Shuttle breaks up on reentry; crew is lost.
At 9:00 AM EST today, mission control at NASA lost all communication with the Space Shuttle Orbiter Columbia (OV-102) as it descended to Earth over North Texas. (*) The shuttle, which made the first space shuttle flight in 1981 (†), was returning to Cape Canaveral in Florida from its sixteen-day mission, STS-107. The shuttle disintegrated. All seven crew members were lost. (‡) President Bush spoke to the country this afternoon. (§)
An independent governmental investigation will probe the cause of the disaster. Early speculation has centered on an anomaly that occurred during launch. A piece of foam from the external fuel tank is said to have broken off, struck the left wing, and possibly damaged some of the heat-resistant tiles. (**) The Columbia had a problem with debris foam damaging its heat-resistant tiles in 1997 during STS-87. (††) There is also talk of a “thermal differential” on the left wing during reentry. Caltech astronomer Anthony Beasley, interviewed by ABC News, said that as he watched the Columbia return to the atmosphere this morning from Owens Valley, California he saw pieces of debris separating from the shuttle. This would indicate that the breakup began earlier than previously thought.
This flight had the heaviest or one of the heaviest payload landing weights in the history of the space shuttle. The shuttle liftoff weight was 452,842 lbs., the orbiter/payload liftoff weight (which apparently excluding the external fuel tank and boosters) was 263,701 lbs., and the orbiter/payload landing weight was 232,788 lbs. (‡‡) I’m not sure of the significance or lack thereof of this.
The International Space Station, of course, remains in orbit. (§§)
There is no reason to believe that terrorism was involved in this incident. (***) No radar data shows the presence of any surface-to-air missile. Of course, sabotage on the ground would be a possibility, but only speculation can support such a notion today.
The disaster underscores the risks of space travel. The seven astronauts lost were Shuttle Commander Rick D. Husband, Pilot William C. McCool, Payload Commander Michael P. Anderson, and Mission Specialists David M. Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, and Ilan Ramon. They knew the grave risks, and not only took them, but sought them out to advance the project of human space flight. Now they have passed into the pantheon of astronautics. They and their heroism will not be forgotten.
Last edited: 8 February 2003.