Thanks for the reminder, Thrill.

I worked on the recovery effort in the vacinity of San Augustine TX. Anybody else do that? It was a wonderful experience. It sounds weird I guess, but I'd like to work on another disaster. The camaraderie with others and personal focus from within are moments to live for. If you're interested, I wrote a longish essay about it. PM me if you'd like a copy.

Also worked on high resolution photo-interpretation for the flight path from Lubbock to Mineral Wells, TX. We were looking for one specific portion. No joy, but fascinating work.

My younger bro is an ME contractor at JSC and is working on impact studies for reentry vehicles.

Botnst

Article about anniversary observances.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3533-2004Feb1.html?nav=hptoc_n

NASA says Columbia crew had no chance to survive
Tue Dec 30, 2008 11:49pm GMT
By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Astronauts on the shuttle Columbia were trying to regain control of their craft before it broke apart in 2003, but there was no chance of surviving the accident, a NASA report said on Tuesday.

From the crew's perspective, the shift from what appeared to be a normal descent on February 1, 2003, into disaster happened so fast that the astronauts didn't even have time to close the visors on their helmets.

Columbia broke apart about 12 miles over Texas as it headed for landing at the Kennedy Space Center. The cause of the accident was traced to a hole in one of the shuttle's wings, which was hit by a piece of falling foam insulation during launch 16 days earlier.

Seven astronauts, including Israel's first astronaut Ilan Ramon, were killed when superheated atmospheric gases blasted inside the breach like a blow torch, melting the ship's structure.

The crew cabin broke away from the ship and started spinning rapidly. Analysis of the wreckage indicated the crew members had flipped cockpit switches in response to alarms that were sounding. The astronauts had also reset the shuttle's autopilot system, the report said.

"We have evidence from some of the switch positions that the crew was trying very hard to regain control. We're talking about a very brief time in a crisis situation," said NASA's deputy associate administrator, Wayne Hale.

But rapid depressurization caused the Columbia crew to lose consciousness, and medical findings show that they could not have recovered, said the report, which took four years to compile.

"This report confirms that although the valiant Columbia crew tried every possible way to maintain control of their vehicle, the accident was not ultimately survivable," said Hale, who oversaw the shuttle program during its return to flight after the accident.

TRAUMATIC INJURIES

Analysis shows the astronauts' shoulder harnesses failed and their helmets did not adequately protect their heads. The lack of safety restraints caused traumatic injuries.

The investigation also found problems with the shuttle's seats and parachute landing system, which requires astronauts be conscious to operate manually.

Even if the safety gear had worked, the astronauts would have died due to the winds, shock waves and other extreme conditions in the upper atmosphere.

Designing spacesuits that are more automated and integrated into future spaceships is among 30 recommendations made in the report.

"I call on spacecraft designers from all the other nations of the world, as well as the commercial and personal spacecraft designers here at home to read this report and apply these hard lessons which have been paid for so dearly," Hale said.

Also killed in the accident were shuttle commander Rick Husband, pilot William McCool and astronauts Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla and Laurel Clark.

Much of what is in the report was discovered by the Columbia accident investigation team, which released a series of findings and recommendations six months after the disaster.

The panel advised retiring the space shuttles as soon as NASA finishes using them to complete construction of the International Space Station, a $100 billion project of 16 partner countries that has been under way for more than a decade. The shuttle Challenger broke apart in 1986.

Since the accident, NASA has flown 11 shuttle missions and has nine left in its schedule. A 10th mission to fly a physics experiment to the space station is under consideration.

Still sad to this day...
Those astronauts were some of the bravest people in the world.

Once the last 9 missions are done, we will be back to using one shot capsules. Talk about going back in time...
Here is the Orion replacement



Here is what it was named after

Attached Thumbnails

 

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Read the same story this past evening...it does bring up some sad moments...

When Challenger went, I was watching the launch on a small B&W 5" screen in Master Control of the first TV station I worked for...the second it started to blow up I knew something was way too wrong then...I ran into the News Area (we didn't really have a "News Office") and told our talent that something serious was happening with the shuttle launch and I didn't think it was too good...needless to say, damn...I was correct...

Then when the Columbia was coming back in...for some reason the Networks had it on that morning and I remember that I started thinking that "...this just sucks..." ... and the fact that the cameras kept rolling and following the pieces as they kept spreading further and further apart...all the while flaming and glowing...leaving a comet-tail trailing behind in the wake behind each piece...

Now, this...

You have to understand that it takes about 75Gs to kill (I'm not sure where I remember reading that...) so to think that as the shuttle cabin is being ripped apart at 12,500mph, that the G-forces are anything under 3-figures is ridiculous...all I can say is that no one in that cabin had the slightest clue what hit them...IF they suffocated, they were unconscious when it happened...God would have made sure of that...

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“I didn’t really say everything I said.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ Yogi Berra ~

According to the report they were aware of the unfolding disaster for 40-odd seconds. I think those kind of people would prefer to be conscious and fighting for life up to the end.

What part were they looking for?

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Wings. IIRC especially actuators and control surfaces. I suppose they had reason even that early that there was a wing problem. Or maybe wings tear-off early in a high altitude disaster and have more wind resistance, so would come to Earth early in the break-up.

Your ranch is north of the flight path, correct?

When I saw the header for this, I thought, "Damn, I'm going to really have to pay more attention to the news. How did I miss another shuttle disaster?" I'm glad it was just the revival of an old thread.

Remember when we used to sit around, glued to the TV for every NASA launch?

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Yeah. Sat there watching Alan Sheppard sitting on top of that rocket .... waiting .... Then the countdown started. At 10, all the kids burst into spontaneous chorus, "9, 8, 7, 6 ......"! It was thrilling.

BHF is well south of the track...>100 miles or so. We didn't own the place in 2003 tho.

It wasn't much of a leap to realize that the fight surfaces were involved; NASA already knew debris from the external tank had impacted the wings of shuttles in prior launches.

I used to be a partner in a governmental training business. One of our instructors had been assistant auditor general for NASA just prior to the loss of Columbia; he didn't have much nice to say about the 'corporate' culture there. Specifically, that deep down, not much had changed internally post-Challenger. An excellent read on the facts behind Challenger's loss can be found in Dr. Richard Feynman's book: What Do You Care What Other People Think?: Further Adventures of a Curious Character

I'd imagine that if Feynman had still been alive when Columbia went down, he wouldn't have been asked to be on the Columbia commission.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

It amazes me how much of the debris they are able to recover from disasters like this and plane crashes.

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Yeah, Feynman sure busted them big time in the book. I remember the video feed from a news conference in which he accused NASA of pressuring for a certain determination. Bet it's on Youtube. (found it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qAi_9quzUY&feature=related )

My brother says there is a lot of tension between engineers who think getting it right is more important than money, and money counters who think projects should run within budgets. There should be tension, but not domination.

I would have loved to meet Dr. Feynman. The first I ever knew of him was on NOVA back in the late 1980s. He instantly became my hero and I've read everything about him or by him that I can get mitts onto.

If he'd been my physics professor, my life would certainly have taken a different direction.

Ever heard of Tuva?

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Never heard of Tuva. I'm at work and will search from home (later).