space shuttle columbia
Expedition 6 Crew Returns Home
The sixth crew of the International Space Station returned to Earth just after 10 p.m. EDT on May 3, the first time U.S. astronauts have landed in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
Russian Mission Control reported at approximately 2:45 a.m. May 4 that the support helicopters reached the crew and all three astronauts were in good health. The capsule appeared to touch down about 276 miles from its planned landing zone.
40,000 lbs of Space Shuttle debris collected so far
The Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) continues their work into the investigation of the accident and a number of hearings are now being held in public. The chairman of the NASA Columbia Task Force (the body that supports the CAIB) gave a detailed briefing a few days ago to ESA and the other International Partners on the status to date. Over 40,000 lbs of debris have been recovered, representing 20% of the total Shuttle mass. However, nothing has yet been recovered west of Texas despite the fact that there is filmed evidence that debris had fallen over California. The search for debris in this area still continues.
The Orbiter Experiments Recorder is the latest piece of important equipment to be found. This is a magnetic tape recorder that records data from various sensors during ascent and re-entry, which had not been tele-metered down to the ground. The recorder is currently at the Kennedy Space Centre and undergoing analyses.
'Blowtorch' risk to shuttle
If an impact from space debris was a factor in the loss of the space shuttle Columbia, NASA had been given ample warning. A report published in 1997 predicted a scenario that has disturbing parallels with what may have befallen the spacecraft. Written by an expert panel convened by the US National Research Council, Protecting the Space Shuttle from Meteoroids and Orbital Debris, warns that debris impacts that penetrate the leading edge or underside of a shuttle wing or fuselage might not be immediately critical or detectable.
NASA to determine how much scientific data was lost
The launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia on January 16, 2003 represented an exciting time for the international research community. Columbia carried more than 80 experiments on a 16-day mission devoted entirely to science. NASA and its researchers are working to determine exactly how much data was lost with the Columbia crew. Some scientific data from Columbia was downlinked to experimental teams on Earth during the mission.
FEMA to Lead Search, Find, and Secure Mission Following Space Shuttle Tragedy
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been designated as the lead federal agency for the search, find, and secure efforts in response to the loss of space shuttle Columbia. Michael Brown, Deputy Director of FEMA and Acting Undersecretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response, will lead FEMA’s efforts.
NASA Mission Control Center Status Report #21
NASA engineers continued to review data and recover debris from the Space Shuttle Columbia today as the analysis of what caused the orbiter to break up Saturday en route to landing continued. Space Shuttle Program Manager Ron Dittemore told an afternoon briefing that several teams of engineers are making progress in their study of data and video from Columbia’s launch and entry, but cautioned that it is a “massive job” requiring round-the-clock efforts to piece together the events that led to a loss of communications with the Shuttle over north central Texas 16 minutes prior to touchdown.
Instructions for Uploading Digital Evidence to NASA
For anyone who has recorded video or taken photos that they believe may be of aid in the investigation of the Space Shuttle Columbia accident, NASA has established a special location on the Web where Internet users may upload their media files to be reviewed by NASA.
NASA STATEMENT ON LOSS OF COMMUNICATIONS WITH COLUMBIA
A Space Shuttle contingency has been declared in Mission Control, Houston, as a result of the loss of communication with the Space Shuttle Columbia at approximately 9 a.m. EST Saturday as it descended toward a landing at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla. It was scheduled to touchdown at 9:16 a.m. EST.
Communication and tracking of the shuttle was lost at 9 a.m. EST at an altitude of about 203,000 feet in the area above north central Texas. At the time communications were lost. The shuttle was traveling approximately 12,500 miles per hour (Mach 18). No communication and tracking information were received in Mission Control after that time.
Search and rescue teams in the Dallas-Fort Worth and in portions of East Texas have been alerted. Any debris that is located in the area that may be related to the Space Shuttle contingency should be avoided and may be hazardous as a result of toxic propellants used aboard the shuttle. The location of any possible debris should immediately be reported to local authorities.
Flight controllers in Mission Control have secured all information, notes and data pertinent to today’s entry and landing by Space Shuttle Columbia and continue to methodically proceed through contingency plans.
News media covering the Space Shuttle should stay tuned to NASA Television, which is broadcast on AMC-2, transponder 9C, C-Band, located at 85 degrees West longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical and audio is monaural at 6.8 MHz. Reporters can also go to any NASA center newsroom to monitor the situation.
New information, including the times and locations of press briefings, will be posted to this page.
‘Moss in space’ project to test how plants grow ‘up’
An experiment scheduled for todays Space Shuttle Columbia mission may provide clues about just how plant growth is guided by gravity. The study, an extension of work from a previous shuttle mission in 1997, should test whether the absence of gravity changes how simple plants grow. The experiment will use common roof moss (Ceratodon purpureus), a plant that uses gravity to determine the direction that single cells grow.
Astronauts to fight fire with fog during Space Shuttle flight
During a January flight of Space Shuttle Columbia, astronauts will test a new commercial fire-fighting system that puts out blazes with a fine water mist — instead of using harmful chemicals or large quantities of water that damage property. “The fire-fighting industry is in search of a new tool that doesn’t use dangerous chemicals or douse fires with huge quantities of water that cause extensive property damage,” said Mark Nall, director of the Space Product Development Program at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. “By flying this commercial experiment on the STS-107 Columbia mission, NASA is helping industry design a cost-effective, environmentally friendly system for putting out fires.”