On February 1, 2003, the 7 member crew of the Space Shuttle
Columbia entered their 16th and final day of a near flawless mission. They had completed everything they had set out to do in what was one of the most successiful scientific missions of the Space Shuttle program. At 8:15am EST, the Space Shuttle
Columbia completed its deorbit burn; it was the 28th time this shuttle, the oldest in the fleet, had performed the deorbit maneuver and it would be her last.
During reentry, the shuttle began to lose several temperature sensors in the aft section of its left wing. At first, this appeared to be only a instrumentational issue but it was quickly discovered that the sensors were in no way connected therefore joint failure was seemly impossible. Knowing that there had been a foam strike on the left wing during launch, those on the ground at mission control could do nothing but wait and pray.
The time came when the shuttle was expected to appear on radar following the blackout period, then that time passed with no sign of
Columbia. Suddenly, it became clear that the 113th mission of the shuttle program had claimed the vehicle and her crew.
In the comming months, it was discovered that the foam strike to the left wing had damaged several thermal tiles on the leading edge of the wing. During reentry, the hot gases that surrounded the shuttle entered the wing through that damaged area and melted the internal frame of the wing (this is why the sensors failed). Soon thereafter the shuttle lost its left wing, began to tumble, and quickly broke up.
The Space Shuttle
Columbia was lost on her 28th flight with her crew:
CDR: Col. Rick Husband (USAF)
Pilot: CDR. William McCool (USN)
MS: Lt. Col. Michael Robinson (USAF)
MS: Dr. Kalpana Chawla (Ph.D)
MS: Dr. Cap. David Brown (USN) (M.D.)
MS: Dr. Cap. Laurel Clark (USN) (M.D.)
PS: Col. Ilan Ramon (Israel Air Force)
As many of you know, I really love the space program. But, STS-107 has always had a special place in my heart even before it was flown. The mission was delayed a full year due to various reasons and during that time I wrote to the crew. The mission pilot, a rookie astronaut, William McCool kindly sent me a personally signed photograph as well as a crew photo signed by each member in November of 2002. Because of his generosity, I followed this mission very closely and was deviasted when it was lost.
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