246-666: STS-120 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) that launched on October 23, 2007, from the Kennedy Space Center , Florida. The mission is also referred to as ISS-10A by the ISS program. STS-120 delivered the Harmony module and reconfigured a portion of the station in preparation for future assembly missions. STS-120 was flown by Space Shuttle Discovery , and
492-405: 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 ,
738-425: 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
984-1031: A spaceplane to a runway landing, usually to 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
1230-518: 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
1476-603: 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
1722-492: 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,
1968-657: A Power and Data Grapple Fixture (PDGF) for the station's robot arm, and a Shuttle Power Distribution Unit (SPDU). Harmony was manufactured for NASA by Thales Alenia Space in Torino , Italy, as part of an agreement between NASA and the European Space Agency and was the first pressurized habitable module delivered to the station since the Pirs docking compartment was installed in August 2001. Since STS-120 docked to
2214-444: 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
2460-571: 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
2706-497: 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
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#17327721860972952-529: A few laughs along the way... What I'd like to say is: What we are doing here is very important for all of human kind. It's worth the risk, it's worth the cost, and you folks on the ground are the people who make it happen. So I want you to take pride in your work and constantly look toward the heavens, for it is there you will see your future. For all the flight control, training and engineering teams in Houston, Huntsville and Moscow... I say thank you, you are indeed
3198-503: A four-person subset of the full STS-122 crew. [REDACTED] This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration . 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
3444-467: 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
3690-598: 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
3936-601: 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
4182-482: 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
4428-534: 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
4674-530: 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
4920-558: 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
5166-590: 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
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#17327721860975412-425: 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
5658-481: 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
5904-526: 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
6150-675: 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)
6396-671: 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
6642-670: 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
6888-410: 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,
7134-443: 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
7380-590: A task to the second EVA, asking the astronauts to visually inspect the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ) on the starboard side, as the joint has registered some vibration for the past month and a half. While the friction is not constant or severe, managers will have Tani remove the insulation covers from the joint to photograph the swing bolts on the joint since Tani would be near the area during the EVA. The two crews worked to prepare Harmony for entry in
7626-489: A threat to the thermal protection system. The ice was attached to a Kapton purge barrier near the LH2 umbilical pyrotechnic canister closeout. It had been shown in tests that ice on this liner, sometimes called a "baggie", would likely come off at main engine ignition. Had it been on other metal surfaces around the liner, this may have posed a threat of staying on and breaking off at a critical part of launch. Despite these issues,
STS-120 - Misplaced Pages Continue
7872-893: 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
8118-651: 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 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
8364-466: 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
8610-428: 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
8856-448: A worksite, although the task was tested and demonstrated during STS-121 to show the boom could provide a stable work platform for EVA activities. After being awakened by the theme music from Star Wars , the station and shuttle crews got to work preparing for the mission's fourth EVA. The spacewalk began at 10:03 UTC. After translating out to the robotic arm, Parazynski attached himself to the adjustable portable foot restraint (APFR), and
9102-584: 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
9348-452: 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
9594-522: 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
9840-513: 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
10086-537: 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,
STS-120 - Misplaced Pages Continue
10332-780: 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
10578-571: 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
10824-610: 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
11070-528: The P5 truss on Tuesday. Managers on the ground had Whitson perform an experiment on the shavings Tani collected from the SARJ on Sunday's EVA, putting a magnet under a slip of paper, and testing to see if the shavings collected on the paper, to ascertain if they were metal. The test confirmed the particles collected by Tani were ferrous . This information allowed the managers on the ground to rule out some possibilities of
11316-654: The Pressurized Mating Adapter -2 (PMA-2) on the forward port of the Destiny module, installation of Harmony occurred in two stages: STS-120 installed Harmony to the port node of the Unity module. After Discovery undocked, the station's robotic arm detached PMA-2 from Destiny , and moved it to the forward port of Harmony . Following the relocation of PMA-2, the robotic arm was used to move Harmony from its initial position to its final position, on
11562-556: 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
11808-553: 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
12054-512: 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 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
12300-455: 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
12546-633: 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
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#173277218609712792-639: The Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), due to a hydraulic fluid leak from the right main landing gear strut. The strut repair was successfully completed on September 19, 2007. Discovery then moved to the VAB, and was mated to the External Tank and Solid Rocket Boosters . Perched atop the mobile launcher platform , Discovery arrived at Launch complex 39A on September 30, 2007. The crew of STS-120 arrived at Kennedy Space Center on October 7, 2007, and began final preparations, including
13038-411: 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
13284-540: 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
13530-482: The liquid oxygen feed-line brackets. The change involved a new low-density foam application, and thinner gaskets. Shuttle Program Managers decided to do this to reduce the foam loss from the area that had been noted since STS-114 's "Return to Flight" mission in 2005. STS-118 had a small gouge on the belly of the orbiter due to a chunk of foam that impacted during launch in August 2007. The week of September 17, 2007, NASA managers decided to delay Discovery's rollover to
13776-484: 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
14022-400: The terminal countdown demonstration test , or "Dress Rehearsal", scheduled for October 7, 2007, through October 10, 2007. On October 9, 2007, NASA's Engineering and Safety Center, an independent review group set up after the 2003 Columbia disaster, advised replacement of three of Discovery's reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) panels on the leading wing edge, due to a loss of small amounts of
14268-562: The 2007 Student Signatures in Space program, jointly sponsored by NASA and Lockheed Martin. In celebration of Space Day in May 2007, students from over 500 schools around the world signed giant posters. Their signatures were scanned onto a disk, and the disk was manifested on the STS-120 mission. Also during STS-120, the lightsaber used by actor Mark Hamill in the 1983 film Return of the Jedi
14514-448: 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
14760-452: 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
15006-465: 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
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#173277218609715252-421: 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
15498-526: 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
15744-425: 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
15990-426: 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
16236-461: 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
16482-492: 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
16728-515: 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,
16974-416: 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
17220-473: The ET. The SRBs were jettisoned before the vehicle reached orbit, while the main engines continued to operate, and 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
17466-409: The EVA at 17:22 UTC. With the mission's final spacewalk completed, Parazynski has completed seven EVAs, for a total time of 47 hours, 05 minutes, placing him 5th overall for total EVA duration. Wheelock completed three EVAs, for a total time of 20 hours, 41 minutes, and the total EVA time for STS-120 was 27 hours, 14 minutes. During the EVA, a pair of needlenose pliers floated free of the equipment, and
17712-478: The EVAs, and doing some preliminary work to get ready for docking with the International Space Station on Thursday. Deputy Shuttle Program Manager and Mission Management Team (MMT) chairman John Shannon noted during the status briefing that the preliminary data the team had reviewed showed no items of concern, and the ascent imagery showed no significant losses prior to SRB separation. Shannon said there were several items
17958-627: 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
18204-470: 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
18450-485: 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
18696-497: 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 ,
18942-473: The P6 solar array was attached, the process of deploying the arrays began. The first set of arrays, 2B, was successfully deployed with no issues, but during the deployment of the 4B array, the crew halted when they noticed an abnormality. Initial images taken by the crew and station cameras showed what appeared to be a tear in a small portion of the array. During a press briefing, ISS Program Manager Mike Suffredini said
19188-576: 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 ,
19434-527: The RPM, the crew was given the "Go" to dock with the station, and successful docking to the International Space Station occurred at 12:40 UTC. Following docking, the joint crews conducted a station safety review, and Tani's custom Soyuz seatliner was transferred from Discovery to the Soyuz TMA-11 , with Anderson's seat liner taken into Discovery . This marked the official end of Expedition 16 for Anderson, and
19680-528: 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
19926-505: 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,
20172-558: 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
20418-634: The STS-120 flight, Paolo Nespoli conducted science research as part of the Esperia mission for ESA. According to the STS-120 press kit, Nespoli was to carry out a number of experiments on behalf of the European science community. Two of these experiments (Chromosome‐2 and Neocytolysis) were sponsored by ESA. The other three (HPA, FRTL‐5 and SPORE) were sponsored by the Italian Space Agency . Chromosome‐2, Neocytolysis and HPA were experiments in
20664-548: 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
20910-442: 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,
21156-399: 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
21402-526: 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
21648-583: 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
21894-468: The United States, flying over Montana . At 17:53, the orbiter entered Florida, flying at a speed of 3,500 mph (5,600 km/h), and an altitude of 118,000 feet (36,000 m). Discovery touched down on runway 33 at 13:01:18 EST, the rear landing gear touching down first, the nose gear touching down at 13:01:32 EDT, and the orbiter came to a complete stop at 13:02:13 EDT. Total mission time
22140-424: 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
22386-459: 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
22632-585: 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
22878-401: 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
23124-488: 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
23370-710: 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
23616-476: The back side of the tank. Due to the temperature and humidity, combined with the angle of the Sun for Discovery's launch, the plume appeared more dramatic in some of the imagery. This was considered an "expected condition", and Shannon confirmed it was of no concern. The crew of STS-120 worked through the rendezvous procedures in the morning leading to the rendezvous pitch maneuver which began at 11:34 UTC. Following
23862-560: The best and the brightest that our world has to offer. The two crews spent the morning preparing for Discovery's undocking from the International Space Station. At 10:32 UTC, the orbiter successfully backed away from the Pressurized Mating Adapter on the Destiny Laboratory, and pilot Zamka began the fly-around to allow the shuttle crew to photograph the new configuration of the station. After performing
24108-452: 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
24354-562: 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
24600-461: 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
24846-507: The burn, the remaining propellant in the orbiter's maneuvering thrusters was dumped overboard, at 17:13 UTC. Discovery began to feel the effects of gravity around 400,000 feet (120,000 m), as it traveled above the North Pacific Ocean at 17:30 UTC. As the orbiter descended, Melroy initiated a series of "rolls", and roll reversals, which serve to create friction and bleed off additional speed. At 17:40 UTC, Discovery entered
25092-465: The changes to the timeline, the crew would be shifting their sleep schedule, to allow for a daylight landing on Wednesday, rather than the early morning landing that was originally planned. The fifth EVA that was planned for the Expedition 16 crew during the mission was delayed, and will be performed by the station crew after the shuttle departs. The shuttle and station crews spent the day discussing
25338-550: 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
25584-477: 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
25830-440: The crew began fluid loading at 16:00 UTC. Fluid loading is a procedure that involves drinking high salt content fluids, which allows the astronauts to adjust to the return to gravity, and reduces the chance of hypotension upon returning to Earth. Shortly after 16:00 UTC, the crew began to get into their launch and entry suits, and ingress into their respective seats for landing. At 16:50 UTC, Entry Flight Director Bryan Lunney gave
26076-425: 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),
26322-407: 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
26568-434: 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
26814-595: 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
27060-484: The crew that Thursday's planned EVA would be postponed to either Friday, or perhaps Saturday, to allow for a new EVA plan to be worked out, which would include troubleshooting of the P6 solar arrays. Shortly after awakening in the morning, the crew was informed that the managers had chosen to take an extra day to evaluate and plan the fourth EVA. Managers initially planned for the EVA to be done on flight day 11, but would use an extra day to conduct further analysis and allow
27306-401: The crew the "go" for deorbit burn. The initiation of the burn committed Discovery to landing. The burn was initiated at 16:59 UTC, and was one minute and 53 seconds in duration. The deorbit burn is performed while the orbiter is facing opposite its direction of travel, which allows the engines to act as a braking system, slowing its speed by approximately 215 feet per second (66 m/s). After
27552-459: The crew to have extra time to make the tools and equipment needed, and to review and practice the procedures. The crew took some time out to gather in the Harmony module to speak with former President George H. W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, who were visiting Johnson Space Center. The rest of the day was devoted to assembling and configuring the new equipment and tools that would be required for
27798-410: The crew took high resolution images of the solar array, and the managers would analyze the images overnight to determine a course of action. Sufredini mentioned that with the array in the 90% unfurled position, it was still generating 97% of the expected power to the station, only slightly less than a fully unfurled array. The crew began the day working through a variety of tasks, including preparing for
28044-416: 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
28290-415: 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
28536-419: 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
28782-444: 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
29028-410: The data sent down by the final inspection on Monday. The crew of Discovery got to work preparing for landing following their wake up call. NASA did not activate either Edwards Air Force Base , or White Sands , as the weather looked favorable for both landing opportunities at Kennedy. The weather forecast at the Shuttle Landing Facility called for good visibility, with mostly sunny skies, although
29274-452: The day by preparing for the mission's first spacewalk, which began at 10:02 UTC, and ended at 16:16 UTC. Parazynski and Wheelock successfully completed all EVA activities, including preparing Harmony for removal from the payload bay. Wilson, Tani, and Anderson controlled the station's robotic arm, moving Harmony out of the bay and onto the port side of the Unity node . At 15:38 UTC, Harmony
29520-492: 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
29766-439: 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,
30012-421: 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,
30258-518: 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),
30504-516: 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 ,
30750-500: 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
30996-452: 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
31242-667: 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
31488-623: 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
31734-492: 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,
31980-512: 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
32226-605: 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
32472-460: The field of human physiology. FRTL‐5 and SPORE were biology experiments. NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Gemini program , which was first used to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 15 . Each track is specially chosen, often by their families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities. STS-320
32718-623: 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
32964-419: The final separation burn, focused inspection began, to scan the wing leading edges and nose cap, the final analysis that allows the ground team to clear the orbiter for re-entry on Wednesday. The crew of Discovery spent the day preparing Wednesday's landing. In addition to doing final packing and stowing activities, Melroy and Zamka did a check of the orbiter's systems, including the flight control systems, and
33210-620: 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
33456-474: 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),
33702-481: 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
33948-635: 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
34194-611: The forward port of Destiny . The final positioning of Harmony allowed for the later installation of the European Columbus and Japanese Kibō research modules, which were attached to the side ports of Harmony . During STS-120, the P6 solar arrays were moved from the Z1 truss on top of Unity , to their final position at the port end of the truss. STS-120 carried the signatures of over 500,000 students that participated in
34440-424: 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,
34686-482: The fourth EVA, installing a Zero Gravity Stowage Rack in Harmony , and working with some of the experiments on board. Nespoli and Melroy participated in a Public Affairs event (PAO), and received a call from the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano . The entire crew took part in a second PAO event, fielding calls from news agencies from the United States, Europe, and Russia. Around 15:00 UTC, mission control informed
34932-414: 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
35178-500: The headwinds would be evaluated, as they had been peaking at 23 knots (43 km/h). Due to the sleep shifting done by the crew earlier in the mission to schedule the extra mission days, the landing was done on what is called a "descending" node entry. Unlike ascending node entries, this entry trajectory brought the shuttle diagonally across the United States for the first time since STS-107 . The shuttle passed over Vancouver, British Columbia , Canada, and angled down towards Florida. Once
35424-637: 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
35670-450: 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
35916-402: 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
36162-501: 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,
36408-504: 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
36654-575: 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
36900-505: The launch continued as planned. The forecast for launch initially was a 60% chance of weather prohibiting launch, and although the launch team weather officers were tracking an incoming storm, the weather remained favorable for launch. Present for the launch was George Lucas , to see off the Star Wars lightsaber. In a press briefing following launch, NASA managers noted a few "events" involving debris, but they occurred later in ascent, after
37146-490: 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
37392-408: 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 ,
37638-479: 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
37884-425: The managers, including handrails on a Crew and Equipment Translation Aid (CETA) cart, that was considered as a possible cause of Rick Mastracchio 's glove tear on STS-118. Tani noted the handrail appeared to be intact, with no obvious sharp edges. Tani then moved on to the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ) that has had an intermittent vibration for over a month. After removing the cover from the joint, Tani called down to
38130-437: 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
38376-404: 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
38622-470: The morning, connecting power and data cables, and at 12:24 UTC, the hatch was opened, and the crew was allowed to enter. Whitson, Malenchenko, and Nespoli entered first, wearing masks, and installed a temporary air duct to the node, to allow the air inside to circulate through the station's filters. Until the air is fully exchanged, occupancy of the node is limited to only a few crew members at a time, and they are not to remain inside for extended periods. Some of
38868-507: The new EVA plan with managers on the ground, reviewing the procedures, completing the tool configurations, and going over the timeline for the fourth EVA, scheduled for Saturday. The crew also positioned the station's mobile transporter and robotic arm on the end of the truss, to allow the apparatus to reach the solar array. Saturday's EVA would be the first operational use of the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) to reach
39114-460: The new flight plan, Discovery would undock on November 5, 2007, with a landing on November 7, 2007, at approximately 05:11 EST. The two crews spent the morning preparing for the mission's third EVA, which began at 08:45 UTC. The EVA completed the installation of the P6 solar arrays onto the P5 truss, and the rest of the EVA activities were accomplished successfully, with the EVA ending at 15:53 UTC. Once
39360-434: 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
39606-424: 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
39852-436: 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
40098-453: 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
40344-628: 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
40590-473: 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
40836-682: 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
41082-458: 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
41328-474: The orbiter reached Florida, Melroy performed a 195-degree right overhead turn along the heading alignment cone (HAC) in order to line up for a landing on Runway 33. The first landing opportunity began with a deorbit burn at 16:59 UTC and finished with a landing at 13:01 EST. The deorbit burns were done to slow the orbiter's speed and to drop it out of freefall orbit and on target for the designated runway. Discovery's payload bay doors were closed at 14:13 UTC, and
41574-424: 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
41820-437: 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
42066-467: 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
42312-510: 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
42558-549: 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
42804-528: 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
43050-553: 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
43296-419: 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
43542-406: The origin of the particles, such as the thermal covers, which are made of aluminized mylar. The Mission Management Team discussed the SARJ issues with the ISS team, and decided to add an extra docked day to the mission, between flight days 11 and 12. The new plan changed the objectives of EVA four from the heat shield repair materials testing, to a more thorough inspection of the starboard SARJ. With
43788-549: 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
44034-545: The panels, the orbiter would have been rolled back to the VAB, delaying the launch. On October 16, 2007, NASA Managers completed the Flight Readiness Review, and held a press conference to announce the mission plan. The issue of the RCC panels raised by NESC was found to be of little immediate concern, because the NESC took pre-flight thermography data from Endeavour and compared it with Discovery , but there
44280-458: The panels." Discovery launched on time at 11:38 EDT (15:38 UTC ). In the countdown's final minutes, a piece of ice, measuring 4 inches (10 cm) x .5 inches (1.3 cm) was seen on the hydrogen umbilical between the orbiter and the external tank. The inspection team was called back to the pad (a contingency that has been practiced, and used before), to get a closer look at the ice build-up. NASA flight controllers deemed it too small to pose
44526-653: The period of maximum aerodynamic velocity and speed, and were not concerning. The crew of STS-120 spent their first full day in space by performing the RCC survey, using the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS), and the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS). The crew also worked on various tasks such as inspecting the Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs, or spacesuits) that will be used on
44772-443: The piece of ice that was looked at prior to launch dislodged during main engine ignition, and as it fell, the ice appeared to graze the underside of the orbiter at the beginning of ascent, but the area around the impact site was in good condition, and the ice did not appear to have caused any damage. Shannon said the teams would continue to evaluate the imagery and data, but the shuttle was in a good configuration. The two crews started
45018-412: The port (left side) SARJ, using photography and video to compare it to the starboard SARJ inspected by Tani. The two crews used the morning to move the P6 truss from its overnight position on the station's robotic arm, over to the shuttle's robotic arm. The crew then moved the station's arm along the mobile transporter to an outboard work site that allows attachment of the P6 truss to its new location on
45264-405: 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
45510-400: 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
45756-428: The protective silicon - carbide coating. NASA reviewed the issue of oxidation of the panels for several months, using a variety of specialized testing methods, including thermography . These tests showed that the panels had not worsened over the course of the past two flights of Discovery , and the orbiter project engineers concluded in August that Discovery was safe to launch as is. Had a decision been made to repair
46002-453: The reaction control system jets. The crew took some time out in the morning to speak to the media, and then had a deorbit preparation briefing with the ground team. Melroy performed a burn of the orbiter's engines in the afternoon, an orbit adjustment burn done to refine the orbiter's trajectory for the two Wednesday landing opportunities at Kennedy Space Center. NASA managers officially cleared Discovery' s heat shield for landing after reviewing
46248-465: 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
46494-636: 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
46740-527: The same time. Prior to the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster , the original crew manifest for STS-120 was: The STS-120 mission patch was designed by Michael Foreman before he was reassigned to STS-123 . STS-120 delivered launch package 10A to the International Space Station (ISS). It consisted of the U.S. Harmony module (also known as Node 2), with four DC-to-DC Converter Unit (DDCU) racks and three Zero-g Storage Racks (ZSR) installed;
46986-525: The second EVA. Parazynski and Tani began the spacewalk at 09:32 UTC, a half-hour ahead of the planned timeline. The pair started with the P6 truss, removing the attachments to the Z1 truss, which allowed Wilson and Wheelock to use the station's robotic arm to move the truss to a position where it was "parked" for the night. Joking to Wilson "Don't drop it!", Parazynski then moved on and installed handrails onto Harmony , while Tani went to inspect some items requested by
47232-529: 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
47478-488: The small gouge to the underside of Endeavour that occurred on STS-118 , in August 2007, NASA managers announced that they expected to add a fifth spacewalk to the STS-120 mission, designed to test a heat-shield repair tool. The repair technique was originally scheduled for a flight in 2008, but following STS-118, it was decided to move up the testing. The repair tool, called a TPS (thermal protection system) repair ablator dispenser (T-RAD), has never been tested in space, so
47724-399: The solar array panels. The EVA plans call for the space station's robotic arm to grapple the shuttle's orbital inspection boom, with an extension on the end, to allow Parazynski to reach the solar array while positioned on a foot restraint at the end of the system. Wheelock will be watching to let the team know the clearances, and to assist Parazynski and the robotics team with positioning. With
47970-428: The solar array repair, including a tool termed a "cufflink". The tear in the array is located at one of the hinges, which carries the load of the array, so the cufflink will be a load-bearing strap to relieve the pressure from the snagged area, transferring the load from the hinge, to the cufflink. The cufflink is made up of two wires, with two tabs at the end, that are threaded through existing reinforced aluminum holes in
48216-478: The spacewalk would have allowed managers to evaluate its effectiveness in low gravity environments. During the course of the mission, issues with the S4 starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ), and P6 Solar Array, deferred this test objective to a future mission. The mission marked: Following STS-118 in August 2007, NASA managers decided to make modifications to the external tank to be used on STS-120, and modify
48462-441: 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
48708-496: The start of Tani's increment. Just before the two crews signed off to sleep, they were informed that after preliminary review of the RPM photography, focused inspection of the orbiter's heat shield would not be required. During the MMT briefing, Shannon confirmed that initial evaluation of the available data showed Discovery to be a "pretty clean vehicle". He also confirmed they were not working any issues or items of interest. Shannon said
48954-445: The team to let them know he saw some metal shavings, and some wear patterns and discoloration on one of the rings inside the joint. "It's like the result that you get with the metal, iron filings and you put a magnet under it and they stand straight up." Tani collected some of the shavings onto some tape, which returned to Earth with the shuttle for further analysis. Managers decided to add a task to Tuesday's EVA, having Parazynski inspect
49200-419: The team was waiting for higher resolution imagery to assess, including a possible protruding gap filler, and some external tank foam losses, but there was nothing to indicate any problems. Shannon also noted that a vapor trail was seen coming off the external tank for several seconds during launch, but noted that this was a condition seen during both STS-114, and STS-121 , and was found to be condensate coming off
49446-610: 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,
49692-400: The traditional farewell ceremony, the hatches were closed at 20:03 UTC. During the emotional ceremony, Anderson spoke to the ground crew, expressing his gratitude for their support during his 137 days as an Expedition crewmember. You all kept me safe, you've shown me unwavering patience and professionalism... And you've all overlooked my shortcomings, and it's my hope that maybe you've even had
49938-418: 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
50184-467: 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
50430-417: 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
50676-425: 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
50922-427: The work the crew has to do inside the node is to remove approximately 700 screws and bolts that are holding down equipment and panels, placed for security during launch, but not needed in space. After allowing the ventilation system work for several hours, the two crews participated in a press conference with CBS , Fox News , and WHAM-TV from inside Harmony . The two crews awoke at 05:08 UTC, and began preparing for
51168-519: Was 1,323 days. Space Shuttle components include the Orbiter Vehicle (OV) with three clustered Rocketdyne RS-25 main engines, 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
51414-409: Was 15 days, 2 hours, 23 minutes, 55 seconds, for a distance of 6.25 million miles in 238 orbits. The completion of STS-120 marks the longest duration mission for Discovery . Four spacewalks were scheduled and completed during STS-120. The cumulative time in extra-vehicular activity during the mission was 27 hours and 14 minutes. In addition to his participation in the ISS assembly mission during
51660-462: 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
51906-417: 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
52152-427: 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
52398-445: 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
52644-420: 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
52890-414: 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
53136-465: 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
53382-565: 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
53628-512: 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
53874-416: 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
54120-657: 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
54366-495: 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
54612-469: 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)
54858-434: Was flown to the station and returned to Earth. Stowed on-board Discovery for the length of the mission, the prop was flown in honor of the 30th anniversary of the Star Wars franchise. On August 28, 2007, Chewbacca from the Star Wars films presented the lightsaber to NASA officials from Space Center Houston , in an official ceremony at Oakland International Airport . The lightsaber was then flown to Houston, where it
55104-437: 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
55350-406: 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
55596-410: 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
55842-400: Was greeted by Stormtroopers . The lightsaber will be displayed at Space Center Houston. At the time of the Columbia disaster, STS-120 was scheduled for early 2004. It was delayed repeatedly until October 23, 2007. NASA originally scheduled the launch for October 20, 2007, but due to the International Space Station program requirement, launch was delayed to October 23, 2007. In light of
56088-403: 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
56334-487: 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
56580-406: 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
56826-442: 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
57072-471: 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
57318-513: Was no commonality in flight history between the two vehicles. The research showed no significant difference between the panels prior to STS-114, and the panels today, which indicates the coating has not worsened during the previous flights, adding confidence that Discovery's RCC panels have had no deterioration in the flights since. NASA announced on the main shuttle page that "The Space Shuttle Program has determined that Discovery's astronauts can safely carry out their mission without having to replace
57564-422: 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
57810-409: Was observed floating nearby the window by the crew inside the station. The tool floated clear of the station, and was not a hazard. The Shuttle and station crews spent the day transferring cargo, and resting in preparation for Monday's departure of Discovery . Nespoli and Melroy spent some time in the morning speaking to the Italian media, and later in the day the crew had some off-duty time. Following
58056-540: Was officially mated to the space station. The station's new addition adds 2,666 cubic feet (75.5 m) to the station's living volume, an increase of almost 20%, from 15,000 cubic feet (420 m) to 17,666 cubic feet (500.2 m). At the Mission Management Team meeting, managers cleared Discovery's heat shield for reentry, and verified that focused inspection was not required, but noted that late inspection will still be performed on flight day 13 following undocking. John Shannon mentioned that managers have decided to add
58302-448: 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
58548-468: 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
58794-415: 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
59040-432: Was taken to the solar array worksite. Working slowly, with direction from Wheelock and the ground team, Parazynski secured the five cufflinks to the array, and then backed away to observe the deploy action. Inside the station, the crew deployed the array a half a "bay" at a time, and the array was fully deployed at 15:23 UTC. After performing additional inspections of both the 2B, and 4B arrays, Parazynski and Wheelock finished
59286-418: 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
59532-430: Was the designation given to the Contingency Shuttle Crew Support mission which would have been launched in the event Space Shuttle Discovery became disabled during STS-120. It would have been a modified version of the STS-122 mission, which would have involved the launch date being brought forward. If it had been needed, it would have been launched no later than January 5, 2008. The crew for this mission would have been
59778-487: 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
60024-444: 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
60270-435: Was the twenty-third Space Shuttle mission to the ISS. It was Discovery's 34th flight. As commander of STS-120, Pamela Melroy became the second woman (after Eileen Collins ) to command a Space Shuttle mission. Additionally, the Expedition 16 crew that received STS-120 was commanded by Peggy Whitson , the first female ISS commander. The flight of STS-120 thus became the first time two female mission commanders were in space at
60516-498: 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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