How the Space Shuttle Columbia Tragedy Unfolded

On February 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia was reentering Earth's atmosphere after a two-week routine mission when it exploded, killing all seven astronauts aboard and scattering debris across multiple states. It was a horrific tragedy, particularly considering that the shuttle was on its 28th mission and had been a solid vehicle for space exploration and research since the 1980s. What happened to the space shuttle Columbia effectively ended NASA's shuttle program. In 2011, NASA's space shuttle fleet was officially retired.
#ShuttleColumbia #NASA #WeirdHistory

[@araasis3239]

I feel like when it comes to literally sending human beings off the planet, a "shoestring budget" shouldn't even be an option. It needs to be our main focus or no focus at all. Easier said than done of course.

[@lillymom7909]

You're right. Raises for bureaucrats, and other non - essentials should have been shelved in lieu of funding the missions!

[@nappssnapps2891]

NASA ghetto As s**t! Lol

[@donnajohnson8355]

Carrley Carroll Jesus is coming back and me and well a lot of people planning on going to live with him. You can if you confess your sins. This place is going to 🔥burn

[@BetaBreaking]

Thank god Space X is making up for 40 years of old tech

[@shivthepolystoner9166]

@@donnajohnson8355 how about you shut tf up and stop forcing your beliefs onto others hmm? Nobody is gonna wanna believe in a god that torments you for everything you do. I’ll keep the GODS I have thanks😉 bye sweetie🕉🕉

[@bredenis5]

I cannot even fathom how distressing it must’ve been to have to weigh the decision as to whether you should tell the crew or not that they will face imminent death.

[@dillonchamberlain]

Too bad they made no effort in using the Atlantis shuttle to possibly rescue them. No effort whatsoever is insane to me

[@drby0788]

@@dillonchamberlain lol how in the hell would they have rescued them?

[@briannaaaron6804]

@@drby0788 They could have sent the shuttle up and either had someone repair Columbia, or gathered up the crew and took them back home.

[@drby0788]

@@briannaaaron6804 you do realize the shuttles only can carry up to 8 right? So how would that have worked? This is one of the things about hindsight that irritate me. They were doomed. Unfortunate, but there was nothing NASA could do

[@briannaaaron6804]

@@drby0788 You clearly only read the second part of my comment. I said they could have also sent a small crew on Atlantis to repair the damaged wing. You can call it hindsight, but considering even NASA at the time knew they could've done that, it's not really an idea that just popped up years later.

[@alaasaleh6752]

Till you said that a rescue mission could’ve been made, I was convinced they made the right decision not to tell them. At least it was quick. Suffocating slowly would’ve been torture.

[@JohnDoe-pv2iu]

I agree with you mostly. The narrator saying in hindsight that a rescue was possible is Not accurate. They were taking months to prepare for a 'Normal/Dangerous' mission with the old dilapidated shuttles and out of date programming techniques for the out of date computer systems. They were taking months to 'inspect' and 're-glue' the insulation tiles that were regularly flying off of the old shuttles. An attempt to ready a shuttle, launch, attempt a space rendezvous and return would NOT have succeeded. All that would have come from such an attempt would have been to terrorize the Columbia crew and kill more astronauts. At the time they estimated a more than 50% chance that the damage was not bad enough to be catastrophic. Obviously it was, though. I'm sorry if the truth hurts but the narrator was out of line to make such a claim about a 'rescue mission'. It was a tragedy and everyone wants to point fingers and assign blame to NASA. If people want to point a finger it needs to be at the politicians who cut NASA's funding and still demanded missions to be conducted. Ya'll Take Care and be safe, John

[@davidodonovan4982]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/opfKe3SKoLedndU

[@JohnDoe-jt9oq]

@@JohnDoe-pv2iu Yoooooo

[@gst013]

Also, it was far from a certainty that this was going to happen, at least from what's stated in the video. Sounds like there were a lot of differing opinions (or guesses) about the extent of the damage/problem.

[@lukestrawwalker]

The "rescue mission" was basically rubbish. No real chance to pull it off. Shuttles took MONTHS to get stacked in the VAB and rolled out to the pads, checked out, readied for flight, and then launched. It takes months sometimes years to train astronauts for their missions, all carefully planned out to the last move and practiced innumerable times in water tanks near JSC in Houston to simulate weightlessness. Columbia, like every other shuttle, was only designed to stay in orbit a maximum of TWO WEEKS. *IF* the problem had been discovered within hours of it launching and arriving in orbit, AND the crew ordered to "wait it out" silently in the dark saving as much power and oxygen as possible to stretch their supplies as long as possible awaiting rescue, then it would have required NASA to perform what would have been virtually a miracle-- preparing for a second UNSCHEDULED shuttle launch WITHIN 2 WEEKS to launch to rendezvous with them. Nothing like this had EVER been done before and was basically for all intents and purposes IMPOSSIBLE, unless you cut every corner and skipped every safety procedure and checkout to do it, which would put the second shuttle and rescue crew (probably of 2) into at least as much risk if not more than the first crew! Columbia had NO means of docking to another spacecraft, shuttle or otherwise, and it was in a completely different orbit and could not go to the ISS, nor could it dock with it if it did (Columbia was the heaviest orbiter, as it and Challenger were the first two built, and Challenger was destroyed long before ISS was even envisioned, and Columbia couldn't haul as much payload due to its excessive weight, so it was never modified to go to ISS or dock with it, thus why it did all these "research missions" instead of going to ISS). There were only IIRC two spacesuits aboard, and how do you evacuate 7 crew with only 2 suits?? a spacewalking astronaut going back and forth between shuttles COULD theoretically do it, but again, NO TIME TO TRAIN THEM TO DO THIS NEW UNTESTED MISSION, and NO WAY to train the shuttle crew on Columbia either since they were trapped in orbit. Then of course EVEN IF you can somehow pull off a miracle and get a shuttle launched with a skeleton crew to "rescue" the Columbia crew, you ASSUME that the same thing that fatally damaged Columbia somehow WOULDN'T happen to the rescue shuttle mission too... Basically the whole thing was impossible and NASA knew it, and rather than try at a hopeless task they chose to simply "hope for the best" and see what happens... they didn't want some protracted "crisis in space" with tearful crew members and their families being paraded on TV for the world to see, and it all ending terribly anyway... For those who'll say "they pulled it off in Apollo 13" well yes they did but that was a TOTALLY different situation and they didn't KNOW if Apollo 13 had a damaged heat shield or not, but given the design of Apollo was far less likely to have a heat shield damaged by the explosion of the oxygen tank than the shuttle with its enormous tiled wings and belly and no way to fix it, PLUS Apollo 13 had it's own backup spacecraft in the lunar module, something the shuttle did NOT have... Later! OL J R :)

[@crawlscreepy]

I was on the clean up crew for this accident and spent over 45 days picking up pieces of the shuttle across all 4 major camps across Texas.

[@lillymom7909]

Thank you! 💖

[@nappssnapps2891]

Did you guys find any of the crew?

[@youtubehastakenovermylife4979]

Me too. Is that you Henry?

[@youtubehastakenovermylife4979]

Me too. Is that you Henry?

[@youtubehastakenovermylife4979]

Me too. Is that you Henry?

[@xxDruwP13xx]

I remember going to Cracker Barrel for my 9th birthday (February 1, 2003) and seeing this on the TV. Everybody just sat in awe and watched.

[@alt842]

Where was that? I've never been to a cracker barrel that has tv. All the ones I have been have cheap antiques on the wall

[@xxDruwP13xx]

@@alt842 Good ol Fairmont, WV. They had a TV in the area with all of the overpriced fake antiques. I can confirm that the restaurant is still open, but I cannot confirm that the TV is still there as I haven't ate there in years.

[@jemrawc]

Andrew I’m so sorry you had to witness this tragedy. I had a similar experience around the same age, kinda giving away that I’m an old lady 😉 Back in the day it was a very historically special event to be taking place when the teacher wheeled out a tv on top of a trolly. But it was a huge day. The first teacher, civilian, was about to be launched into space. I can remember the exact feelings that I felt today. Excited mixed with a wee bit of anxiety and knowing that with this brave crew my dream of flying in the shuttle would someday come true. Living in Canada 🇨🇦 the news coverage and interviews had dominated all media for months just like in the States. It was the most beautiful, powerful, inspirational launch until under 2 mini later the shuttle exploded. Tears flooded from my eyes. It was the first time my heart was broken, I was scared and couldn’t comprehend what was happening with out my Mom or Dad there to hug and comfort me. Definitely something that will always stay with you. Though I never rode the shuttle, I have been extremely blessed to visit Cape Canaveral/ Cape Kennedy, to see an actual launch and witness the first shuttle to ever land in the Cape. These tragedies truly make you realize, appreciate the risk, training and heroism astronauts willing accept for their beliefs in science, a better way of life, understanding and a possible brand new frontier.

[@tiffany3597]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZS2dmmvod6praM 👏🏼

[@adrianlauer]

My mom had just had my sister the day before. I was only 5 1/2.

[@n3v3rg01ngback]

Challenger: 1 O ring. Columbia: 1 heat tile. Those vehicles should never have had people on them. Space shuttles were too fragile.

[@purplestingstress]

It wasn't that the shuttles were too fragile, but rather they were not being properly maintained. The federal government had continuously cut down the budget which ultimately played a major role in the disaster. Between the cuts to the overall budget and the lack of proper maintenance, it was not a question of IF another tragedy could happen, it was a question of WHEN it would happen, and many lives were destroyed and changed forever because of it.

[@briannaaaron6804]

No, both times the higher ups at NASA were warned about these things, and they chose to dismiss it. The engineers told them the O rings could fail in cold weather, and they decided to launch in January anyway, where it was cold enough for ice to be on the launchpad. They were also told about foam shedding, and how it could be a problem, and dismissed that too. It's all arrogance and lack of caring.

[@xmn12380]

Just hearing that mission control knew how bad the situation was, yet chose to do nothing made me so mad I almost stopped watching this video.

[@Blak2blue]

Saaaaaame!!!!

[@jamesrobert4106]

Sad, but true.

[@ToyotaGuy1971]

There's so much damage-control rhetoric (propaganda), I can't make it past tthe 4 minute mark. 🙄👎

[@tazzy186]

Linda Ham is one of the many responsible for putting a stop to even trying to investigate the potential damages from the foam strike.

[@NFLdom22]

On that day, January 16, 2003, I was on a winter getaway trip with my grandparents in Florida. One day, instead of Disney world, we went onto the interstate for more sightseeing. Everyone was pulled over on the side of the road. My grandfather asked a state trooper: “what’s going on?” The trooper replied that it was a shuttle launch. We ended up seeing the last flight into orbit of space shuttle Columbia. R.I.P. to the crew What a sad story

[@Kenxclout]

Rick Husband was from my hometown Amarillo Tx. The airport is named after him.

[@williamphillips2671]

Wow I don’t see why anyone would care about this

[@Kenxclout]

@@williamphillips2671 Obviously you cared enough to reply 😂🤡

[@saltymcsaltface]

Rick's wife was from my hometown, her daughter use to give me head behind the K-Mart.

[@Kenxclout]

👆🏾👆🏾I didn’t realize this channel had so many weird subscribers. 😪

[@saltymcsaltface]

@@Kenxclout Weird for getting a BJ? 🤨 Don't be so prude.

[@heysaladdaze]

So tragic, I remember when this happened. I think it was the first time I realised that the idea of space and space exploration wasn't as magical as it first seems.

[@trawlins396]

Big deal. A lot of people remember. It's not about you.

[@1981lashlarue]

@@trawlins396 That was a very rude and not nice thing to say.

[@roxy819999]

@@trawlins396 where does it say it’s about them? Sounds to me like you’re making it about you 😂

[@dracenheard9196]

@@roxy819999 bro your messed up ngl

[@douglasgriffiths3534]

I remember both the Challenger and the Columbia disasters. I recorded the Challenger launch the day of the accident. I was home with the flu that day. Still have the recording. When the Columbia happened, I was fixing breakfast. My husband just got home from work, and I had the TV on to watch it land, as everyone thought would happen. Both were horrible and senseless tragedies that never should have happened. Like the sinking of the Titanic, hubris got in the way. (Jan Griffiths).

[@grapeshot]

I remember that sheriff getting in trouble for trying to keep a piece of the space shuttle as a souvenir.

[@gohawks3571]

😣 Geez, some people....

[@penelopephelange]

That’s hilarious 😂

[@EchoTravelsUSA]

A southern sheriff? I’m not surprised.

[@tedjones3955]

Some of it could be poisonous.

[@nealdaleyjr7625]

A democrat sheriff no doubt.

[@scsutton1]

I was in England and had just come home from school. They had it on the news and I just remember seeing it break apart live. I was 9 years old and I haven't forgotten it.

[@negativeindustrial]

It happened close enough to me I was able to see the long streaks above me.

[@hawks9nkh]

It was a Saturday. Why would it be on the news if it didn’t happen yet for you to see it live? The hell you smoking?

[@scsutton1]

@@hawks9nkh I was at a golf camp. We had lessons on the Saturday morning, played 9 holes and then went home. So that's how I found out.

[@Az777]

I lived in Dallas, north of what the trajectory is marked as being, and when it exploded, I honestly though someone had crashed a car into the house. It was loud and the house rumbled. I ran to the back expecting to see a car, but there was nothing. Then I thought maybe something exploded at DFW airport, as we lived just down the freeway from it. Lots of neighbors came outside wondering what the noise was. Once I turned on the news, I learned it was the shuttle. Most of north Texas heard and felt it. Broke my heart.

[@codywright2840]

I am an alumni of The University of Texas at Arlington where Kalpana Chawla went to school. There is a permanent memorial in the Nedderman Hall Engineering building with one of her flight suits and informational panels on display and also one of the student residence halls on campus is named in her honor. It’s a shame more students and locals don’t know about such a distinguished alumni as KC. RIP

[@Kaboomboo]

I am UT Arlington Alum and I knew that.

[@BrickTamlandOfficial]

I remember waking up that morning and being excited for the weekend and then noticing the crash was on every channel.

[@grapeshot]

Yeah brought back memories of Challenger. R.I.P 🥀🥀🥀🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@brokeannbroken2547]

I remember watching the Challenger disaster with my kids I let stay home. I remember the Moon landing. Today you can always login Nasa videos. But there is no advance in tech without bumps,especially a dangerous field of working in space.

[@leelunk8235]

@@brokeannbroken2547 WHAT MOON LANDING, WE CAN'T EVEN FLY SAFELY TO THE ISS, WHAT TECHNOLOGY DID WE HAVE IN 1967 THAT WOULD BE ABLE TO FLY 250 MILES IN SPACE FROM THE ISS TO THE MOON SAFELY WHILE GOING THROUGH THE VAN ALLEN BELTS WHICH WOULD BE DISASTROUS TO HUMANS AND THEIR SPACECRAFT, AND THEN 250 MILES BACK TO THE ISS, YOU JUST DON'T KNOW DO YOU, LOL

[@Sammysam44]

How dare them not give all of these people a chance to say goodbye to whomever they needed to. That is just as much a tragedy is what happened! Really really bothers me

[@Blak2blue]

I agree!! NASA still needs to get their research, that was their number one priority.. disgusting isn’t it?

[@basm620inbelair9]

Crew and their families know there will always be risk with these missions.

[@kaliprime8377]

The idea comes with two sides as some may want to know and some may not want to know they are going to die or lose a loved one with absolutely nothing they can do but worry until the inevitable.

[@ShawnLamont1997]

Imagine being told .. you’re gonna die in space and there’s nothing we can do ? I’d personally wouldn’t want to know

[@invernessity]

Space exploration is a risky endeavor, and astronauts always know there is a risk with any flight so they say their goodbyes before they leave. Many who perished in other missions left letters for their loved ones, also, to be read in the event of their death. For example, June Scobee Rodgers, the wife of Challenger's commander, Dick Scobee, has often publicly discussed the letter she found in her husband's brief case. He left it to be opened should he die, and expressed not only his love for her and his other family and friends but also the importance of continuing the space program because, in his view, the benefits far outweighed the costs incurred - even when those costs included his own life. This missive clearly demonstrates an astronaut's understanding of the dangers involved, but commitment because of the tremendous benefits of his life's work.

[@greghomestead8366]

A little bit of misinformation here..... Actually the crew was told that a piece had hit the wing but we're told that it wasn't anything to worry about. Where did I hear about this? Another video that I watched on this sometime ago had the audio of them telling the astronaut, but saying that shouldn't be anything to worry about.

[@cmdugan]

I was in an airplane flying to Disney World for the first time with my whole family to celebrate my Grandpa’s 70th birthday as it happened. The pilot made an announcement shortly before we landed. I remember seeing the replay on the TV in the lobby at the hotel. I was only 4 1/2 but I definitely remember the strange mix of emotions-sadness of the tragedy and the excitement of being at Disney.

[@ozmond]

You couple just said you were 4 lol

[@spokentruth5909]

Why would a pilot announce that?

[@DC4L_86]

Liar,You do not remember what you were doing or how you felt when you were 4..

[@Fuzzy_Spork]

We lived in Florida directly below the shuttle landing path so it was always a treat to wait outside for the sonic boom and the flyover. On that day day it was less than a minute after we should have already heard the boom when I said to my husband that something is wrong and we need to turn on the news immediately. It shook us up. We'd actually met while working at Space Camp and we witnessed the Challenger explosion together.

[@froggystyle8270]

Damn

[@joeg4707]

Due to vehicle size, there were two sonic booms (less than one second apart).

[@Erie685]

I was 9 years old and this was a big deal to me. My dad routinely watched the Nasa channel and stayed abreast of all things space. Even at my young age this left a lasting impression on me.

[@trawlins396]

It was a big deal to EVERYONE. Duh.

[@Erie685]

@@trawlins396 Rude, unnecessarily.

[@trawlins396]

@@Erie685 you're right.

[@sethkaicer319]

I was in Middle School when this event occurred I remember it vividly

[@ChadwickTheChad]

Same here - I got to my home room class and they had a tv set up and I start joking around with my friends about "this is going to be fun" or something like that - boy was I wrong when the teacher came in and started explaining.

[@blackguyofthesouth2161]

Me too

[@sethkaicer319]

@@ChadwickTheChad same here they brought TVs in for everybody to watch it it was crazy

[@PuttinOnTheRiffs]

Same dude. 8th grade

[@mondoseguendo6113]

I am 97 years old and I remember shit

[@jeremybarcelo6486]

My brother was living in Nacogdoches and attending SFA at the time. He recovered some debris, called someone, and had an entire crew over to check it out.

[@julianaylor4351]

The Shuttle should have been double checked in space, it was cruel that they let this happen and ignored it. Dismissing the foam issue was not only shortsighted, but almost criminal negligence. I like to see more on accidents that happened during US attempts to get into space and to the Moon, these are often overlooked. There is also the Russians tragic failures in their space program too.

[@thunderbird1921]

The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster was even worse. NASA's people knew for months if not YEARS that the booster design wasn't working properly and did nothing. AT LEAST two 1985 missions nearly ended in catastrophe due to booster structural flaws ("You came within three tenths of one second of dying", an engineer told the commander of one of the flights). Needless to say, the Rogers Commission was furious, as dozens of astronauts and even two members of Congress had actually been launched on a vehicle with known likely fatal issues. Thankfully, this at least was fixed before the return to flight in 1988.

[@sondranewall4462]

I agree NASA let those astronauts die, just as they let the Challenger astronauts die, by sending the shuttle up in freezing weather, against the advise of the experts who predicted that the shuttle would not make it. I do not trust NASA.

[@joshuamciver9529]

I'm from a little town in East Texas, Nacogdoches to be exact. That shuttle went down over my town while we were all asleep. I remember hearing the loud booms in that woke me up. A day or 2 later our little town was taken over by reporters from across the country and the world. Shuttle debris being pulled from cow pastures and creeks, I was probably 12 at the time, it was unreal having something like that go down in your backyard.

[@No-sv6mu]

I watched this live in my college student center between classes. I have never heard a building go so quiet so quickly. Then followed by people trying not to cry. I could not imagine being their families watching that happen

[@lillymom7909]

I loved watching the space shuttles take off and land. They were so beautiful. I especially loved how they rode piggyback on large airplanes. I witnessed live, as so many others, the disasters of Challenger and Columbia. But, I believe those crew were living their dreams. It broke my heart to see the program ended.

[@ToyotaGuy1971]

They could still be living their dreams though, if some quota-hire female hadn't failed to protect them.

[@theundeadsaint1859]

This channel is dope love history like this

[@danaegore3815]

I remember when this happened because I live in East Texas where it happened. I remember waking up to a loud boom and being like ‘what the heck was that?’ All over the news we were told that if we saw chunks of metal or debris not to touch them but to contact local authorities. People were having to comb their fields and pastures. It was horrible.

[@RealTalkWithSSG]

The space shuttle program, as badass and cool it may look, has always been very dangerous, there is literally no way for the astronauts to escape if something goes wrong. The fact that only 2 disasters happened, Challenger because of sheer carelessness though, and they used these(and Soyuz of course)to go back and forth to construct the ISS from scratch, is a miracle in itself.

[@leelunk8235]

MOON LANDING WAS A HOAX , WE CAN'T EVEN FLY SAFELY TO THE ISS, WHAT TECHNOLOGY DID WE HAVE IN 1967 THAT WOULD BE ABLE TO FLY 250 MILES IN SPACE FROM THE ISS TO THE MOON SAFELY WHILE GOING THROUGH THE VAN ALLEN BELTS WHICH WOULD BE DISASTROUS TO HUMANS AND THEIR SPACECRAFT, AND THEN 250 MILES BACK TO THE ISS, YOU JUST DON'T KNOW DO YOU, LOL

[@ChicagoMel23]

They knew about the foam issue since two missions after Challenger. That shuttle was more damaged and the crew expected to die. They couldn’t get clear photos because the mission was classified. They survived because the damage wasn’t in a critical area like Columbias was

[@wallofrock6725]

That was Atlantis, correct?

[@jeffrumbach150]

On that mission STS-27 They used the wrong paint the solid rocket booster nose broke apart during booster separation and hit space shuttle Atlantis The only thing that saved the crew was the 1 black belly tile that fell off was on part of winged frame was steel less steel which took higher temperature and not aluminum which would of melted and caused burn though and failure Originally this was supose to be the first mission to be lunched from Vandenberg lunch complex in California

[@tusse67]

@@jeffrumbach150 Had sts-27 ended in disaster it would have been the end of the shuttle. As all the debries would have ended in the pacific they wouldn’t have been able to conclude what went wrong. According to the commander there was a serious miscommunication with flight control. The crew could see serious damage while flight control only had some bad pictures to look at… to them it looked like shadows.

[@blornblad4381]

There’s a statue of Michael Anderson in a beautiful part of Riverfront Park In Spokane, WA. I walk past it nearly every day, and nobody around here has forgotten him.

[@Existential_Dread]

No one has ever said, “God is in the details.”

[@faerylnhiikira1053]

Of course not. It's not alliterative! :D

[@Alverant]

The narrator did.

[@Existential_Dread]

@@Alverant ask anyone you know if anyone other than the narrator of this video has said that.

[@DeadHandtheSurvivor]

"“God is in the details,” - so said Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969), himself a God of twentieth century architecture. This poster is celebration of Mies and his famous dictum." This is what came up after typing "God is in the details who said" in Google. Always worth fact checking your claims first.

[@Existential_Dread]

@@DeadHandtheSurvivor have you looked around you? God is dead. This quote is useless.

[@a.t.c.3862]

If this is true, then the crew, who were adult men and women, absolutely had the right to know what their fate might be. It's a question of dignity.

[@actuariahl1335]

Whether you're an adult or not, knowing you are going to die and there is nothing that can be done about it can never be taken lightly. I believe they should have been asked this question beforehand: If we were to know that you will not survive, do you want us to reveal this revealed to you?

[@trawlins396]

They most definitely did not have "the right' to know. WHY?.So they could spend 16 being depressed and panicking?? THATS actually inhumane. You're basically choosing to torture them before they pass Away.

[@catsberry4858]

Watch the Chinese American film with Aqwafina about not telling granny that she has cancer. It's better not to know. Your stress levels will be down. The sooner you know, the more it'll do to you.

[@johndododoe1411]

There was no certainty, just very high risk.

[@rekunta]

They did know. This video is incorrect in stating the crew weren’t told of the foam strike. From Wiki: _”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”_ Also: _”The crew were also sent a 15-second video of the debris strike in preparation for a press conference, but were reassured that there were no safety concerns”_ While it is true NASA heavily downplayed the risk to the astronauts, they were very aware of the event. It wouldn’t surprise me that this probably crossed their minds in their final moments when the shuttle was growing increasingly unstable and alarms were going bonkers on the flight deck in the few seconds before the shuttle began tumbling and breaking up. They did not die blissfully unaware as this video tries to pass it off as, I’m sure they were capable of connecting the dots.

[@Joi_Robb]

I remember my after school teacher put it on live to watch. She was super optimistic about space. Then we watched it explode to earth. This is why I’m staying on earth. It freaked me out for life.

[@williamwingo4740]

Each of the thousands of tiles comprising the heat shield was unique and fitted into its own particular position. This made it impossible to carry spares. As with Challenger, the underlying problem (cold-hardening of the o-rings for Challenger; foam falling off the external tank and hitting the vehicle for Columbia) had been known for some time. As with Challenger, solving the problem would have meant grounding the shuttle for a complete redesign and rebuild. And as with Challenger, they'd gotten away with it so far, so why not try for one more? Eventually, their luck ran out. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_thermal_protection_system

[@gohawks3571]

I'm grateful for any and all honest videos of our history. I get (slightly) overwhelmed at the idea that there are things that I have learned that are completely false (not necessarily my knowledge if this story, but in general). Please keep bringing these videos! We can only try to make right what we learn & understand what's wrong.

[@deliriofranjeadodl]

This video is dog shit. They definitely knew how to fix it they just didn't let the crew know to do a space walk and check for damage. Mylar tape and water would be used freezing a block of ice in the hole and taping over it. NASA brainstormed tons of scenarios you think a hole in the wing wouldn't be one of em?

[@Monkofmagnesia]

Strange that NASA never had a rescue plan ready before they launched any shuttle.

[@sueloo8305]

BRILLIANTLY STATED!!!! 👏👏👏👏👏👏💯💯💯. Thank you so very much for having the COURAGE to speak the truth... I think we all believe that NASA had SOOOOO many free passes... DEPLORABLE DESPICABLE REPREHENSIBLE (AND MORE 35¢ WORDS) BEHAVIOR.... Again... thank you. God bless you and your family 🙏💜💯✝️

[@elmiraj2704]

Ilan Ramon was the first ever Israeli astronaut. It was such a national pride seeing one of "ours" in space, and a huge tragedy to witness his and the others', demise. His firstborn son, Asaf, had followed his footsteps and became a gifted pilot, only to end his life at a ridiculously young age of 21, 6 years after his father. It was all such a heartbreak.

[@Rubydrawz]

God imagine his poor mother

[@elmiraj2704]

@@Rubydrawz She did become an involuntary national heroine because of that, though sadly she did pass away from cancer a several years ago. She had been one of the strongest women to live, though, volunteering with children until her last days.

[@nnnooy99]

He didn't "end" his life, he was killed during a training flight, there was an accident and his aircraft crashed

[@selimnagisokrov]

Where we lived, we heard the explosion. My friend remembers her mom yelling across the house at them (her and her brother) thinking they had broken something even tho they were still asleep. We were finding bits an pieces around the neighborhood

[@emiliab.7637]

What a great video! Could you do more about space/ nasa?

[@jackotherstar]

It’s just sad how much apathy NASA had for the astronauts and about this accident in general. Luckily, no more astronauts died from these missions.

[@stuffthings1417]

How do you know? Because they didn't cry enough on camera? The scientists involved cared about those who risked their lives. It's their job to keep them safe. Each time they succeeded they were beyond glad. It's human nature.

[@lilitharam44]

That's the government's attitude in general.

[@stuffthings1417]

@@lilitharam44 The "government" weren't the ones involved in the mission, spending 1000's of hours on it. They never care. I believe the employees of NASA cared a lot about each astronaut. They're scientists who want to succeed.

[@agoo7581]

@@stuffthings1417 You are extremely misinformed about the situation. If you did any basic research on the topic you would know that management were quick to dismiss any concerns and allowed no effort to be made to investigate the extent of the problem and attempt a rescue mission if needed. There is even audio of Linda Ham immediately dismissing the issue with the wing. So "that's how we know" you ignorantly smug pile of vomit.

[@Midlife_Manical_Mayhem]

i have family in east texas who witnessed it falling out of the sky in streaks.

[@emmacopeland1940]

I was in kindergarten in east Texas when this happened. They found pieces on the playground of my elementary school

[@meadowsmama9423]

“A government agency knew what was wrong and chose to stay silent, while innocent people got to die ..” I love how these people hair away with it because of money and government ties..

[@billytk1225]

I love how governments expect us to just trust that they have our best interests in mind. Gee, wonder why we don't trust them?

[@jeremycox2983]

Had NASA actually learned all the lessons from the Challenger disaster this wouldn’t have happened.

[@leslietonn3181]

Those people’s souls stained with innocent blood!👿😡😭

[@Alverant]

And what could they have done? You cut a budget to an agency then get mad when they have to cut corners to do their job and people die. You want to blame someone? Remember to blame the ones who control the purse strings.

[@fred8174]

Linda Ham

[@seekertosecrets]

4:36 Holy Shit! That's a brutal situation! Damned if you do and damned if you don't! I once dreamed of going into space. After reading and seeing so many disasters that could occur, I have since changed occupation aspirations.

[@douglasgriffiths3534]

21 years ago today. Still is painful. RIP Columbia 7. Never forget. (Jan Griffiths).

[@justinstoll4955]

I vividly remember this day. And I saw the Challenger explode on live TV. That visual will never leave my mind.

[@handenbramilton]

I was in grade 11. My wisdom teeth had been removed the day prior, and I was home that day with a mouth full of gauze and a head full of tylenol 3’s completely zonked out watching the shuttle disintegrate across the sky on every TV channel. It was a very bizarre day.

[@jasonaltham7013]

It did not explode, it broke up during re-entry.

[@NewMessage]

No joke from me today... Gone too soon, the lot.

[@Myriako]

Thank you for this video ! 🌺

[@rodgerrodger1839]

I was living in the Oakland hills at the time of the incident. The news showed a video taken by a father and son as the shuttle streaked across the black sky. It was already starting to burn up, or lose part of the wing. Small parts were seen in the video burning up. The father stated " It didn't look good or right" or something to that effect. Later on they started finding parts in Texas and Louisiana. I was driving down to the store out of the hills and there was a black " cube" sitting on a yellow line. I drove past it because the streets are very narrow and it was a blind corner so I couldn't stop. I was driving my Tahoe so found a place to turn around so I could grab whatever it was. I knew it was a tile from the shuttle. In the time it took me to turn around, someone had already grabbed it. That's my Discovery story. I read they found some of them strapped in their seats. Still smoldering. That would have been horrifying. Something you couldn't unforget. I hope it was over in a instant for them.

[@gsimms811]

They'll of been vaporised won't they

[@skahill]

it's heartbreaking and chilling to know that the crew on the Columbia could have been saved. how tragic :c

[@joshlewis575]

Sounds like it woulda been a miracle to actually pull it off. No way they woulda ever risked both shuttles and crews. There was no saving those people. That was a pipe dream

[@truckercowboyed2638]

Stop being delusional

[@Midlife_Manical_Mayhem]

i was in high school when the challenger disaster happened. the morning of the columbia, i told my kids to make note of that day, as they would remember it for years.

[@Midlife_Manical_Mayhem]

@@KAT-dg6el taking note of historic events is not sad. i didn't tell them to engraine it in their memories. i just told them that they would remember the day for years to come and explained about the challenger.

[@kelseycarlile9704]

I lived in Jacksonville Tx and was 10 when this happened. Wreckage was found in our cow pasture. It was an insane thing to happen in our teeny little town. I remember there being such a solemn mood at my intermediate school for days.

[@RoseGma]

I remember this so well. My folks were snow-birds in southern Texas they saw the debris falling. Such a sad day 😢

[@jackdaniel3135]

It’s a shame NASA let themselves lose their budget by being so arrogant. Now we have to deal with Spacer’s Choice in the late future.

[@amytaylor9108]

I know right Hahaha Hope you are having a blessed day there???

[@auntvesuvi3872]

Thanks for this! 🚀

[@amytaylor9108]

I know right Hahaha Hope you are having a blessed day there???

[@lolafairchild88]

Love this channel ❤!

[@queencerseilannister3519]

Debris from this flight fell all over our neighborhood when we lived in southeast Texas. So sad. We had to call NASA to report it.

[@erfelgamazig]

Such tremendous loss for these families. I know about the "known risk." I had a neighbor tell me "racing will never be safe." I wonder if he still lives.

[@lesnyk255]

Knowing that I was diehard space nerd from the Mercury days, my ex-wife called me that morning to let me know that "contact with the space shuttle had been lost". No big deal, I thought - comm blackouts were common enough during re-entry, & electronic glitches not unheard of. But when I turned on the TV & heard that "the shuttle was 15 minutes overdue for landing" I knew there was only one reason that could be - that it hadn't made it through re-entry. From that point the whole morning took on an unreal, sleepwalking cast......

[@Walt_Xander94]

Another situation where safety measures werent in place until *after* something happened. Heck, its worse in this case, a shuttle exploded before, and their budget was halved afterwards. So they have no excuse not having safety measures around.

[@raunackmaitra4467]

Respect for Kalpana Chawla.🌼 Rest in peace, India's Daughter.😔

[@klpna_chawla.01]

Are u miss me❤

[@sunheri189]

@@klpna_chawla.01freakish

[@dooleysmichiganhomestead8339]

Thumbs up from the Dooleys of Michigan

[@sueloo8305]

Hello neighbor from the Middleton fam in Saginaw Michigan 🙏💯💜

[@sweetrobertos]

Wow. I'd forgotten all about this tragedy. I remember the Challenger disaster like it was yesterday. I know watching the Shuttle was a little more popular in 1986 than 2003, but I can't believe I would forget about this. It wasn't that long after 9/11. Just sad.

[@justinhackstadt6677]

In that situation it would have just caused them great panic and distress if they were notified of it. But did they have a right to know regardless? That is a tough moral dilemma. 😞 😓

[@justinstoll4955]

Why not give the astronauts an opportunity to say goodbye to the loved ones?

[@calculatorman-mq7zd]

This is an incident I remember vividly. I remember I was sitting in the living room with my dad in the morning watching the coverage of it re-entering, since I was always interested in space and planets, and when they were discussing losing contact we ended up switching channels. I'm not sure if my dad switched the channel because the coverage had paused for the time being, or because he knew something was wrong and didn't want me to witness anything. Of course, we all knew what ended up happening later on when President Bush announced this tragedy on television. Whatever the case, it is something I will never forget.

[@darleehart9782]

I would LOVE to see a video about Apollo 13! No matter how much I learn about it, the story still fascinates me!

[@brianarbenz7206]

I was a 6th grader and a space buff. I rememer that _so_ vividly.

[@Riz2336]

RIP to those guys, I guess in a sense it was best to not tell them they were doomed

[@KiranSharma-yt8oj]

No compromise when it is a question of life and death...

[@rafaelcruz1759]

I clearly remember this date, I was getting breakfast with my brother and my boss at the time, in a small country restaurant outside the city of Redbluff CA, we were watching everything happening on tv. It was sad

[@JeremyDeBose]

Two days before my 17th birthday. Such a surreal day following that. Watching for it seeing if it would pass over here in north Louisiana.

[@mr.jazzbodkelsey58]

My dad worked with the space program for 33 yrs. I also knew Rick Husband personally. When I was 8 yrs old, he was my baseball coach at YMCA in Houston.

[@Kalyanii]

I can never forget this. Kalpana Chawla is my hero and my dream of meeting her will always stay uncompleted. I hope all of the great astronauts rest in Peace ❤

[@jeremycox2983]

You will be able to meet her in the next life.

[@frikjmaser]

9:32 that's a Soviet Buran at the Technik Museum Speyer in Germany

[@jamesvaughn1354]

I was recovery crew member with box elder job Corp helping in Hemphill TX. May they rest in peace

[@Yellowrose71]

I remember feeling that blast in Dallas that Saturday morning. Immediately started trying to figure out what was happening.

[@brett4264]

Space is hard. Expected the same thing to happen to SpaceX's Starship when it returns from orbit. Their still ironing out the system and the heat shield is not a priority right now. The first few launches are expected to have problems. It's an engineering approach that's led to amazing progress for SpaceX.

[@karmapolice247]

I feel like transpiration cooling might be the way to go. It'll lower LEO mass , but they'd make up for with lowering potential failure points.

[@damonika09]

I was 12 when this happened. I was getting my hair done at the salon when the news showed the shuttle coming back down. I remember just being shocked as I watched.

[@josephinetracy1485]

The crew of the Columbia is alive... for the same reason that the 911 hijackers are still alive..... CIA-Masonic bullshit..

[@cylersmiley5259]

Hair done at 12 years old? You must be American

[@josephinetracy1485]

@@cylersmiley5259 Your mommy gave you a little boy's name. Did mommy think that you were going to stay a little boy? 😆

[@damonika09]

⁠​⁠@@cylersmiley5259yeah how dare I wanted to get my hair done because I’m on the verge of being a teenager. I was 8 months shy of my 13th birthday. Lmao.

[@vaisubash9049]

Ive always been so captivated by this tragedy.

[@Alverant]

I was on my first trip to NYC when it happened. I just saw the remains of the WTC and walked from there to Battery Park to catch the ferry to Liberty Island. I was the only one in line for the ferry when I heard the news. It was overwhelming.

[@rhianasmith2179]

I remember when this happened, the boom from the explosion was massive. My dad was part of the cleanup crew. He worked for the Forrest Service and he also received a bunch of memorabilia. He gave some of it to me for safe keeping.

[@simonhawkins8572]

Great, it's a crash recovery and you keep items. Super!

[@AndriaBieberDesigns]

I remember when this happened. I remember watching the challenger explode on TV. And I watched a ton of documentaries on them and all I can say is the end of the day it’s management‘s fault in both cases.

[@arnoldziffle5649]

Wife and I were in a Mariott hotel in OKC and had just woke up with our windows facing south and saw the con trails coming off the explosion but did not know what that was at the time. Amazing you could see that far away and it was cloudless and a beautiful day. Very sad this happened.

[@austrarobust8993]

I went to avondale elementry school in AZ in the late 90s early 2000s, I think I was in 2nd grade at the time. I remember we all signed a poster for the astraunant to take into space because Michael Anderson had gone to our school when he was in 3rd grade. When the shuttle crashed in 2003 the school was renamed Michael Anderson school., with the symbol of the rocket ship. and 21 years later I shed tears down memory lane. I am honored to have gone to his school where his name is alive!!!!

[@courtneypuzzo2502]

I was a Jr in high School when the accident happened though we had gotten out of school early that day for expected bad weather and since school got out at 11 am no lunch was served so my parents had taken my younger brother and I to the 99 restaurant for lunch

[@mondoseguendo6113]

What did you have for lunch?

[@sablewoods7003]

I was a junior Also. We had band UIL that day :(

[@ToyotaGuy1971]

Their fate wasn't sealed when the foam hit, it was sealed when management failed to take necesary steps to ensure the crews safety.

[@harmonyriverranch299]

I ran outside to feed my horses really fast. Didn't put my glasses on but looked up and saw the big streaks in the sky. Found out later what had happened. I got to go see the one that landed at White sands when it was there.

[@jgrab1]

It didn't EXPLODE. There was no combustion source. It broke apart. Huge difference.

[@dinogirl7466]

I saw Columbia fall / rain down from the sky. It was very heartbreaking and I'll never forget it. R.I.P.

[@flavioa6351]

The real reason they didn’t tell them about the unfortunate accident is because they still needed the astronauts to complete the research. If they knew death was coming the narrative would change to something else besides the research

[@Blak2blue]

Exactly I believe NASA saw it as a waste of money to tell them they were going to die. They were lab rats to NASA not human beings.

[@sillylittlejit]

I’ll be honest I would definitely prefer to die quickly and without knowledge of it than either suffocate in space or knowingly kill myself

[@youtubehastakenovermylife4979]

I was a junior in high school when this happened. I remember me and my buddies were surprised when it happened but it wasn’t nearly as big of a deal as the Challenger disaster was. Still very sad.

[@graveyardshift1217]

I was in typing class in high school when a TV was rolled into the room when the Challenger disaster happened. Then I walked into work one morning and the manager said to go look at the tv in the break room and my eyes met the images of the Columbia disintegrating. Both terribly sad days.

[@davidbowman6239]

Today is the 19th Anniversary of The Space 🚀 Shuttle Columbia Disaster. RIP to the 7 Columbia astronauts that lost their lives on that dreadful day. Y'all will be sadly missed but not forgotten.

[@AozoraUltra2006]

I wonder how close they were to a rescue. If they didn’t tell the crew then they were never planning to Save them

[@danm5273]

Definitely a death sentence NASA handed them.

[@msblackcherry09]

I was giving birth when this happened. Watched it on TV in my hospital room. This was very, very heartbreaking. RIP 🤎

[@Strike_Raid]

There is sooo much more to this story than will ever be told. Like a totally ‘illegal’ TPS written to perform tests on the Bipod Ramp heaters that intentionally overheated the foam bond, under the guise of an ‘issue’ regarding a recent ET heater LCN. Then the refoaming of the tank but NOT the Bipod Ramp. Then the very early published conclusion by the photo analysis team that the foam had NOT impacted the RCC and no alternate conclusion will even be considered. The decision to NOT have high resolution images made of the Shuttle in orbit since ‘nothing could be done anyway’. And a skip and corkscrew entry option that kept the impact area in ‘shadow’ (but would have meant a bail out of the crew over water). A complete reluctance to start an STS-250 recovery mission (actually, everyone does know that one).