles that were damaged in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster , but did cause concern for the Mission Management Team. A focused inspection was scheduled for August 12, 2007, to determine whether a patch attempt would be undertaken by the astronauts during an EVA . NASA once reported that pieces of foam are bound to, and have fallen off of
9389-522: Is lost; there are no survivors." After the orbiter broke up, reports came in to eastern Texas law enforcement agencies of an explosion and falling debris. Astronauts Mark Kelly and Gregory Johnson traveled on a US Coast Guard helicopter from Houston to Nacogdoches , and Jim Wetherbee drove a team of astronauts to Lufkin to assist with recovery efforts. Debris was reported from east Texas through southern Louisiana. Recovery crews and local volunteers worked to locate and identify debris. On
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9618-513: The Columbia disaster . Beginning with STS-114 , the orbiter vehicles were equipped with the wing leading edge impact detection system to alert the crew to any potential damage. The entire underside of the orbiter vehicle, as well as the other hottest surfaces, were protected with tiles of high-temperature reusable surface insulation, made of borosilicate glass -coated silica fibers that trapped heat in air pockets and redirected it out. Areas on
9847-537: The Angelina National Forest . The crash killed the pilot, Jules F. Mier Jr., and a Texas Forest Service aviation specialist, Charles Krenek, and injured three other crew members. A group of Caenorhabditis elegans worms, enclosed in aluminum canisters, survived reentry and impact with the ground and were recovered weeks after the disaster. The culture, which was part of an experiment to research their growth while consuming synthetic nutrients,
10076-780: The Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission in May 2020. In the late 1930s, the German government launched the " Amerikabomber " project, and Eugen Sanger 's idea, together with mathematician Irene Bredt , was a winged rocket called the Silbervogel (German for "silver bird"). During the 1950s, the United States Air Force proposed using a reusable piloted glider to perform military operations such as reconnaissance, satellite attack, and air-to-ground weapons employment. In
10305-605: The Hubble Space Telescope (HST), conducted science experiments in orbit, participated in the Shuttle- Mir program with Russia, and participated in the construction and servicing of the International Space Station (ISS). The Space Shuttle fleet's total mission time was 1,323 days. Space Shuttle components include the Orbiter Vehicle (OV) with three clustered Rocketdyne RS-25 main engines,
10534-571: The ISS , along with the Orbiter Docking System . The airlock module can be fitted in the mid-bay, or connected to it but in the payload bay. With an internal cylindrical volume of 1.60 metres (5 feet 3 inches) diameter and 2.11 metres (6 feet 11 inches) in length, it can hold two suited astronauts. It has two D-shaped hatchways 1.02 m (40 in) long (diameter), and 0.91 m (36 in) wide. The orbiter
10763-610: The Martin Marietta X-24B . The program tested aerodynamic characteristics that would later be incorporated in design of the Space Shuttle, including unpowered landing from a high altitude and speed. On September 24, 1966, as the Apollo space program neared its design completion, NASA and the Air Force released a joint study concluding that a new vehicle was required to satisfy their respective future demands and that
10992-561: The Remote Manipulator System , and performed a variety of other payload activation procedures, before entering their scheduled sleep shift at 04:36 UTC (12:36 am EDT) August 9, 2007. The shuttle crew spent most of the day inspecting the outer hull and the heat shield . During the mission status briefing, Deputy Shuttle Program Manager (and Mission Management Team chairman) John Shannon reported that during launch, approximately nine pieces of foam were observed breaking off
11221-556: The STS-113 Flight Readiness Brief, but the Program Requirements Control Board decided that the ET was safe to fly. A debris strike from the ablative material on the right SRB caused significant damage to Atlantis during the STS-27 launch on December 2, 1988. On the second day of the flight the crew inspected the damage using a camera on the remote manipulator system . The debris strike had removed
11450-684: The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft , a Boeing 747 that had been modified to carry the orbiter. In February 1977, Enterprise began the Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) and underwent captive flights, where it remained attached to the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft for the duration of the flight. On August 12, 1977, Enterprise conducted its first glide test, where it detached from the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft and landed at Edwards AFB. After four additional flights, Enterprise
11679-777: The Shuttle Landing Facility at KSC, Florida, or to Rogers Dry Lake in Edwards Air Force Base , California. If the landing occurred at Edwards, the orbiter was flown back to the KSC atop the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), a specially modified Boeing 747 designed to carry the shuttle above it. The first orbiter, Enterprise , was built in 1976 and used in Approach and Landing Tests (ALT), but had no orbital capability. Four fully operational orbiters were initially built: Columbia , Challenger , Discovery , and Atlantis . Of these, two were lost in mission accidents: Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003 , with
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#173277247893711908-517: The SpaceHab module inside the shuttle's payload bay. During launch, a piece of the insulating foam broke off from the Space Shuttle external tank and struck the thermal protection system tiles on the orbiter 's left wing. Similar foam shedding had occurred during previous Space Shuttle launches, causing damage that ranged from minor to near-catastrophic, but some engineers suspected that
12137-633: The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System and the Spacecraft Tracking and Data Acquisition Network ground stations to communicate with the orbiter throughout its orbit. Additionally, the orbiter deployed a high-bandwidth K u band radio out of the cargo bay, which could also be utilized as a rendezvous radar. The orbiter was also equipped with two UHF radios for communications with air traffic control and astronauts conducting EVA. The Space Shuttle's fly-by-wire control system
12366-567: The Z1 truss , where they removed the failed CMG. After installing the new CMG, they placed the failed CMG on an external stowage platform, where it will remain until it is returned to Earth with mission STS-122 . After initial testing on the ground, NASA reported the new CMG was functioning normally. During the EVA, Mastracchio reported an EVA suit alarm, indicating high levels of CO 2 , but after reviewing all indicators and sensors, NASA confirmed it
12595-563: The Zarya module of the station had orbited the Earth 50,000 times. John Shannon reported that the orbiter systems were in excellent shape, and had no issues. With regards to the remaining area of tile damage on the underside of the orbiter, Shannon reported that initial thermal analysis had been completed. Computational fluid dynamics testing at Ames Research Center had been done, and the preliminary results were "cautiously optimistic". Testing at
12824-411: The crew and payload, the external tank (ET), and the two solid rocket boosters (SRBs). The orbiter was a reusable, winged vehicle that launched vertically and landed as a glider. Five operational orbiters were built during the Space Shuttle program . Columbia was the first space-rated orbiter constructed, following the atmospheric test vehicle Enterprise . The orbiter contained
13053-540: The external tank (ET), and the two solid rocket boosters (SRBs). Responsibility for the Space Shuttle components was spread among multiple NASA field centers. The KSC was responsible for launch, landing, and turnaround operations for equatorial orbits (the only orbit profile actually used in the program). The U.S. Air Force at the Vandenberg Air Force Base was responsible for launch, landing, and turnaround operations for polar orbits (though this
13282-508: The external tank during the eight and a-half-minute ride to orbit . An unprecedented 300 pieces of foam once struck the underside of an orbiter during launch. The crew activated the Station-to-Shuttle Power Transfer System (SSPTS) after docking. The SSPTS transfers electrical power from the station to the shuttle, allowing the shuttle to conserve its own power generating resources. An extension of
13511-484: The qualification requirements for their roles. The crew was divided into three categories: Pilots, Mission Specialists, and Payload Specialists. Pilots were further divided into two roles: Space Shuttle Commanders and Space Shuttle Pilots. The test flights only had two members each, the commander and pilot, who were both qualified pilots that could fly and land the orbiter. The on-orbit operations, such as experiments, payload deployment, and EVAs, were conducted primarily by
13740-543: The terminal countdown demonstration test on July 19, 2007, and the Flight Readiness Review meetings were held on July 25–26, 2007, after which NASA managers declared STS-118 a "GO" for launch. The launch was delayed one day to repair a valve in the shuttle's crew cabin pressurization system. Commander Kelly and the crew arrived at Kennedy Space Center on August 3, 2007, for final launch preparations. The countdown clock began at 20:00 EDT August 5, 2007, for
13969-448: The 2195 aluminum-lithium alloy, which was 40% stronger and 10% less dense than its predecessor, 2219 aluminum-lithium alloy. The SLWT weighed 3,400 kg (7,500 lb) less than the LWT, which allowed the Space Shuttle to deliver heavy elements to ISS's high inclination orbit. The Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB) provided 71.4% of the Space Shuttle's thrust during liftoff and ascent, and were
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#173277247893714198-505: The 28VDC system used by the orbiter. SSPTS was outfitted to the ISS Pressurized Mating Adapter -2 (PMA2) during STS-116 . These upgrades will allow orbiters to remain docked at the station for an additional three to four mission days by saving cryogenic liquid hydrogen and oxygen needed to run the fuel cells which generate electricity aboard the orbiter; oxygen and hydrogen tank capacity is a major factor limiting
14427-452: The Air Force required a larger payload capacity than Faget's design allowed. In January 1971, NASA and Air Force leadership decided that a reusable delta-wing orbiter mounted on an expendable propellant tank would be the optimal design for the Space Shuttle. After they established the need for a reusable, heavy-lift spacecraft, NASA and the Air Force determined the design requirements of their respective services. The Air Force expected to use
14656-515: The Associated Press, Reuters and Idaho Public Television. Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program . Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS), taken from the 1969 plan led by U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew for
14885-465: The CAIB considered damage to the left wing as a likely culprit for Columbia ' s destruction. It investigated that recovered debris and noted the difference in heat damage between the two wings. RCC panels from the left wing were found in the western portion of the debris field, indicating that it was shed first before the rest of the orbiter disintegrated. X-ray and chemical analysis was conducted on
15114-421: The Debris Assessment Team about the potential risk of a debris strike. The loss of bipod foam on STS-107 was compared to previous foam strike events, none of which caused the loss of an orbiter or crew. Ham, scheduled to work as an integration manager for STS-114 , was concerned with the potential delays from a foam loss event. Mission management also downplayed the risk of the debris strike in communications with
15343-526: The Debris Assessment Team's investigation had been completed. On January 29, William Readdy, the Associate Administrator for Space Flight, agreed to DoD imaging of the orbiter, but on the condition that it would not interfere with flight operations; ultimately, the orbiter was not imaged by the DoD during the flight. At a Mission Management Team on January 31, the day before Columbia reentered
15572-425: The ET near the top to the front underside of the orbiter via two struts with a ramp at the tank end of each strut; the ramps were covered in foam to prevent ice from forming that could damage the orbiter. The foam on each bipod ramp was approximately 30 by 14 by 12 inches (76 by 36 by 30 cm), and was carved by hand from the original foam application. Bipod ramp foam from the left strut had been observed falling off
15801-426: The ET on six flights prior to STS-107 , and had created some of the largest foam strikes that the orbiter experienced. The first bipod ramp foam strike occurred during STS-7 ; the orbiter's TPS was repaired after the mission but no changes were made to address the cause of the bipod foam loss. After bipod foam loss on STS-32 , NASA engineers, under the assumption that the foam loss was due to pressure buildup within
16030-461: The ET separated from the orbiter and reentered the atmosphere, where it would break apart during reentry and its pieces would land in the Indian or Pacific Ocean . During the design process of the Space Shuttle, a requirement of the ET was that it would not release any debris that could potentially damage the orbiter and its TPS. The integrity of the TPS components was necessary for the survival of
16259-404: The ET was jettisoned after main engine cutoff and just before orbit insertion , which used the orbiter's two Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engines. At the conclusion of the mission, the orbiter fired its OMS to deorbit and reenter the atmosphere . The orbiter was protected during reentry by its thermal protection system tiles, and it glided as a spaceplane to a runway landing, usually to
16488-492: The ET, and burned for the first two minutes of flight. The SRBs separated from the ET once they had expended their fuel and fell into the Atlantic Ocean under a parachute. NASA retrieval teams recovered the SRBs and returned them to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), where they were disassembled and their components were reused on future flights. When the Space Shuttle launched, the orbiter and SRBs were connected to
16717-515: The ET, which held the fuel for the SSMEs. The ET consisted of a tank for liquid hydrogen (LH2), stored at −253 °C (−423 °F) and a smaller tank for liquid oxygen (LOX), stored at −183 °C (−297 °F). It was covered in insulating foam to keep the liquids cold and prevent ice forming on the tank's exterior. The orbiter connected to the ET via two umbilicals near its bottom and a bipod near its top section. After its fuel had been expended,
16946-416: The ET. At T+81.9 seconds, the foam struck the reinforced carbon–carbon (RCC) panels on Columbia ' s left wing at relative velocity of 625 to 840 feet per second (426 to 573 mph; 686 to 922 km/h). The foam's low ballistic coefficient caused it to lose speed immediately after separating from the ET, and the orbiter ran into the slower foam. Neither the mission nor ground crew noticed
17175-426: The EVA went well, the major objectives were completed, and he reiterated that at no time was Mastracchio's suit in any danger of leaking. EVA Office Manager Steve Doering reported on the details regarding the issue with Mastracchio's glove. The EVA inspection procedure was implemented following STS-116, when a cut was found on Robert Curbeam 's glove following an EVA. The EVA suit comprises five layers of material, and
17404-566: The External Stowage Platform installation went well; the new CMG was working well, and handover of attitude control directly from the shuttle to the station was completed without problems. In addition, a new Russian computer was installed on the station, and testing of the system would be performed in late August. He also mentioned several of the experiments that were launched with STS-118, and reported all experiments were proceeding well. Shireman also noted that as of 15:17 UTC,
17633-680: The IMU, INS, and TACAN systems, which first flew on STS-118 in August 2007. While in orbit, the crew primarily communicated using one of four S band radios, which provided both voice and data communications. Two of the S ;band radios were phase modulation transceivers , and could transmit and receive information. The other two S band radios were frequency modulation transmitters and were used to transmit data to NASA. As S band radios can operate only within their line of sight , NASA used
17862-470: The IMUs while in orbit. The star trackers are deployed while in orbit, and can automatically or manually align on a star. In 1991, NASA began upgrading the inertial measurement units with an inertial navigation system (INS), which provided more accurate location information. In 1993, NASA flew a GPS receiver for the first time aboard STS-51 . In 1997, Honeywell began developing an integrated GPS/INS to replace
18091-456: The ISS and brought supplies for its crew. During and after the mission, the media focused heavily on a small puncture in the heat shield , created by a piece of insulation foam that came off the external tank during liftoff, though the foam impact that ultimately destroyed Columbia caused more damage and was in a critical area. KSC Launch Director Michael D. Leinbach mentioned in the post-flight news conference that upon initial inspection on
18320-485: The KSC. The Space Shuttle was prepared for launch primarily in the VAB at the KSC. The SRBs were assembled and attached to the external tank on the MLP. The orbiter vehicle was prepared at the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) and transferred to the VAB, where a crane was used to rotate it to the vertical orientation and mate it to the external tank. Once the entire stack was assembled, the MLP
18549-497: The NASA Intercenter Photo Working Group conducted a routine review of videos of the launch. The group's analysts did not notice the debris strike until the second day of the mission. None of the cameras that recorded the launch had a clear view of the debris striking the wing, leaving the group unable to determine the level of damage sustained by the orbiter. The group's chair contacted Wayne Hale ,
18778-566: The Operations & Checkout (O&C) building, for the launch pad at 14:46 EDT (18:46 UTC), and arrived at the pad at 15:02 EDT (19:02 UTC). Launch occurred at 18:36:42 EDT (22:36:42 UTC). Countdown and launch notes: The primary TAL site was Zaragoza Airport in Spain. Following the procedures for post-ascent, the crew opened the payload bay doors, activated the Spacehab, powered up
19007-576: The RCC panels, revealing the highest levels of slag deposits to be in the left wing tiles. Impact testing was conducted at the Southwest Research Institute , using a nitrogen-powered gun to fire a projectile made of the same material as the ET bipod foam. Panels taken from Enterprise , Discovery , and Atlantis were used to determine the projectiles' effect on RCC panels. A test on RCC panel 8, taken from Atlantis ,
19236-523: The RPM, an area of interest was discovered on the underside of the Shuttle; an area behind the right landing gear door covered with black silica tiles. The tile directly aft of the door had a 3.5 inches (8.9 cm) by 2 inches (5.1 cm) gouge in it. While the tile was penetrated, the underlying felt backing was not. NASA noted in the press conference that launch-time video confirmed a foam strike. This area
19465-528: The RS-25 experienced multiple nozzle failures, as well as broken turbine blades. Despite the problems during testing, NASA ordered the nine RS-25 engines needed for its three orbiters under construction in May 1978. NASA experienced significant delays in the development of the Space Shuttle's thermal protection system . Previous NASA spacecraft had used ablative heat shields, but those could not be reused. NASA chose to use ceramic tiles for thermal protection, as
19694-505: The SRBs provided structural support for the orbiter vehicle and ET, as they were the only system that was connected to the mobile launcher platform (MLP). At the time of launch, the SRBs were armed at T−5 minutes, and could only be electrically ignited once the RS-25 engines had ignited and were without issue. They each provided 12,500 kN (2,800,000 lbf) of thrust, which was later improved to 13,300 kN (3,000,000 lbf) beginning on STS-8 . After expending their fuel,
19923-558: The SRBs were jettisoned approximately two minutes after launch at an altitude of approximately 46 km (150,000 ft). Following separation, they deployed drogue and main parachutes, landed in the ocean, and were recovered by the crews aboard the ships MV Freedom Star and MV Liberty Star . Once they were returned to Cape Canaveral, they were cleaned and disassembled. The rocket motor, igniter, and nozzle were then shipped to Thiokol to be refurbished and reused on subsequent flights. The SRBs underwent several redesigns throughout
20152-487: The SSPTS was working well, and the recommendation to the Mission Management Team will be to extend the mission to the planned 14-day mission. Mission Management Team chair John Shannon reported after additional analysis, it appeared that a piece of foam came off the external tank in the area of the tank's feed line, and bounced off a nearby strut, resulting in a hit to the orbiter's underside. An almost identical section of foam
20381-548: The Shuttle Program Manager for Launch Integration, to request on-orbit pictures of Columbia ' s wing to assess its damage. After receiving notification of the debris strike, engineers at NASA, United Space Alliance , and Boeing created the Debris Assessment Team and began working to determine the damage to the orbiter. Intercenter Photo Working Group believed that the orbiter's RCC tiles were possibly damaged; NASA program managers were less concerned over
20610-442: The Space Shuttle program. These groups collaborated, and hired other support staff to investigate. The CAIB worked alongside the reconstruction efforts to determine the cause of the accident, and interviewed members of the Space Shuttle program, including those who had been involved with STS-107. The CAIB conducted public hearings from March until June, and released its final report in August 2003. After looking at sensor data,
20839-399: The Space Shuttle through ascent, orbit, and reentry, but could not support an entire mission. The five GPCs were separated in three separate bays within the mid-deck to provide redundancy in the event of a cooling fan failure. After achieving orbit, the crew would switch some of the GPCs functions from guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) to systems management (SM) and payload (PL) to support
21068-526: The Space Shuttle to launch large satellites, and required it to be capable of lifting 29,000 kg (65,000 lb) to an eastward LEO or 18,000 kg (40,000 lb) into a polar orbit . The satellite designs also required that the Space Shuttle have a 4.6 by 18 m (15 by 60 ft) payload bay. NASA evaluated the F-1 and J-2 engines from the Saturn rockets , and determined that they were insufficient for
21297-583: The Spacelab module through a 2.7 or 5.8 m (8.72 or 18.88 ft) tunnel that connected to the airlock. The Spacelab equipment was primarily stored in pallets, which provided storage for both experiments as well as computer and power equipment. Spacelab hardware was flown on 28 missions through 1999 and studied subjects including astronomy, microgravity, radar, and life sciences. Spacelab hardware also supported missions such as Hubble Space Telescope (HST) servicing and space station resupply. The Spacelab module
21526-475: The ability to provide the space station with additional supplies of oxygen, water, and other resources. Shannon reported on the focused inspection, confirming that good laser data and imagery was obtained, and they resolved several areas of interest, classifying them as of no concern. One area of interest was two adjacent thermal plates on the shuttle's underside that had a gouge that appeared to be deeper than would allow them to rule it out. NASA would use data from
21755-424: The accident, and participated in a teleconference that evening. The following day, they traveled to Barksdale AFB to begin the investigation. The CAIB members first toured the debris fields, and then established their operations at JSC. The CAIB established four teams to investigate NASA management and program safety, NASA training and crew operations, the technical aspects of the disaster, and how NASA culture affected
21984-459: The actual damage. Further modeling specific to the RCC panels used software calibrated to predict damage caused by falling ice. The software predicted only one of 15 scenarios that ice would cause damage, leading the Debris Assessment Team to conclude there was minimal damage due to the lower density of foam to ice. To assess the possible damage to Columbia ' s wing, members of the Debris Assessment Team made multiple requests to get imagery of
22213-585: The aft seating location, and also controlled the data on the HUD. In 1998, Atlantis was upgraded with the Multifunction Electronic Display System (MEDS), which was a glass cockpit upgrade to the flight instruments that replaced the eight MCDS display units with 11 multifunction colored digital screens. MEDS was flown for the first time in May 2000 on STS-101 , and the other orbiter vehicles were upgraded to it. The aft section of
22442-616: The arc jet facility would continue Tuesday night. Shannon stated they would go through complete EVA scenario testing at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab , to help develop the EVA procedures if needed. Rick Mastracchio and Clayton Anderson began the third EVA of the mission at 14:37 UTC. During the EVA, they successfully relocated a CETA Cart, retrieved the P6 Transponder, relocated the S-band antenna from P6 to P1, and installed
22671-401: The associated propellant tanks. The AJ10 engines used monomethylhydrazine (MMH) oxidized by dinitrogen tetroxide (N 2 O 4 ). The pods carried a maximum of 2,140 kg (4,718 lb) of MMH and 3,526 kg (7,773 lb) of N 2 O 4 . The OMS engines were used after main engine cut-off (MECO) for orbital insertion. Throughout the flight, they were used for orbit changes, as well as
22900-488: The atmosphere over Texas and Louisiana, killing all seven astronauts on board. It was the second Space Shuttle mission to end in disaster, after the loss of Challenger and crew in 1986. The mission, designated STS-107 , was the twenty-eighth flight for the orbiter, the 113th flight of the Space Shuttle fleet and the 88th after the Challenger disaster. It was dedicated to research in various fields, mainly on board
23129-710: The atmosphere, the Launch Integration Office voiced Ham's intention to review on-board footage to view the missing foam, but concerns of crew safety were not discussed. Columbia was scheduled to reenter the atmosphere and land on February 1, 2003. At 3:30 am EST the Entry Flight Control Team started its shift at the Mission Control Center . On board the orbiter, the crew stowed loose items and prepared their equipment for reentry. At 45 minutes before
23358-452: The building of the ISS was completed. The Space Shuttle was a partially reusable spacecraft operated by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). It flew in space for the first time in April 1981, and was used to conduct in-orbit research, and deploy commercial, military, and scientific payloads. At launch, it consisted of the orbiter , which contained
23587-562: The built-in hold at T−9 minutes, the countdown was automatically controlled by the Ground Launch Sequencer (GLS) at the LCC, which stopped the countdown if it sensed a critical problem with any of the Space Shuttle's onboard systems. At T−3 minutes 45 seconds, the engines began conducting gimbal tests, which were concluded at T−2 minutes 15 seconds. The ground Launch Processing System handed off
23816-461: The bulk of the ET, and was 29 m (96.7 ft) tall. The orbiter vehicle was attached to the ET at two umbilical plates, which contained five propellant and two electrical umbilicals, and forward and aft structural attachments. The exterior of the ET was covered in orange spray-on foam to allow it to survive the heat of ascent. The ET provided propellant to the Space Shuttle Main Engines from liftoff until main engine cutoff. The ET separated from
24045-494: The contract to build the orbiter to North American Rockwell. In August 1973, the external tank contract to Martin Marietta , and in November the solid-rocket booster contract to Morton Thiokol . On June 4, 1974, Rockwell began construction on the first orbiter, OV-101, dubbed Constitution, later to be renamed Enterprise . Enterprise was designed as a test vehicle, and did not include engines or heat shielding. Construction
24274-477: The control to the orbiter vehicle's GPCs at T−31 seconds. At T−16 seconds, the GPCs armed the SRBs, the sound suppression system (SPS) began to drench the MLP and SRB trenches with 1,100,000 L (300,000 U.S. gal) of water to protect the orbiter vehicle from damage by acoustical energy and rocket exhaust reflected from the flame trench and MLP during lift-off. At T−10 seconds, hydrogen igniters were activated under each engine bell to quell
24503-425: The crew compartment, where the crew predominantly lived and worked throughout a mission. Three Space Shuttle main engines (SSMEs) were mounted at the aft end of the orbiter and provided thrust during launch. Once in space, the crew maneuvered using the two smaller, aft-mounted Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engines. The orbiter was protected from heat during reentry by the thermal protection system (TPS),
24732-407: The crew during reentry, and the tiles and panels were only built to withstand relatively minor impacts. On STS-1, the first flight of the Space Shuttle, the orbiter Columbia was damaged during its launch from a foam strike. Foam strikes occurred regularly during Space Shuttle launches; of the 79 missions with available imagery during launch, foam strikes occurred on 65 of them. The bipod connected
24961-434: The crew members' heads, allowing head injuries to occur inside of the helmet. The neck ring of the helmet may have also acted as a fulcrum that caused spine and neck injuries. The physical trauma to the astronauts, who could not brace to prevent such injuries, also could have resulted in their deaths. The astronauts also likely suffered from significant thermal trauma. Hot gas entered the disintegrating crew module, burning
25190-595: The crew members, whose bodies were still somewhat protected by their ACES suits. Once the crew module fell apart, the astronauts were violently exposed to windblast and a possible shock wave, which stripped their suits from their bodies. The crews' remains were exposed to hot gas and molten metal as they fell away from the orbiter. After separation from the crew module, the bodies of the crew members entered an environment with almost no oxygen, very low atmospheric pressure, and both high temperatures caused by deceleration, and extremely low ambient temperatures. Their bodies hit
25419-416: The crew. On January 23, flight director Steve Stich sent an e-mail to Husband and McCool to tell them about the foam strike and inform them there was no cause for concern about damage to the TPS, as foam strikes had occurred on previous flights. During ascent at approximately 80 seconds, photo analysis shows that some debris from the area of the -Y ET Bipod Attach Point came loose and subsequently impacted
25648-498: The crewmembers continued with transfer activities. During the Mission Management Team briefing, Joel Montalbano reported that the issue with Mastracchio's suit was never a danger to the suit integrity, and the decision to cut the EVA short was one of precaution. Extended photography was performed, and additional analysis will be completed prior to the fourth EVA. Montalbano reported that the fourth EVA would be no earlier than August 18, 2007. Lead spacewalk officer Paul Boehm agreed that
25877-415: The damage that indicated the cause of the disaster. Astronaut Pamela Melroy was assigned to oversee the six-person team reconstructing the crew compartment, which included fellow astronaut Marsha Ivins . Recovered debris was shipped from the field to KSC, where it was unloaded and checked to see if it was contaminated by toxic hypergolic propellants . Each piece of debris had an identifying number and
26106-419: The damage to Columbia was more serious. Before reentry, NASA managers limited the investigation, reasoning that the crew could not have fixed the problem if it had been confirmed. When Columbia reentered the atmosphere of Earth , the damage allowed hot atmospheric gases to penetrate the heat shield and destroy the internal wing structure, which caused the orbiter to become unstable and break apart. After
26335-444: The danger caused by the debris strike. Boeing analysts attempted to model the damage caused to the orbiter's TPS from the foam strike. The software models predicted damage that was deeper than the thickness of the TPS tiles, indicating that the orbiter's aluminum skin would be unprotected in that area. The Debris Assessment Team dismissed this conclusion as inaccurate, because of previous instances of predictions of damage greater than
26564-492: The debris indicated that the breach began at the wing's leading edge, allowing hot gas to get past the orbiter's thermal protection system. The search for Columbia debris ended in May. Approximately 83,900 pieces of debris were recovered, weighing 84,900 pounds (38,500 kg), which was about 38 percent of the orbiter's overall weight. When the CAIB report was released, about 40,000 recovered pieces of debris had not been identified. All recovered non-human Columbia debris
26793-439: The debris strike at the time. The SRBs separated from the ET at T+2 minutes and 7 seconds, followed by the ET's separation from the orbiter at T+8 minutes 30 seconds. The ET separation was photographed by Anderson and recorded by Brown, but they did not record the bipod with missing foam. At T+43 minutes, Columbia completed its orbital insertion as planned. After Columbia entered orbit,
27022-421: The deorbit burn prior to reentry. Each OMS engine produced 27,080 N (6,087 lbf) of thrust, and the entire system could provide 305 m/s (1,000 ft/s) of velocity change . The orbiter was protected from heat during reentry by the thermal protection system (TPS), a thermal soaking protective layer around the orbiter. In contrast with previous US spacecraft, which had used ablative heat shields,
27251-518: The deorbit burn, Husband and McCool began working through the entry checklist. At 8:10 am the Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) , Charlie Hobaugh , informed the crew that they were approved to conduct the deorbit burn. At 8:15:30 the crew successfully executed the deorbit burn, which lasted 2 minutes and 38 seconds. At 8:44:09 Columbia reentered the atmosphere at an altitude of 400,000 feet (120 km),
27480-516: The development of a space shuttle to bring people and cargo to low Earth orbit (LEO), as well as a space tug for transfers between orbits and the Moon, and a reusable nuclear upper stage for deep space travel. After the release of the Space Shuttle Task Group report, many aerospace engineers favored the Class III, fully reusable design because of perceived savings in hardware costs. Max Faget ,
27709-500: The disaster, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe called to convene the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) to determine the cause. It was chaired by retired U.S. Navy Admiral Harold W. Gehman, Jr. and included military and civilian analysts. It initially consisted of eight members, including Gehman, but expanded to 13 members by March. The CAIB members were notified by noon on the day of
27938-401: The disaster, Space Shuttle flight operations were suspended for more than two years, as they had been after the Challenger disaster. Construction of the International Space Station (ISS) was paused until flights resumed in July 2005 with STS-114 . NASA made several technical and organizational changes to subsequent missions, including adding an on-orbit inspection to determine how well
28167-667: The disaster, the Texas Army National Guard deployed 300 members to assist with security and recovery, and the Coast Guard Gulf Strike Team was assigned to help recover hazardous debris. Over the following days, the search grew to include hundreds of individuals from the Environmental Protection Agency , US Forest Service , and Texas and Louisiana public safety organizations, as well as local volunteers. In
28396-527: The duration of orbiter free flights. Other systems debuting on this flight were a three-string GPS system, which replaces the three Tactical Air Navigation -units, used to guide the shuttle and calculate its position during reentry and landing and the new Advanced Health Management System which keeps an eye on the three main engines (SSMEs) during liftoff and will shut them down before any catastrophic damage might develop. (All SSMEs had their own computers to regulate, monitor, and shut them down in case of trouble;
28625-568: The ease of refurbishing them for reuse after they landed in the ocean. In January 1972, President Richard Nixon approved the Shuttle, and NASA decided on its final design in March. The development of the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) remained the responsibility of Rocketdyne, and the contract was issued in July 1971, and updated SSME specifications were submitted to Rocketdyne in that April. That August, NASA awarded
28854-492: The effects of aerodynamic and thermal stresses during launch and reentry. The beginning of the development of the RS-25 Space Shuttle Main Engine was delayed for nine months while Pratt & Whitney challenged the contract that had been issued to Rocketdyne. The first engine was completed in March 1975, after issues with developing the first throttleable, reusable engine. During engine testing,
29083-428: The effects of long-term exposure to the environment of space. The mission was originally scheduled to be flown by Columbia ; STS-118 would have marked that orbiter's 29th flight and its first visit to the International Space Station. However, the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster altered the planned flight schedules, and the mission was rescheduled for Endeavour . STS-118 served as Endeavour' s return to flight after
29312-512: The engines during powered flight and fly the orbiter during unpowered flight. Both seats also had rudder controls, to allow rudder movement in flight and nose-wheel steering on the ground. The orbiter vehicles were originally installed with the Multifunction CRT Display System (MCDS) to display and control flight information. The MCDS displayed the flight information at the commander and pilot seats, as well as at
29541-459: The entire layer of the tile. Preliminary results were encouraging, but additional testing would be performed on Wednesday night. Shannon reported that the final decision would most likely be made on Thursday. Shannon said "I am cautiously optimistic that repairs will not be needed". The station and shuttle crews continued transfer activities on flight day 9, as well as EVA preparations, which included TPS repair procedure review, in case NASA decided
29770-489: The external fuel tanks. Three of these struck the shuttle. All three strikes are considered to be minor in nature. Endeavour successfully docked with the International Space Station at 18:02 UTC (14:02 EDT). Approximately an hour before docking, Endeavour performed the one-degree-per-second backflip, called the Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver (RPM), so the ISS crew members could take digital pictures of
29999-605: The feasibility of reusable boosters. This became the basis for the aerospaceplane , a fully reusable spacecraft that was never developed beyond the initial design phase in 1962–1963. Beginning in the early 1950s, NASA and the Air Force collaborated on developing lifting bodies to test aircraft that primarily generated lift from their fuselages instead of wings, and tested the NASA M2-F1 , Northrop M2-F2 , Northrop M2-F3 , Northrop HL-10 , Martin Marietta X-24A , and
30228-623: The final decision to scrub a launch was announced. In addition to the weather at the launch site, conditions had to be acceptable at one of the Transatlantic Abort Landing sites and the SRB recovery area. The mission crew and the Launch Control Center (LCC) personnel completed systems checks throughout the countdown. Two built-in holds at T−20 minutes and T−9 minutes provided scheduled breaks to address any issues and additional preparation. After
30457-620: The first day of the disaster, searchers began finding remains of the astronauts. Within three days of the crash, some remains from every crew member had been recovered. These recoveries occurred along a line south of Hemphill, Texas , and west of the Toledo Bend Reservoir . The final body of a crew member was recovered on February 11. The crew remains were transported to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology at Dover Air Force Base . Immediately after
30686-474: The first four Shuttle missions, astronauts wore modified U.S. Air Force high-altitude full-pressure suits, which included a full-pressure helmet during ascent and descent. From the fifth flight, STS-5 , until the loss of Challenger , the crew wore one-piece light blue nomex flight suits and partial-pressure helmets. After the Challenger disaster, the crew members wore the Launch Entry Suit (LES),
30915-426: The first time NASA performed a crewed first-flight of a spacecraft. On April 12, 1981, the Space Shuttle launched for the first time, and was piloted by John Young and Robert Crippen . During the two-day mission, Young and Crippen tested equipment on board the shuttle, and found several of the ceramic tiles had fallen off the top side of the Columbia . NASA coordinated with the Air Force to use satellites to image
31144-557: The flight deck contained windows looking into the payload bay, as well as an RHC to control the Remote Manipulator System during cargo operations. Additionally, the aft flight deck had monitors for a closed-circuit television to view the cargo bay. The mid-deck contained the crew equipment storage, sleeping area, galley, medical equipment, and hygiene stations for the crew. The crew used modular lockers to store equipment that could be scaled depending on their needs, as well as permanently installed floor compartments. The mid-deck contained
31373-474: The foam loss as a "concern", but only with regards to the history that the specific area has with regards to foam loss in past missions. Shannon reported that analysis would be complete by flight day 7 at the latest. John Shannon also reported that the possible protruding gap filler noticed on flight day 3, was reviewed further, and was determined to be "shim stock", which will burn off in the upper atmosphere, and poses no issues for re-entry. The crew carried out
31602-410: The focused inspection to model the area, and do thermal analysis of the area. They will use the data to mimic the damage with sample tiles at Johnson Space Center , and using a variety of testing methods, possible courses of action would then be evaluated. No decision would be made until all data had been received and reviewed. Shannon did report that following STS-118, NASA will do a thorough review of
31831-401: The focused inspection without any problems, and at 20:56 (UTC), the crews of Endeavour and Expedition 15 were notified that the SSPTS was working as expected, and the mission was officially extended to the planned 14-day mission. Commander Scott Kelly replied, "That's great news, thanks". In the daily mission status briefing, Lead Flight Director Matt Abbott announced the official extension of
32060-502: The forward separation motors and the parachute systems that were used during recovery. The rocket nozzles could gimbal up to 8° to allow for in-flight adjustments. The rocket motors were each filled with a total 500,000 kg (1,106,640 lb) of solid rocket propellant ( APCP + PBAN ), and joined in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at KSC. In addition to providing thrust during the first stage of launch,
32289-483: The gouge, and not into the filler bar side, which was the preferable situation. He reiterated that it was a complicated aerodynamic shape, and they wanted to be sure the flow would concentrate in the back "well" of the hole. The engineers and analysts would continue to do additional flow modeling, after which they would take the data into the arc jet testing facility for additional analysis. The first preliminary arc jet tests would be performed Monday night. Shannon reported
32518-469: The ground with lethal force. At 14:04 EST (19:04 UTC), President George W. Bush said in a televised address to the nation, "My fellow Americans, this day has brought terrible news, and great sadness to our country. At 9:00 a.m. this morning, Mission Control in Houston lost contact with our Space Shuttle Columbia . A short time later, debris was seen falling from the skies above Texas. The Columbia
32747-434: The ground, " Endeavour appears to be the 'cleanest' post-flight orbiter since Return to Flight ". On August 31, 2007, NASA reported that the damaged tiles had been removed in the Orbiter Processing Facility , and engineers had found no evidence of heat-related damage to the orbiter itself. Astronaut Clayton Anderson was originally slated to be launched to the ISS on this mission, but was moved to STS-117 . His replacement
32976-598: The heat shield of the orbiter. The images were then analyzed by NASA's Image Analysis Team, as well as the Mission Management Team to inspect the integrity of the orbiter's heat shield. Following a series of leak checks, the hatches were opened at 20:04 UTC (16:04 EDT), and the Expedition 15 crew welcomed the STS-118 crew aboard the station. After preliminary review of the photos taken by the Expedition 15 crew during
33205-445: The history of foam loss from the area of the external tank since STS-114 , analysis and testing would be done, and any speculation as to a future course of action would not be made until all the information was available. Rick Mastracchio and Dave Williams completed the mission's second spacewalk, successfully achieving all of the scheduled activities. During the EVA, they removed a new CMG from Endeavour' s payload bay, and moved it to
33434-403: The importance of education, and honored teachers and students everywhere. Morgan was the backup to Christa McAuliffe , the teacher who was killed aboard Challenger in 1986. The tip of the flames touched Morgan's name on the patch. However, NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin clarified at a post-mission press conference that Morgan was not considered a mission specialist educator, but rather
33663-637: The in-flight break-up, and continued to try to reestablish contact with the orbiter. At approximately 9:06, when Columbia would have been conducting its final maneuvers to land, a Mission Control member received a phone call concerning news coverage of the orbiter breaking up. This information was passed on to the Entry Flight Director, LeRoy Cain , who initiated contingency procedures. At KSC, where Columbia had been expected to land at 9:16, NASA Associate Administrator and former astronaut William Readdy also began contingency procedures after
33892-450: The in-flight breakup. Engineers in the hangar analyzed the debris to determine how the orbiter came apart. Even though the crew compartment was not considered as a likely cause of the accident, Melroy successfully argued for its analysis to learn more about how its safety systems helped, or failed to help, the crew survive. The tiles on the left wing were studied to determine the nature of the burning and melting that occurred. The damage to
34121-402: The inner leading edge and 45° at the outer leading edge. Each wing had an inboard and outboard elevon to provide flight control during reentry, along with a flap located between the wings, below the engines to control pitch . The orbiter's vertical stabilizer was swept backwards at 45° and contained a rudder that could split to act as a speed brake . The vertical stabilizer also contained
34350-501: The insulation, added vent holes to the foam to allow gas to escape. After a bipod foam strike damaged the TPS on STS-50 , internal NASA investigations concluded it was an "accepted flight risk" and that it should not be treated as a flight safety issue. Bipod foam loss occurred on STS-52 and STS-62 , but neither event was noticed until the investigation following Columbia' s destruction. During STS-112 , which flew in October 2002,
34579-504: The largest solid-propellant motors ever flown. Each SRB was 45 m (149.2 ft) tall and 3.7 m (12.2 ft) wide, weighed 68,000 kg (150,000 lb), and had a steel exterior approximately 13 mm (.5 in) thick. The SRB's subcomponents were the solid-propellant motor, nose cone, and rocket nozzle. The solid-propellant motor comprised the majority of the SRB's structure. Its casing consisted of 11 steel sections which made up its four main segments. The nose cone housed
34808-575: The late 1950s, the Air Force began developing the partially reusable X-20 Dyna-Soar . The Air Force collaborated with NASA on the Dyna-Soar and began training six pilots in June 1961. The rising costs of development and the prioritization of Project Gemini led to the cancellation of the Dyna-Soar program in December 1963. In addition to the Dyna-Soar, the Air Force had conducted a study in 1957 to test
35037-431: The launch at 18:36 EDT on August 8, 2007. Fueling of the external tank began at 08:11 EDT (12:11 UTC) and finished around 11:00 EDT. The Ice Team began their inspection of the orbiter to ensure no ice was on the orbiter or the fuel tank, something unlikely due to the unusually warm conditions as launch time approached. Their inspection concluded about 40 minutes quicker than the usual two-hour duration. The crew departed for
35266-490: The launch pad, the Space Shuttle was used to verify the proper positioning of the launch complex hardware. Enterprise was taken back to California in August 1979, and later served in the development of the SLC-6 at Vandenberg AFB in 1984. On November 24, 1980, Columbia was mated with its external tank and solid-rocket boosters, and was moved to LC-39 on December 29. The first Space Shuttle mission, STS-1 , would be
35495-408: The launch. The mission was originally scheduled to launch on January 11, 2001, but it was delayed thirteen times, until its launch on January 16, 2003. The seven-member crew of STS-107 were selected in July 2000. The mission was commanded by Rick Husband , who was a colonel in the U.S. Air Force and a test pilot . He had previously flown on STS-96 . The mission's pilot was William McCool ,
35724-479: The left as a result of the increased drag on the left wing, but this was not noticed by the crew or mission control because of corrections from the orbiter's flight control system. This was followed by sensors in the left wheel well reporting a rise in temperature. At 8:53:46 am, Columbia crossed over the California coast; it was traveling at Mach 23 at an altitude of 231,600 feet (70.6 km), and
35953-434: The loss of Columbia when it disintegrated during reentry . STS-118 pilot Charles Hobaugh had been the entry team CAPCOM for STS-107. Columbia had originally been selected for this flight, for what would have been its 29th mission, and its first and likely only visit to the ISS, mainly due to its heavier weight . The mission is also referred to as ISS-13A.1 by the ISS program. The mission added two more components to
36182-599: The mission from 11 to 14 days was dependent on proper operation of the SSPTS. At 21:45 (UTC), Rick Mastracchio and Dave Williams started the first EVA of the mission, installing the S5 truss to the station, increasing the total mass of the ISS to 232,693 kilograms (513,000 lb). The EVA duration was 6 hours and 17 minutes, and all objectives were successfully completed. During the Mission Status press conference, Lead ISS Flight Director Joel Montalbano reported that
36411-437: The mission specialists who were specifically trained for their intended missions and systems. Early in the Space Shuttle program, NASA flew with payload specialists, who were typically systems specialists who worked for the company paying for the payload's deployment or operations. The final payload specialist, Gregory B. Jarvis , flew on STS-51-L , and future non-pilots were designated as mission specialists. An astronaut flew as
36640-423: The mission, that the SSPTS was working as planned, and they were pleased with the data gathered during the focused inspection on Sunday. Mission Management Team Chairman John Shannon confirmed the decision of the Mission Management Team to extend the mission to 14 days, and to add a fourth EVA, was unanimous. He noted that the addition of SSPTS will be a valuable new tool, providing not only extended missions, but also
36869-404: The months after the disaster, the largest-ever organized ground search took place. NASA officials warned of the dangers of handling debris, as it could have been contaminated by propellants. Soon after the accident, some individuals attempted to sell Columbia debris on the internet, including on the online auction website eBay . Officials at NASA were critical of these efforts, as the debris
37098-572: The new system extends and improves the monitoring capability for increased safety.) Endeavour also received several systems that the other orbiters had already been equipped with, such as a glass cockpit , improved wing leading-edge sensors and the OBSS. STS-118 included mission specialist Barbara Morgan , the first mission specialist educator. Morgan trained as the backup to Christa McAuliffe , NASA's Teacher in Space candidate from 1985 to 1986. McAuliffe
37327-434: The operational mission. The Space Shuttle was not launched if its flight would run from December to January, as its flight software would have required the orbiter vehicle's computers to be reset at the year change. In 2007, NASA engineers devised a solution so Space Shuttle flights could cross the year-end boundary. Space Shuttle missions typically brought a portable general support computer (PGSC) that could integrate with
37556-424: The optimal design for a reusable spacecraft, and issued study contracts to General Dynamics , Lockheed , McDonnell Douglas , and North American Rockwell . In July 1969, the Space Shuttle Task Group issued a report that determined the Shuttle would support short-duration crewed missions and space station, as well as the capabilities to launch, service, and retrieve satellites. The report also created three classes of
37785-436: The orange foam itself was sufficiently protected, and the ET was no longer covered in latex paint beginning on STS-3. A light-weight tank (LWT) was first flown on STS-6, which reduced tank weight by 4,700 kg (10,300 lb). The LWT's weight was reduced by removing components from the hydrogen tank and reducing the thickness of some skin panels. In 1998, a super light-weight ET (SLWT) first flew on STS-91 . The SLWT used
38014-453: The orbiter at this time, and Husband's last radio call of "Roger, uh ..." was cut off mid-transmission. One of the channels in the flight control system was bypassed as the result of a failed wire, and a Master Alarm began sounding on the flight deck. Loss of control of the orbiter is estimated to have begun several seconds later with a loss of hydraulic pressure and an uncontrolled pitch -up maneuver. The orbiter began flying along
38243-628: The orbiter continued to break apart into smaller pieces, and within a minute after breakup were too small to be detected by ground-based videos. A NASA report estimates that by 9:35, all crew remains and a majority of debris had hit the ground. The loss of signal occurred at a time when the Flight Control Team expected brief communication outages as the orbiter stopped communication via the west tracking and data relay satellite (TDRS). Personnel in Mission Control were unaware of
38472-473: The orbiter did not land as scheduled. During reentry, all seven of the STS-107 crew members were killed, but the exact time of their deaths could not be determined. The level of acceleration that they experienced during crew module breakup was not lethal. The first lethal event the crew experienced was the depressurization of the crew module. The rate and exact time of complete depressurization could not be determined, but it occurred no later than 9:00:59 and
38701-682: The orbiter from the Department of Defense (DoD). Imagery requests were channeled through both the DoD Manned Space Flight Support Office and the Johnson Space Center Engineering Directorate. Hale coordinated the request through a DoD representative at KSC. The request was relayed to the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), which began identifying imaging assets that could observe the orbiter. The imagery request
38930-458: The orbiter left wing, in the area of transition from Chine to Main Wing, creating a shower of smaller particles. The impact appears to be totally on the lower surface and no particles are seen to traverse over the upper surface of the wing. Experts have reviewed the high speed photography and there is no concern for RCC or tile damage. We have seen this same phenomenon on several other flights and there
39159-424: The orbiter to allow its left wing to be imaged would have interrupted ongoing science operations, and Ham dismissed the DoD imaging capabilities as insufficient to assess damage to the orbiter. Following the rejection of their imagery request, the Debris Assessment Team did not make further requests for the orbiter to be imaged. Throughout the flight, members of the Mission Management Team were less concerned than
39388-437: The orbiter vehicle 18 seconds after engine cutoff and could be triggered automatically or manually. At the time of separation, the orbiter vehicle retracted its umbilical plates, and the umbilical cords were sealed to prevent excess propellant from venting into the orbiter vehicle. After the bolts attached at the structural attachments were sheared, the ET separated from the orbiter vehicle. At the time of separation, gaseous oxygen
39617-467: The orbiter vehicle and would be removed and replaced in between flights. The RS-25 is a staged-combustion cycle cryogenic engine that used liquid oxygen and hydrogen and had a higher chamber pressure than any previous liquid-fueled rocket. The original main combustion chamber operated at a maximum pressure of 226.5 bar (3,285 psi). The engine nozzle is 287 cm (113 in) tall and has an interior diameter of 229 cm (90.3 in). The nozzle
39846-510: The orbiter vehicle's computers and communication suite, as well as monitor scientific and payload data. Early missions brought the Grid Compass , one of the first laptop computers, as the PGSC, but later missions brought Apple and Intel laptops. The payload bay comprised most of the orbiter vehicle's fuselage , and provided the cargo-carrying space for the Space Shuttle's payloads. It
40075-549: The orbiter vehicle's heat, and were opened upon reaching orbit for heat rejection. The orbiter could be used in conjunction with a variety of add-on components depending on the mission. This included orbital laboratories, boosters for launching payloads farther into space, the Remote Manipulator System (RMS), and optionally the EDO pallet to extend the mission duration. To limit the fuel consumption while
40304-430: The orbiter was docked at the ISS, the Station-to-Shuttle Power Transfer System (SSPTS) was developed to convert and transfer station power to the orbiter. The SSPTS was first used on STS-118, and was installed on Discovery and Endeavour . The Remote Manipulator System (RMS), also known as Canadarm, was a mechanical arm attached to the cargo bay. It could be used to grasp and manipulate payloads, as well as serve as
40533-553: The orbiter's aileron trim changed from the predicted values because of the increasing drag caused by the damage to the left wing. At 8:58:21, the orbiter shed a TPS tile that would later land in Littlefield, Texas ; it would become the westernmost piece of recovered debris. The crew first received an indication of a problem at 8:58:39, when the Backup Flight Software monitor began displaying fault messages for
40762-419: The orbiter's thermal protection system (TPS) had endured the ascent, and keeping designated rescue missions ready in case irreparable damage was found. Except for one mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope , subsequent Space Shuttle missions were flown only to the ISS to allow the crew to use it as a haven if damage to the orbiter prevented safe reentry. The remaining four orbiters were retired after
40991-549: The originally specified thrust at 100%, but had the RS-25 operate at higher thrust. RS-25 upgrade versions were denoted as Block I and Block II. 109% thrust level was achieved with the Block II engines in 2001, which reduced the chamber pressure to 207.5 bars (3,010 psi), as it had a larger throat area. The normal maximum throttle was 104 percent, with 106% or 109% used for mission aborts. The Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) consisted of two aft-mounted AJ10-190 engines and
41220-405: The program's lifetime. STS-6 and STS-7 used SRBs 2,300 kg (5,000 lb) lighter due to walls that were 0.10 mm (.004 in) thinner, but were determined to be too thin to fly safely. Subsequent flights until STS-26 used cases that were 0.076 mm (.003 in) thinner than the standard-weight cases, which reduced 1,800 kg (4,000 lb). After the Challenger disaster as
41449-400: The propellant for the Space Shuttle Main Engines, and connected the orbiter vehicle with the solid rocket boosters. The ET was 47 m (153.8 ft) tall and 8.4 m (27.6 ft) in diameter, and contained separate tanks for liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. The liquid oxygen tank was housed in the nose of the ET, and was 15 m (49.3 ft) tall. The liquid hydrogen tank comprised
41678-465: The requirements of the Space Shuttle; in July 1971, it issued a contract to Rocketdyne to begin development on the RS-25 engine. NASA reviewed 29 potential designs for the Space Shuttle and determined that a design with two side boosters should be used, and the boosters should be reusable to reduce costs. NASA and the Air Force elected to use solid-propellant boosters because of the lower costs and
41907-636: The reusability of the orbiter required a multi-use heat shield. During reentry, the TPS experienced temperatures up to 1,600 °C (3,000 °F), but had to keep the orbiter vehicle's aluminum skin temperature below 180 °C (350 °F). The TPS primarily consisted of four types of tiles. The nose cone and leading edges of the wings experienced temperatures above 1,300 °C (2,300 °F), and were protected by reinforced carbon-carbon tiles (RCC). Thicker RCC tiles were developed and installed in 1998 to prevent damage from micrometeoroid and orbital debris , and were further improved after RCC damage caused in
42136-446: The second layer, called vectran , is a high strength material resistant to tearing. Mastracchio's tear was into the vectran layer. Prior to the next EVA, video analysis will be done of the path Mastracchio took during the spacewalk in an attempt to discover where the tear may have occurred. An analysis of Mastracchio's glove during the previous two EVAs will also be performed. John Shannon reported that no decision had been made regarding
42365-529: The shuttle could then be constructed of lightweight aluminum , and the tiles could be individually replaced as needed. Construction began on Columbia on March 27, 1975, and it was delivered to the KSC on March 25, 1979. At the time of its arrival at the KSC, Columbia still had 6,000 of its 30,000 tiles remaining to be installed. However, many of the tiles that had been originally installed had to be replaced, requiring two years of installation before Columbia could fly. On January 5, 1979, NASA commissioned
42594-441: The stagnant gas inside the cones before ignition. Failure to burn these gases could trip the onboard sensors and create the possibility of an overpressure and explosion of the vehicle during the firing phase. The hydrogen tank's prevalves were opened at T−9.5 seconds in preparation for engine start. Space Shuttle Columbia disaster On Saturday, February 1, 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it re-entered
42823-610: The temperature of its wings' leading edges was estimated to be 2,800 °F (1,540 °C). Soon after it entered California airspace, the orbiter shed several pieces of debris, events observed on the ground as sudden increases in brightness of the air around the orbiter. The MMACS officer reported that the hydraulic sensors in the left wing had readings below the sensors' minimum detection thresholds at 8:54:24 am. Columbia continued its reentry and traveled over Utah , Arizona , New Mexico , and Texas , where observers would report seeing signs of debris being shed. At 8:58:03,
43052-416: The tile damage on the underside of the orbiter, but the fourth EVA was postponed to at least August 18, 2007. The management team would continue to analyze the potential risks of repair to the underside of the orbiter, as well as any other areas of risk. Shannon reported the results of the arc jet testing showed some erosion into the backside of the adjacent tile upon re-entry, but the erosion did not go through
43281-418: The underside of Columbia , and determined there was no damage. Columbia reentered the atmosphere and landed at Edwards AFB on April 14. NASA conducted three additional test flights with Columbia in 1981 and 1982. On July 4, 1982, STS-4 , flown by Ken Mattingly and Henry Hartsfield , landed on a concrete runway at Edwards AFB. President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy met the crew, and delivered
43510-467: The upper parts of the orbiter vehicle were coated in tiles of white low-temperature reusable surface insulation with similar composition, which provided protection for temperatures below 650 °C (1,200 °F). The payload bay doors and parts of the upper wing surfaces were coated in reusable Nomex felt surface insulation or in beta cloth , as the temperature there remained below 370 °C (700 °F). The Space Shuttle external tank (ET) carried
43739-417: The upper parts of the orbiter vehicle were covered with white low-temperature reusable surface insulation, which provided protection at temperatures below 650 °C (1,200 °F). The payload bay doors and parts of the upper wing surfaces were covered with reusable felt surface insulation, as the temperature there remained below 370 °C (700 °F). Two solid rocket boosters (SRBs) were connected to
43968-669: The voices of Tracy Caldwell's family singing happy birthday to her. The two crews successfully removed the ESP-3 from Endeavour' s payload bay, and installed it onto the P3 truss. They also continued with transfer activities, and several crew members took time out to have two Public Affairs events, one of them answering children's questions from the Discovery Center in Boise, Idaho . During an interview with CBS, Commander Kelly stated that he
44197-425: The wings experienced temperatures above 1,300 °C (2,300 °F), and were protected by the composite material reinforced carbon–carbon (RCC). Thicker RCC was developed and installed in 1998 to prevent damage from micrometeoroid and orbital debris . The entire underside of the orbiter vehicle, as well as the other hottest surfaces, were protected with black high-temperature reusable surface insulation. Areas on
44426-562: Was Alvin Drew . NASA press releases and media briefing documents stated that STS-118 was the first flight of a Mission Specialist Educator due to the presence of Barbara Morgan . The Educator Astronaut Project is the successor to NASA 's Teacher in Space Project , which ended with the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986. The official STS-118 mission patch included a flame of knowledge that represented
44655-502: Was not a catastrophic damage situation, but simply a situation that they would prefer to fix if possible, similar to the OMS blanket issue during STS-117 in June 2007. There are three different on-orbit repair techniques available to the crew. Both post- Columbia Return to Flight missions experimented with various repair materials and techniques, and the STS-118 crew has trained for those procedures. The Endeavour crew awoke on Tuesday to
44884-462: Was 18 m (60 ft) long and 4.6 m (15 ft) wide, and could accommodate cylindrical payloads up to 4.6 m (15 ft) in diameter. Two payload bay doors hinged on either side of the bay, and provided a relatively airtight seal to protect payloads from heating during launch and reentry. Payloads were secured in the payload bay to the attachment points on the longerons . The payload bay doors served an additional function as radiators for
45113-417: Was NASA property and was needed for the investigation. A three-day amnesty period was offered for recovered orbiter debris. During this time, about 20 individuals contacted NASA to return debris, which included debris from the Challenger disaster. After the end of the amnesty period, several individuals were arrested for illegal looting and possession of debris. Columbia ' s flight data recorder
45342-499: Was Space Shuttle-specific software that provided control through all phases of flight. During ascent, maneuvering, reentry, and landing, the four PASS GPCs functioned identically to produce quadruple redundancy and would error check their results. In case of a software error that would cause erroneous reports from the four PASS GPCs, a fifth GPC ran the Backup Flight System, which used a different program and could control
45571-582: Was a modified airport jet bridge that was used to assist astronauts to egress from the orbiter after landing, where they would undergo their post-mission medical checkups. The Astrovan transported astronauts from the crew quarters in the Operations and Checkout Building to the launch pad on launch day. The NASA Railroad comprised three locomotives that transported SRB segments from the Florida East Coast Railway in Titusville to
45800-479: Was an instrumentation issue, and the suit itself was fine. At the mission status briefing, NASA reported the suit would be used on future spacewalks, and the issue was not of any concern. During the Mission Management briefing, John Shannon discussed Endeavour ' s heat shield and re-entry issues. He reported that after initial modeling they believe the majority of heating will be on the backside of
46029-539: Was broken at the time of the crash, but information from the orbiter's sensors could have been recorded beforehand. Several days later, the tape was sent to the Imation Corporation for it to be inspected and cleaned. On March 25, the OEX's tape was sent to KSC, where it was copied and analyzed. On March 27, a Bell 407 helicopter that was being used in the debris search crashed due to mechanical failure in
46258-466: Was carried for 5.6 km (3.5 mi) to Launch Complex 39 by one of the crawler-transporters . After the Space Shuttle arrived at one of the two launchpads, it would connect to the Fixed and Rotation Service Structures, which provided servicing capabilities, payload insertion, and crew transportation. The crew was transported to the launch pad at T−3 hours and entered the orbiter vehicle, which
46487-654: Was carrying the Extended Duration Orbiter, which increased its supply of oxygen and hydrogen. To maximize the mission duration, non-essential systems would have been powered down, and animals in the Spacehab module would have been euthanized. When STS-107 launched, Atlantis was undergoing preparation for the STS-114 launch on March 1, 2003. Had NASA management decided to launch a rescue mission, an expedited process could have begun to launch it as
46716-565: Was closed at T−2 hours. Liquid oxygen and hydrogen were loaded into the external tank via umbilicals that attached to the orbiter vehicle, which began at T−5 hours 35 minutes. At T−3 hours 45 minutes, the hydrogen fast-fill was complete, followed 15 minutes later by the oxygen tank fill. Both tanks were slowly filled up until the launch as the oxygen and hydrogen evaporated. The launch commit criteria considered precipitation, temperatures, cloud cover, lightning forecast, wind, and humidity. The Space Shuttle
46945-512: Was completed on September 17, 1976, and Enterprise was moved to the Edwards Air Force Base to begin testing. Rockwell constructed the Main Propulsion Test Article (MPTA)-098 , which was a structural truss mounted to the ET with three RS-25 engines attached. It was tested at the National Space Technology Laboratory (NSTL) to ensure that the engines could safely run through the launch profile. Rockwell conducted mechanical and thermal stress tests on Structural Test Article (STA)-099 to determine
47174-416: Was entirely reliant on its main computer, the Data Processing System (DPS). The DPS controlled the flight controls and thrusters on the orbiter, as well as the ET and SRBs during launch. The DPS consisted of five general-purpose computers (GPC), two magnetic tape mass memory units (MMUs), and the associated sensors to monitor the Space Shuttle components. The original GPC used was the IBM AP-101B , which used
47403-657: Was equipped with an avionics system to provide information and control during atmospheric flight. Its avionics suite contained three microwave scanning beam landing systems , three gyroscopes , three TACANs , three accelerometers , two radar altimeters , two barometric altimeters , three attitude indicators , two Mach indicators , and two Mode C transponders . During reentry, the crew deployed two air data probes once they were traveling slower than Mach 5. The orbiter had three inertial measuring units (IMU) that it used for guidance and navigation during all phases of flight. The orbiter contains two star trackers to align
47632-495: Was extensive enough that they could not have regained consciousness even if the cabin had regained pressurization. During and after the breakup of the crew module, the crew, either unconscious or dead, experienced rotation on all three axes. The astronauts' shoulder harnesses were unable to prevent trauma to their upper bodies, as the inertia reel system failed to retract sufficiently to secure them, leaving them only restrained by their lap belts. The helmets were not conformal to
47861-469: Was first flown in 1975, and was used for the ALT and ferrying the orbiter from Edwards AFB to the KSC on all missions prior to 1991. A second SCA (N911NA) was acquired in 1988, and was first used to transport Endeavour from the factory to the KSC. Following the retirement of the Space Shuttle, N905NA was put on display at the JSC, and N911NA was put on display at the Joe Davies Heritage Airpark in Palmdale, California . The Crew Transport Vehicle (CTV)
48090-437: Was found near Hemphill, Texas, 75 miles (121 km) southeast of Nacogdoches, on March 19, 2003. Columbia was the first orbiter, and it had a unique flight data OEX (Orbiter EXperiments) recorder to record vehicle performance data during the test flights. The recorder was left in Columbia after the initial Shuttle test-flights were completed, and began recording information 15 minutes prior to reentry. The tape it recorded to
48319-406: Was found to be alive on April 28, 2003. NASA management selected the Reusable Launch Vehicle hangar at KSC to reconstruct recovered Columbia debris. NASA Launch Director Michael Leinbach led the reconstruction team, which was staffed by Columbia engineers and technicians. Debris was laid out on the floor of the hangar in the shape of the orbiter to allow investigators to look for patterns in
48548-410: Was further compounded by pressure to adhere to a launch schedule for construction of the ISS. In its report, the CAIB discussed potential options that could have saved Columbia ' s crew. They determined that the mission could have been extended to at most 30 days (February 15), after which the lithium hydroxide canisters used to remove carbon dioxide would have run out. On STS-107, Columbia
48777-528: Was killed in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986. While McAuliffe and Morgan were classified as spaceflight participants and not as mission specialists in 1986, after the Teacher in Space Project was canceled, Morgan assumed the duties of Teacher in Space Designee and continued to work with NASA's Education Division until her selection as NASA's first mission specialist educator in 1998. Morgan completed two years of training and evaluation and began official duties in 2000. An Educator Astronaut
49006-403: Was later improved to 270,000 kg (586,000 lb). The Spacelab module was a European-funded pressurized laboratory that was carried within the payload bay and allowed for scientific research while in orbit. The Spacelab module contained two 2.7 m (9 ft) segments that were mounted in the aft end of the payload bay to maintain the center of gravity during flight. Astronauts entered
49235-487: Was likely much earlier. The remains of the crew members indicated they all experienced depressurization. The astronauts' helmets have a visor that, when closed, can temporarily protect the crew member from depressurization. None of the crew members had closed their visors, and one was not wearing a helmet; this would indicate that depressurization occurred quickly before they could take protective measures. They were rendered unconscious or deceased within seconds and tissue damage
49464-406: Was located below the flight deck and was where the galley and crew bunks were set up, as well as three or four crew member seats. The mid-deck contained the airlock, which could support two astronauts on an extravehicular activity (EVA), as well as access to pressurized research modules. An equipment bay was below the mid-deck, which stored environmental control and waste management systems. On
49693-527: Was lost on STS-115 , but did not strike the orbiter. John reported after further review of photos taken on flight day three, they do not feel the damage went all the way through the tile, but focused inspection is still planned for flight day five, and decisions would not be made until more information is obtained. Five specific areas will be inspected during focused inspection, and with the data gathered, thermal testing can be done to determine what actions, if any, need to be taken. Overall, John Shannon classified
49922-432: Was moved from the Orbiter Processing Facility, bay OPF-2 to the Vehicle Assembly Building on July 2, 2007. On July 10, 2007, Endeavour moved from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39A. Moving at less than one mile per hour (1.6 kilometres (0.99 mi)/h) atop the crawler-transporter , the move began at 20:10 EDT, and was "hard down" (secured in place at the pad) at 03:02 EDT, July 11, 2007. The crew completed
50151-442: Was moved to the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) on March 13, 1978. Enterprise underwent shake tests in the Mated Vertical Ground Vibration Test, where it was attached to an external tank and solid rocket boosters, and underwent vibrations to simulate the stresses of launch. In April 1979, Enterprise was taken to the KSC, where it was attached to an external tank and solid rocket boosters, and moved to LC-39 . Once installed at
50380-471: Was never used). The Johnson Space Center (JSC) served as the central point for all Shuttle operations and the MSFC was responsible for the main engines, external tank, and solid rocket boosters. The John C. Stennis Space Center handled main engine testing, and the Goddard Space Flight Center managed the global tracking network. The orbiter had design elements and capabilities of both a rocket and an aircraft to allow it to launch vertically and then land as
50609-472: Was not concerned about the tile damage, and would be comfortable with any decision NASA made, "My understanding is this tile damage is not an issue of the safety of the crew... I'm not concerned with our safety." The main reason for fixing it, he noted, would be to assist with processing once the orbiter was back at the Kennedy Space Center. During the Mission Management Team briefing, Kirk Shireman, Deputy International Space Station Program Manager, reported that
50838-422: Was not launched under conditions where it could have been struck by lightning , as its exhaust plume could have triggered lightning by providing a current path to ground after launch, which occurred on Apollo 12 . The NASA Anvil Rule for a Shuttle launch stated that an anvil cloud could not appear within a distance of 19 km (10 nmi). The Shuttle Launch Weather Officer monitored conditions until
51067-448: Was soon rescinded by NASA Mission Management Team Chair Linda Ham after she investigated the origin of it. She had consulted with Flight Director Phil Engelauf and members of the Mission Management Team, who stated that they did not have a requirement for imagery of Columbia . Ham did not consult with the Debris Assessment Team, and cancelled the imagery request on the basis that it had not been made through official channels. Maneuvering
51296-468: Was stored in unused office space at the Vehicle Assembly Building , except for parts of the crew compartment, which were kept separate. By the end of reconstruction efforts only 720 items remained classified as unknown. In July 2011, lower water levels caused by a drought revealed a four-foot-diameter (1.2 m) piece of debris in Lake Nacogdoches . NASA identified the piece as a power reactant storage and distribution tank. About ninety minutes after
51525-415: Was switched to manual control and reset to automatic mode at 9:00:03; this would have required the input of either Husband or McCool, indicating that they were still conscious and able to perform functions at the time. All hydraulic pressure was lost, and McCool's final switch configurations indicate that he had tried to restore the hydraulic systems at some time after 9:00:05. At 9:00:18, the orbiter began
51754-418: Was tested on STS-2 and STS-3, and the first full mission was on STS-9. Three RS-25 engines, also known as the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME), were mounted on the orbiter's aft fuselage in a triangular pattern. The engine nozzles could gimbal ±10.5° in pitch, and ±8.5° in yaw during ascent to change the direction of their thrust to steer the Shuttle. The titanium alloy reusable engines were independent of
51983-487: Was the most consistent with the damage observed on Columbia , indicating it was the damaged panel that led to the in-flight breakup. The CAIB was critical of NASA organizational culture, and compared its current state to that of NASA leading up to the Challenger disaster. It concluded that NASA was experiencing budget constraints while still expecting to keep a high level of launches and operations. Program operating costs were lowered by 21% from 1991 to 1994, despite
52212-444: Was the top level of the crew compartment and contained the flight controls for the orbiter. The commander sat in the front left seat, and the pilot sat in the front right seat, with two to four additional seats set up for additional crew members. The instrument panels contained over 2,100 displays and controls, and the commander and pilot were both equipped with a heads-up display (HUD) and a Rotational Hand Controller (RHC) to gimbal
52441-498: Was vented from the nose to cause the ET to tumble, ensuring that it would break up upon reentry. The ET was the only major component of the Space Shuttle system that was not reused, and it would travel along a ballistic trajectory into the Indian or Pacific Ocean. For the first two missions, STS-1 and STS-2 , the ET was covered in 270 kg (595 lb) of white fire-retardant latex paint to provide protection against damage from ultraviolet radiation. Further research determined that
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