STS-107 - The Columbia Accident

[@richardcochrane1966]

1:05:32 "Columbia...Houston...Com check...!" followed by silence - chills me to the bone even now...

[@herrington292]

Me too. Everytime there's silence after "Houston, com check", I get chills.

[@Muck-qy2oo]

@@herrington292 I get chilled if I hear the last voiceless transmission from the orbiter, right afew seconds after the commanders last words.

[@rhydean693]

It's so sad and eerie to hear nothing but silence after their several attempts at a comm check, knowing those brave souls were already gone.

[@franklinwaddell5945]

It was Saturday morning in Tyler, Texas and My house shook and I heard three sonic booms like "boom.... Boom boom"....very loud. For some reason I thought... "was that a missile attack or something" and I looked out the front and back of my house to see if any mushroom clouds were visible and was glad I didn't see any! I went back to my Saturday morning routine... Coffee... Breakfast... And just figured the military guys were just up there testing stuff. About 45 minutes later a neighbor stopped by and said that the shuttle had disentergrated right above us and then the booms all made sense. I'll never forget that morning. God bless the crew of Columbia.

[@quinnciples]

@pat91-xn8lx4vx4j It's tough to call those misfortune since Challenger and Columbia were our fault.

[@n6mz]

In Mike Leinbach's excellent book "Bringing Columbia Home" he has nothing but great praise for all of the people of east Texas whom he met. You're lucky to live there.

[@noahdavidson8733]

You heard the whole thing. Columbia was almost directly southwest abeam of Tyler by about 23 miles when she was lost. Hope you’re doing okay.

[@averystipp7552]

This is a very well-done video. I really appreciate you putting this together. The way you sync'd all of these different sources of A/V was really nice. Thanks.

[@lunarmodule5]

+Avery Stipp welcome!

[@AnahataMaryjane]

i remember being on a forum and someone said 'i just saw columbia go by but it was a bunch of light streaks, what is going on?'. still gives me goosebumps.

[@olig7336]

That’s a wild and sad memory

[@patrickpirzer4080]

@@olig7336 I remember when my dad told me "The shuttle exploded while landing." I couldn't believe it. I thought "How can that be possible?".

[@TrickyClaw]

"UHF Comms check" over and over... the silence is haunting to this day.

[@taylorwollerton6970]

Nineteen years ago today. Still very sad. The cockpit video is possibly one of the saddest aspects to this video because it shows the crew minutes before they died. And they seem calm and happy. It must have been horrible for the flight control team also. Such a tragic loss. RIP the crew of the space shuttle Columbia. Seven heros.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

No one told them about the foam strike.

[@Paul1958R]

@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017 Actually they were told: 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 has occurred on previous flights: _During ascent at approximately 80 seconds, photo analysis shows that some debris from the area of the -Y ET Bipod Attach Point came loose and subsequently impacted the orbiter left wing, in the area of transition from Chine to Main Wing, creating a shower of smaller particles. The impact appears to be totally on the lower surface and no particles are seen to traverse over the upper surface of the wing. Experts have reviewed the high speed photography and there is no concern for RCC or tile damage. We have seen this same phenomenon on several other flights and there is absolutely no concern for entry._

[@crazyshortstime9317]

Actually, a reviewer of the film, by the name of Steve, did radio up to Rick Husband sometime during the mission to notify the crew of the foam strike. He said it was nothing to note other than to make sure that none of the crew were surprised by it in a question from a reporter after they made their return to Earth. Of course, we all know now that it should've been a far more serious cause for concern, but due to several factors surrounding NASA at the time, the overall seriousness of the issue did not occur to them until disaster struck. Rick Husband would go on to tell the rest of the crew about the strike and the same "no cause for concern" thing that Steve had told him. So they did know about the foam strike for some, if not most, of the mission.

[@rthelionheart]

That is an awful way to go though; vaporized long before landing.

[@nickmcdunhill1074]

@@rthelionheart They believed that the depressurisation of the cockpit probably incapacitated the crew so quickly it would of almost been a instant-death for most, if not all of them

[@wookiedog]

Thank you for this. There is something that fascinates me yet horrifies me in equal measures.

[@dl7281]

This is so well done. Thanks for the composite - an ode to those lost and those who tried to just do their jobs/save them.

[@patriciaadams3010]

This is a tremendous effort on your behalf, and a job very well done. May the crew rest in peace, and may their families, the Mission Control personnel, and all those involved find some level of peace as well.

[@lunarmodule5]

Thank you

[@OmegaSimPilot]

As always, well done and thank you for sharing! I was a senior in high school when this happened and even at that age was devastated. I have their mission patch along with Apollo 1 and Challengers on the wall at my desk. We will never forget, and their spirit will carry us higher!

[@jose.asdrubalquiros8255]

At 1:01:51 the last communication with Columbia is cut off; at 1:02:26 it is already observed disintegrating. At 1:03:25, NASA stops transmitting its trajectory, by which time it was already clear that the ship had disintegrated.

[@MrXminus1]

They were already showing it breaking apart with multiple contrails on TV. Huston needs to have a regular tv display.

[@AlonsoRules]

pieces started falling off at the California coast

[@invernessity]

@@MrXminus1 NASA really never believed that they would (or even could) lose an orbiter on landing. So they never considered a simple TV to be essential equipment for Mission Control. They did have contingency plans in place for an accident, though, which they drafted after the Challenger disaster. When Challenger happened, they didn't even have any disaster plans in place because then management believed that the chances of losing a shuttle were extremely remote and this wouldn't happen. After Challenger,I do not believe that NASA management ever really accepted that the shuttle was experimental and the odds of losing a flight, according to its own engineers, was only 1 in 100.

[@juliemc8460]

It’s scary to think they were doomed at lift off.

[@TomKappeln]

As we are when born ... sad but true.

[@emily-clark]

Had they taken photographs of the space shuttle itself, we would've known there was a hole on the left wing and we could've found some solutions to bring them back home safely. I truly believe in that. If you have a negative attitude from the start, you'll lose them...

[@kevinmcgovern5110]

Well more like 81 seconds after liftoff…

[@josephrobinson5452]

​@@emily-clarkthats why it's never a good idea to put your life in someone else's hands if you can avoid it as we all know we only get one life. We don't know for sure what happened and why

[@jackkenefick2696]

​@@emily-clarkDid they want to know?

[@americianflyer72]

In the book "Columbia: Her Missions and Crews" it was a off duty controller who was outside to watch Columbia fly overhead that called one of the on duty flight controllers and via that controller informed the Flight Director that Columbia was gone

[@ryancraig9352]

"We haven't forgotten about you." ❤️

[@onlyme112]

We never will.

[@melaD333]

Thank you for your hard work in compiling this. I still remember that morning and being glued to the TV and the sadness and shock of it all.

[@TralfazConstruction]

I'd just started a five hour Saturday workday at 8 AM ET. No one in our facility had a clue until I received a text message from my fiancee at 11:40 AM or so. That's my best recollection. My sweetheart picked me up after work had concluded at just after 1 PM. She filled me in as to what was known up until that point. I was shocked where my fiancée had had a few hours to glean what she could from the blanket news coverage. We went to my parent's home around 2 PM and watched the news until well into the evening. That day, February 1, 2003 is fixed in memory. You are quite correct in categorizing the event by writing the "sadness and shock of it all." Next Saturday, February 1, 2020 will be 17 years to the actual day and reflecting on this tragedy has given me pause. Best wishes.

[@TheAschwittek]

Excellent job! I can tell you put your heart and soul into this and all your other videos. Thank you for showing the triumphs and the disasters in our space program.

[@notthefather3919]

Barbara Morgan was scheduled to be on the next Columbia flight. She was also the replacement for the Teacher in Space for Challenger. I wonder if she plays the lottery.

[@noecarrier5035]

She did an angel a favour once, a reeeeeally big favour.

[@noecarrier5035]

Also, she wasn't Christa's replacement. She trained alongside her but then became MS after the cancellation and was selected to fly before the Educator Astronauts were even conceived of. She was picked for a mission in 1998 but ended up having to wait until 2007 to actually fly. She's arguably one of NASA's finest.

[@chrisstanley8053]

There is video of her watching the Challenger disaster.

[@MrBigrobmjca3]

My freshman English teacher was in the top 2 candidates for the state of Tennessee. Mrs. Bonnie Fakes. Lebanon High School Lebanon, Tennessee

[@albernererhelge]

Do you have to play lottery when you've already won the biggest price in life?

[@nancyneal5377]

You can tell MC was worried about the foam hit because the flight director seems very fidgety and nervous even before anything happened. Normally they are very calm, cool, and collected, which is part of the job description.

[@kathyyoung1774]

Hoping and praying for a miracle

[@BD12]

Out of context, there's something oddly touching about CAPCOM saying "we haven't forgotten about you"

[@GigaG11]

BarryDennen12 when is this in the video

[@Rintintin115]

@@GigaG11 About 8:00

[@steveneppler5301]

A well constructed and classy tribute to the crew of STS-107.... We can always count on you to produce quality pieces like this one, LM5... Thanks again...

[@lunarmodule5]

Steven Eppler well, I have always thought that if you set out to do a job, do it to the best quality and with imagination - I guess I got it right for this one - would have been very disapointed, considering the subject matter, if I hadnt - cheers LM5

[@steveneppler5301]

Yes, you definitely got it right. Let the words and pictures speak for themselves... Keep up the good work.

[@americianflyer72]

Steven Eppler I agree with you here Steven..... Most definatly got it right

[@pateva2003]

I'm a Houston resident. I was standing out on my patio to see the reentry path about a 150 miles to the north. I saw basically what was shown on television, multiple contrails and the orbiter breaking up while watching NASA tv.It took about 20 minutes for the networks to catch on to what happened.Very sad.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

Could you tell immediately that something had gone wrong?

[@denisecampbell6736]

@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017 I was at my Sister’s & we were watching CNN because I knew Columbia was coming home & wanted to watch the Landing. When they showed that footage from above Dallas? You could tell right away she was breaking up. I remember Miles O’Brien saying it looked just like Mir did when she was deorbited into the Pacific (IIRC). One big piece & con trail, then suddenly several pieces & con trails. I actually knew when I heard over Comm they’d lost Data w/the Vehicle. I knew what that meant & started praying. 😔😪

[@herrington292]

Could mission control Houston not see it happening while it happened?

[@lmfao7558]

@@herrington292no, they knew it.

[@joso5554]

@@herrington292 No, they don’t use (ground) optical tracking for mission control because it’s way too weather dependent and hence not dependable. It would also require several tens of tracking stations all along the path throughout the southern continental US. Same problem with airborne optical tracking sensors, that would furthermore be extremely expensive on a regular basis. C band (5 GHz) ground tracking radars (together with on board transponders on the orbiter) are the main real time 3D tracking assets, with passive S band telemetry tracking for some real time vehicle data monitoring. Plasma induced blackout at some point during reentry is normal, but shouldn’t last longer than a couple minutes. And powerful C band tracking radars should even be able to keep tracking the orbiter even during blackout. Beyond the amateur video which was seen on news TV, the best optical observation of the vehicle destruction were, by far, some NASA or DoD optical tracking assets (mainly airborne) that happened to follow the reentry, whether on request of NASA or not, but not transmitting in real time.

[@skyprop]

yo the author who put this together...GREAT JOB the mix could have been a little better but a good job in putting this together.

[@tatteredquilt]

I remember when this happened very clearly. I'd lived in Texas for many years, and had seen one of the shuttles re-enter the earth's atmosphere one night, and it was an incredible sight. A couple of months after moving to Texas, Challenger blew up. A couple of months after returning to my home state, Columbia was lost. I remember the feeling of disbelief that another crew was lost, and couldn't imagine what the family of the lost crews, and crews of all shuttles must have felt.

[@jacklandaupresents]

You did quite an amazing job piecing and synchronizing everything together. Great job and thank you✨

[@returnofthemac325]

50:15 the dude saying how the shuttle passing over head Will provide a spectacular view for those in that area. Sheesh. Haunting statement giving what unfolded. RIP 😢

[@hartford85]

Dave Brown and I communicate a lot when I was in high school in 2002. My teacher sister and him was good friends and she introduced us. Great guy. I attended his funeral in Arlington cemetery. His parents invited me. It was a honor to have met his father and mother as well as family and friends. We was supposed to meet but unfortunately that could not happen. When I found out I really crushed me as well as a few of my classmates.

[@veror5516]

In looking at the video lower left, the debris count starts over California but the last communication was over Texas. So the crew was still alive when the shuttle began to break apart? Oh my God.

[@jmr5125]

To clarify, the crew was alive *and unaware* of any problems up to the lost of communication. The time between "The crew knew something is wrong" and the crews death was very short -- 30-90 seconds if I remember correctly.

[@karami8844]

I woke up early to record the landing on VHS. I never knew I was going to watch another NASA tragedy unfold before my eyes. RIP to all of the Astronauts. 😔 1:01:06 “Feeling the heat...” still haunts me.

[@Matthew-gn5yi]

I had to replay a couple times but I heard "feeling the heat" & the voice is so haunting but I thought I heard the voice say another word or two & then nothing,

[@alinbate4580]

they were burned to death i think :(

[@DaveyHearn]

@@alinbate4580 Happy to say I can offer you some comfort here. I read the Columbia Crew Survival Investigation Report, which makes clear that the crew lost consciousness within seconds once the shuttle started to break up. All the crew's helmets were found, and all the visors were in the "up" position. They were so taken by surprise that they didn't even have time to put their visors down. The report also concluded that there were no thermal injuries to the astronauts while they were still conscious. The crew's loss remains a tragedy, but I hope it will comfort you to know that the end was very quick.

[@josephrobinson5452]

​@@DaveyHearnif they found a hand on the ground as they reported finding, there surely were very bad injurys and everything wasn't even found. The best thing is don't put your life in someone else's hands.

[@blaksu]

If he said that, I'm not so sure that's indicative of a problem. At that point the orbiter was still intact, I believe, and any increased heat would be a normal effect of reentry

[@xero925]

I remember this. It's really erie that the crew have no idea that they will die in a few minutes. RIP STS 107 Crew! We still hurt for you 17 years later!

[@rhondablack8079]

It’s a blessing they didn’t know🙏

[@ProBallerJake2]

They knew for one minute before death.

[@joso5554]

@@ProBallerJake2 probably even less. The pilot and captain got alerted when things came to a point that the vehicle dissymetry (due to the left wing damage, which they couldn’t observe) caused the lateral control system to be overpowered. From that point (basically, loss of vehicle control and stability) to vehicle breakup and depressurization, to loss of consciousness, must have been less than 20 or 15 seconds.

[@steverasch2891]

20 years ago today...Will never forget waking up that morning in college and seeing the news that there was a shuttle catastrophe...at first, I was confused and thought that it was a remembrance of the Challenger disaster from 1986. Took me a minute to realize that this was a new disaster.

[@aaaht3810]

Very informative presentation. It really helps you understand the chronology of events. RIP Columbia crew.

[@MicrowavedAlastair5390]

This was the first national tragedy that I have memories of experiencing. I'm just barely too young to remember 9/11. We'd gone to a pizza place for dinner, little less than a month before my fourth birthday, and all the patrons and workers were glued to the TVs, which were all showing the breakup. I knew what had happened, even then.

[@Maltsky3773]

I remember tuning in to CNN to see the landing. When they showed the shuttle clearly breaking apart it was absolutely heartbreaking. May they Rest In Peace.

[@EdWeibe]

yeah thanks for putting this together. I was one who went on to man the downlink monitoring on future takeoffs to catch debris live as it happened and get it to flight analysts after orbit was established. (aka the tank shot).

[@yxeaviationphotog]

Did you also monitor downlinks from the SRB cameras as well, or was that assigned to someone else?

[@ardesyvonne9406]

The three voices talking at once is crazy making!!!

[@joso5554]

Excellent work putting together and synchronizing all these elements. 👍👍👌

[@lunarmodule5]

Thank you very much!

[@Tmccreight25Gaming]

"When your just 16 minutes from home Know with us you are never alone We will always remember the ones Lost just 16 minutes from home" RIP the crew of Space Shuttle Columbia STS-107 2003-2024

[@kendambrosio3714]

Wow. I just want to thank you for putting this together. As sad as it was for the country, it must have been so much worse for those working the return flight -- that hope to turn negative data into a flight with damaged communications, or... something. And the growing realization that it simply wasn't to be.

[@melinda5777]

I would like to thank all the non-proffessional photographers/ video-ograhers on the ground filming what was suppose to be a happy occasion and presented their videos to NASA to help in their investigation. Sadder is: they saw the heat shields being torn off during the lift off and could have aborted the mission before they reached outer space. Then q6 days in space, seems to me they should or could have figured out a way foe these souls not to burn to death upon re-entry!! I remember this day so clearly. I was watching it under on TV. Had just got to work before clock in. GOD BLESS Their families!

[@invernessity]

@@melinda5777 Unfortunately, shuttle missions could not be aborted once the solid rocket boosters were ignited, and until after they fully burned their fuel loads which took about two minutes. Also, the foam responsible for this tragedy struck the leading edge of the left wing at 81.7 seconds after lift-off when the orbiter was already traveling 2300 fps (almost 1600 mph) at an altitude of 65,900 feet (about 12.5 miles). There was nothing NASA could do at this time; however, it is theoretically possible that a mission could have later been launched to recover the crew before they exhausted their oxygen and other supplies.

[@toddcushing2764]

Nicely done. I will watch more of your videos.

[@lunarmodule5]

todd cushing thanks todd - welcome aboard the Space Centre!

[@melindanelson7111]

I know his heart was hurt and broken but LeRoy Cain did an excellent job considering his heart had just dropped to his feet. God bless u LeRoy and all at Mission Control.

[@DominicciSkycam]

"The SSP was asked directly if they had any interest/desire in requesting resources outside of NASA to view the Orbiter (ref. the wing leading edge debris concern). They said, No." - he knew about the problems and didn't do anything about it. Disgusting - he deserves no praise.

[@nicklindsley7866]

I bet he regrets dismissing the calls to use hi res cameras to check possible damage to Columbia's left wing. Two weeks previously..

[@AlonsoRules]

@@nicklindsley7866 even if they were able to see the damage, there was nothing that could have been done

[@kmlonidier]

@@AlonsoRules nothing could be done? Officials from NASA are on record saying they would have done something if they knew Columbia would disintegrate. NASA once again failed to take proper care of the astronauts.

[@JackieSwisher619]

@@kmlonidier you didn’t answer the question. Please provide a source. What exactly could he have done? Sent a rescue mission? Tell the crew they would die on re-entry?

[@nancyneal5377]

I was on a plane getting ready to land in Miami, when the Capt. came on to tell us the Columbia was lost.

[@marcwiggin8816]

Must have been, er, disconcerting

[@Tibs_Budapest]

"Roger, uh buh (CUTOFF)" Phonetically, sounded like first syllable of "before" or possibly "both;" he may have been responding to the BFS fault messages for both left-side main landing gear tires.

[@quitsevensix]

Mr Cain has nerves of absolute steel wow he did not flinch once during his realisation that STS 107 was lost

[@lmfao7558]

He was crying.

[@kathyyoung1774]

@@lmfao7558yes, we can see tears in other videos.

[@c7042]

At 74 now, I remember that morning and how sad I was. But as I am about to soon join them in death, I envy the crew of Columbia and the marvelous adventure they had in space. How satisfied they must have been with their life at the end. Their loss impacted us but not them.❤❤

[@jerrytravelstead1075]

The moment when the person reported 4 sensors going out - I’ll bet at least one engineer knew right then what was happening

[@noahdavidson8733]

And the fact that there was no commonality between them… four separate sensors in the same general area but not connected at all. Hindsight is 20/20 but even at that moment the sense of impending doom would’ve been incapacitating

[@raymarshall6721]

I bet it was more than one engineer. You could hear the change in voice within seconds.

[@MissDaisyTheRacoon]

1:01:50 is the moment the shuttle started to break up, and when they took over manual control and were essentially test pilots until the enevitable break up and death of the crew of Columbia.

[@GumballAstronaut7206]

20 Years Ago Today…..R.I.P. crew of STS-107 Space Shuttle Columbia

[@cherihill2003]

RIP Columbia and crew. Excellent coverage!

[@mrkeogh]

57:15 the controller knows something is seriously wrong if they lost 4 temperature sensors with no commonality (i.e. can be taken out by one or two systems failing, like an electrical fault, etc.) That they were lost over 4-5 seconds tells us the rate at which the plasma entered and destroyed systems inside the wing structure. The nature of how they failed probably told the controller they had a very serious problem.

[@doddyvanstraaten2774]

No commonality - How about the fact that all the sensors were on a lateral line back from the foam impact location?

[@mailtrap22]

Yup. The commonality was the wing itself. It was being destroyed from the plasma entering the hole and eating the wing from the inside.

[@rumpleforeskin6915]

I was working security at the johnson space center when this happened,...it was a very sad day.

[@lunarmodule5]

+Dustin Davis I cant imagine what the day was like there - thanks for the comment

[@gregv79]

This is one of those dramatic moments captured live I always seem to go back to as i go to bed. Theres another 2-1/2 hr upload that starts an hour earlier in re entry but ive watched this one more..a hundred times at least id bet.

[@gcbranger1189]

I watched this one many times over and when it gets to roger uh but, i go back to around the 5 minute mark. It's like they are alive again.

[@charlesbass66]

1:15:36 Fido do you have any tracking? NO SIR..Chilling and definitive. I remember like it was yesterday. Sad day

[@jdoggg1119]

Feb 1st 2003 was tragic locally for me. I lost a classmate in a car crash that morning.

[@Zoomer30]

When that recovered tape was first played (remember :they had no idea what it was or if was related to the shuttle, it could have been a graduation tape for all they knew) their jaws must have dropped.

[@noahdavidson8733]

The guys who found it said something like “it looked like someone had just tossed a cassette out of a car, it was just laid there on the side of the road pristine”

[@jobling9]

Watching the tragic Challenger live on TV as a kid still haunts me, then years later my kids witnessed this 😔 RIP to all. Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[@incargeek]

The flashing out the overhead windows around 47:37 is the APU exhaust.

[@markwilliamson4628]

And the realization in Charlie's voice at 1:09:27...

[@nolancain8792]

Approximate timing from CAIB and telemetry compilations. Edited 2/1/23. We really are hearing her breaking apart. 1:01:50 RCS fires to keep Columbia on course 1:01:52 Loss of Signal 1:02:01 Columbia loses control, aero forces overcome all attempts to regain control 1:02:08 Left OMS pod breaks off, Columbia is essentially flying straight vertical then backwards 1:02:24 Left wing separated and begins disintegrating 1:02:32 Crew Module and rest of Columbia breaks apart

[@noecarrier5035]

I've read the detailed reports on the breakup sequence dozens and dozens of times, but every time I see the actual elapsed time, beginning to end, it really brings home how rapidly Columbia fell apart. And my heart always hurts when I see Leroy Cain holding in the emotion that comes with the sudden realisation of what has just happened to seven of his close friends and colleagues. The NASA flight directors and other missile men have no better paragon.

[@lmfao7558]

1.05 still not getting it.

[@donaldshaw8710]

1:01:43 Mission Control's last communication with Space Shuttle Columbia before its disintegration.

[@bozotheclown935]

Brings me to tears every time I listen to this. I don't know why I do it..

[@bruce92106]

Hearing her all happy Chatty-Cathy away taking video of the decent and plasma is kinda creepy and sad too. Ugh. Those poor astronauts and what those last minutes must have been like. However I don't think they felt it too long because once it broke apart, at that altitude, at that speed, etc, I believe they'd have passed out almost immediately. But, even so. RIP!

[@dlw1221]

I really felt the same way. Although, I likened her non-stop Chatty-Cathy to nervous energy. I believe they all knew, this was a possibility.

[@mishie618]

Its hard to imagine they weren't watching in yhe sky and didn't see it in real time. So sad every time it just gets more heartbreaking.

[@dannyflournoy6978]

Absolutely agree.

[@evanv7420]

“Columbia Houston UHF comm check” with no response is always chilling

[@paulanderson6481]

Columbia was the most beautiful of all the orbiters

[@rzk8302]

Paul Anderson why?

[@CrystalWings12]

@@rzk8302 Because she was the first? (sorry, Enterprise..)

[@cherihill2003]

Columbia was my favorite shuttle too.❤❤❤💔💔💔

[@SiymX]

Oh My God! I remember that they died. I was so heartbroken. How did they die. But Ya! God Bless Them! And you who send this video. Please send More. And keep up the good work.

[@lunarmodule5]

Thanks Sayeem - appreciate the comment

[@lmfao7558]

How did they die? Are you kidding? They hit the ground very hard or lack of oxygen first.

[@augsbourne]

@@lmfao7558none of them made it to the ground alive… they died pretty swiftly once the cabin broke away from the rest of the orbiter. Cabin pressure would’ve been lost in an instant and they were gone in seconds.

[@joso5554]

@@augsbournetotal crew module depressurization was caused by the vehicle breakup. The crew routinely don’t wear their helmets nor gloves and breathe cabin air during reentry. Loss of consciousness is a matter of 10 seconds. Extreme deceleration and tumbling of the separated crew module would have caused fatal traumatic injuries by the same time frame. Further structural breakup and extreme thermal exposure would be happening next. Parts would end up slowing down and free falling to hit the ground at relatively low speeds, down to 100 mph or even less. About 40% of the orbiter’s total mass was recovered in the debris, and an estimated 20% more was not found, whereas about 40% is estimated to have been vaporized by the exposure to extreme heat during reentry, turned into smoke or dust left in the air.

[@247Faithkeeper]

22 years ago today, America lost these brave heroes and families lost loved ones. RIP ❤

[@modeltrainman]

A sad but real part of our history.

[@crazyshortstime9317]

One thing worth noting about this terrible event is that the crew was unaware of the danger until the very end, which may have been for the better, as in, it was probably for the best that they did not die knowing what was going to happen to them, but rather, death and destruction caught them by surprise, and so they probably had no idea what was happening when they all inevitably passed out and died shortly thereafter. This also ties in with the fact that it was probably for the better that controllers in Mission Control Houston had this happen whilst not knowing about the hole in the wing because if they had known all along, but had this happen because they failed to act in time, this would have been far worse, but since they didn't know all along, and consequently were not able to act in time, it was less harsh than it could've been.

[@MrGrace]

They DID know about the hole in the wing. They simply ignored it.

[@rekunta]

They were informed about the foam strike by video conference, yet told there was no reason for concern. I doubt their end was a surprise out of nowhere. Undoubtedly the shuttle lost more and more stability as more alarms were going bonkers. They probably had ample time to understand they were goners.

[@herrington292]

I agree with you Crazy Shorts Time. They died happy, at least for the most part.

[@ms.weaveologist9864]

They knew the 2nd day that they was not going to make it home but chose to send an email to let the crew know but told them it was no cause for concern but in reality they knew it was cause for concern 😢

[@infinitecanadian]

The thermal image was eerie. She was burning up.

[@Killraven1967]

Nice work LM5 - a fitting tribute.

[@BD12]

If there were people on the ground who knew about the foam strike and knew it could be a fatal outcome, how many of the people in MCC knew that much? Would've been nerve-wracking, waiting for the landing to happen with that knowledge.

[@lunarmodule5]

***** There were a lot of people in the MOCR that day who had been privy to the analysis and conversations ref the debris strike on launch - including the Flight Director Leroy Cain - I can recommend the book Comm Check which details the detail

[@nutsackmania]

+lunarmodule5 Good info thanks.

[@ziggy8013]

Looking back now some 16yrs ago and watching and putting together the videos NASA knew before hand that there was going to be a problem but they had no other choice then to take the chance of reentry for Columbia.

[@junkdriver42]

@@ziggy8013 That’s not exactly true. The CAIB report details a few options had management done their job. The options include reducing the stress on the left wing by changing the turns, cold soaking the wing, stuffing it with debris, and even a potential rescue mission. None of them were guaranteed, but they could have improved their odds. This video is sad, but it also makes me angry.

[@uggggggghhhhh]

So sad to see all the photos of them happy in outer space knowing they were doomed from the start ): I just hope it was quick and all they knew was that they'd be home soon

[@JD-eq4dp]

Those at NASA were full of crap. They can skirt round the issue all they want. They damn well knew the shuttle would be in trouble after the strike against the wing.

[@KubanKevin]

Not really. The foam strikes happened often. They had no definitive way of knowing the damage without seeing it. The crew had no way of seeing it either. Sending a second shuttle was a possibility but it had never been attempted.. it’s hard to manage 1 shuttle in orbit at a time, now imagine two of them simultaneously. I’ll give you that they royally screwed up with Challenger but I do believe they did not know the full extent of the damage and their best guess they believed it wouldn’t be an issue as it had never been a problem in the past. Trust me the last thing they wanted was another disaster after challenger.

[@joso5554]

@@KubanKevin i totally agree. The realization of how big the damage a piece of foam could cause on a RCC leading edge element only came after the CAIB mandated a full scale test, which showed shocking results. It’s absolutely crazy that NASA had normalized the deviance of observing these recurrent boost phase foam strikes and their damage on the orbiter bottom TPS tiles, without ever bothering to properly assess the damage it could cause to the RCC leading edge. Nor set up any in orbit diagnostics procedure (which they ultimately did after Columbia) to check for possible damage. This is voluntary blindness. Literally a disaster waiting to happen.

[@RossH1909]

57:20 "Where is this instrumentation located?". "In the aft part of the left wing".... The exact moment that NASA realises it should probably have done something about the huge chunk of foam that smashed into the left wing on launch.

[@DarkLight753]

+Ross Hutchison They couldn't have done anything about it. They had no way to repair it in orbit.

[@CoffeeMasterPlus]

+DarkLight753 But They could have sent up another shuttle to save them.

[@CptMikeTango1]

+Lindsey Gardner Shuttles takes weeks to launch

[@digitalblasphemy1100]

humans can survive for weeks in space.

[@ILSRWY4]

But they never had "weeks" worth of food onboard.

[@andretempler]

So the last words were "Roger, but.." or is something audible here 1:02:05 ??? It seems like the squelch of the radio activated transmission because of the noise but nothing was said, or can you make out any word? What do the mean by c-band? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_band Is it infrared tracking, radio or some c-band radar, cause they say radar?

[@noahdavidson8733]

The b- word that was cut off was determined to be either “both” (in reference to the tire pressure messages) or “before”

[@cherylb2008]

I am interested in anything you put together about Columbia and it’s crew. I’m fascinated with Columbia

[@WilliamTBooth]

I'm wondering if any recognized body parts of the Columbia shuttle crew were found amongst the debris...

[@lunarmodule5]

yes they were..

[@noahdavidson8733]

All of the astronauts aboard were identified. That’s all that’s worth saying, in my opinion.

[@Zach121k]

I Love the work you put in here,

[@jimbo16720]

You do realize all 3 accidents were because they were in a hurry and didn't take the precautions before launching. A simple request for a military photograph would have told them there was a hole in the wing. Challenger was from not listening to a engineer about the O-rings in cold weather and Apollo was from not having wiring covered and pure oxygen in the capsule. All could have been prevented.

[@Aeronaut1975]

Nothing could have been done, even if NASA were aware of the hole in the wing. Due to SpaceHab being carried in the cargo bay, Columbia didn't have any spacesuits on board, nor was there an airlock module installed.

[@mistiandamelia]

jimbo16720 Out of all of the accidents Apollo 13 was the most successful on the astronauts surviving, their accident happened in space and despite all odds they survived unfortunately unlike all these other accidents. RIP!

[@almostfm]

And 13 was incredibly lucky in one respect-had the accident happened a few hours earlier, they wouldn't have had the electrical power to get home. A few hours later, and the LM descent stage wouldn't have had enough thrust to get them back to a free-return trajectory

[@mscheese000]

I'm pretty sure jimbo16720 was referring to the Apollo 1 accident, not Apollo 13.

[@srinitaaigaura]

Apollo and Challenger were preventable with a bit of foresight. Not sure what they could have done about Columbia because it took them a whole day to process the video and find out. Unfortunately the shuttle was not in the same plane as the ISS, or else they might have been saved by docking. When you look back, it's almost bizarre how everything unfolded - like it was predestined. The transmission cut just seconds before the shuttle lost the left wing and so on - it was almost like a discretion shot.

[@robbhahn8897]

Feel kind of sorry for Leroy Cain the flight director. When the anonymous readings from the left wing began coming in he must have been thinking back to the meetings and emails flying around NASA for the past week about the foam strike on the orbiter left wings after launch. Considering that he was one of the people who said there was no need for additional imagery of the damage while they were still in orbit, he must have felt like being gut-punched when to breakup images came in.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

Oh really? I didn't know he was one of the nay-sayers. I thought it was Linda Ham that made that call all by herself.

[@Notoriouskid28]

@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017 it was indeed Linda Hamm. As i understand it, the flight control team did not know if the potential damage. The crew did and were talked to by someone on the ground and everyone (crew included) thought nothing of it. Which is the tragic part here because the navy (I believe) told them they could position one of their satellites to have a look and were declined by the nasa higher ups.

[@karami8844]

@@Notoriouskid28 I read on her Wikipedia page that she was only demoted from her position and continued her career at NASA. She should have been fired for not even trying to orchestrate a rescue mission or at least taking the engineers’ concerns seriously.

[@maddymurnane5670]

​@@karami8844I agree

[@cornerofthemoon]

I don't buy that just the portion of the onboard videotape that recorded the crew's demise was destroyed when the vehicle broke up. I totally get why the footage wasn't released but somebody at NASA saw it.

[@yesitssarahbby17]

The camera couldn't survive the intense heat and cabin pressure. Recording the crew's demise wouldn't have been possible

[@cornerofthemoon]

@@yesitssarahbby17 The tape survived but apparently only the portion that recorded the astronauts deaths was destroyed after break up. I suppose that's technically possible but I don't believe it though I understand the reason for NASA sticking to that story.

[@noahdavidson8733]

I think Clark put it away. McCool was kind of giving a gentle but firm vibe of “Ok, let’s get ourselves situated.” Chawla even said, lightheartedly but also with intention, “Stop playing”. If there was more to the tape, we’ll never see it, and thank God for that, we don’t need to. But it could also be that what burned away was just a few more minutes or seconds before she stowed it.

[@dave36464736]

The realization at 1:15:18 is awful. They know something catastrophic has just happened. How horrifying.

[@nolancain8792]

Whenever you hear lock the doors it’s never good.

[@tracymiller1149]

What did that lady mean when she said, right as the orbiter was starting to break up "We're taking some hits here, we're right on top of the tail. Not too bad"?

[@rainerzufall6245]

Sensor data readings or communication connection? Something like that. But who knows how sensors react during a vehicle breakup.

[@joso5554]

The telemetry reception was lost due to reentry plasma blackout, just like the UHF communication link. So there’s no way that any real time telemetry data was available at vehicle breakup. This comment must have been related to either the blackout intensity or whatever external context.

[@wdavis6814]

Was it after this event when it became standard for crews to use the Canadarm to survey the orbiter 100% of launch damage once in orbit?

[@lunarmodule5]

yep, starting with STS-114

[@yxeaviationphotog]

Should also be noted that an orbital inspection boom was attached to the Canadarm, in order to facilitate the inspection.

[@charlessnider883]

After

[@ElChupahuahua]

I still think about these souls and the courage they all demonstrated. I also think about all the NASA professionals that watched and could do nothing to save them. Especially Mr Cain.

[@berlymahn]

Simply tragic. Those folks knew something was amok early on due to the discussions relating to foam strike earlier in the week. Complacency and arrogance on the ground killed this crew.

[@dannyflournoy6978]

Absolutely 100% correct on your statement. Wtf did they think at 18x the speed of sound would happen to the Columbia? It's mind boggling that NASA could have such a "let's keep our fingers crossed that nothing bad hapoens" instead of fixing the problem. Fucking lame, ignorant, etc etc etc. All bad. I doubt the crew was told of any possible worst case scenarios.

[@herrington292]

I disagree. The ground crew might've known and brought it to the attention of many, but it's often just ONE person that is control (making decisions) that chose to "not worry about it".

[@ginodelgobbo9237]

I literally cry everytime.

[@TheRetroShed]

So very sad watching this. As before with Challenger, if an engineer or tech says there might be a problem, you'd better take notice of what they are saying.

[@gcbranger1189]

50:15, you definitely don't want to be outside now.

[@StephenLuke]

RIP Rick Husband (1957-2003) William C. McCool (1961-2003) Michael P. Anderson (1959-2003) Kalpana Chawla (1962-2003) David M. Brown (1956-2003) Laurel Clark (1961-2003) and Ilan Ramon (1954-2003)

[@LolaClementine]

42:55 At the Time Space Shuttle Columbia next Mission was announced to be STS-118, The Mission was rescheduled to Space Shuttle Endeavour

[@blairtrot5]

You've done good work here.

[@vsirrmk]

Did she say " not too bad " to tip of the tail, knowing that it's potentially losing a tail, which on its own is catastrophic???

[@lmfao7558]

Why is there an overlap of 2 ppl speaking - it’s difficult to hear both.

[@PhantomDrums917]

at 1:03:24...how do they know that those were the three main engines? How could they tell? thx.

[@Concorde4711]

+PhantomDrums917 Cause the engines are the most resistant parts of the shuttle, made to withstand high teperatures and forces, they remain more or less in one piece, so at this time, this three large pieces couldn't anything else than the engines.

[@rainerzufall6245]

That black/white footage was filmed from the gun camera of a apache helicopter i think if i remember right.

[@nolancain8792]

@@rainerzufall6245 the crew cabin was also known to withstand some impressive forces, able to hold longer but not intact.

[@Bluefrog757]

It’s hard to believe it’s been almost 19 years

[@rubenthelonewolf]

tomorrow will be 20 years

[@faktisletztenendes]

To me it’s still remarkable that engineers didn’t calculate with the possibility that a piece of foam hitting the orbiter at a certain point of acceleration could cause serious damage to the tiles. Tests made after the disaster even had to be repeated several times before the result was matching with what really happened at launch. So it’s not that surprising NASA noticed the impact (what they thought to be just a so to say graze shot) but never considered it to be a serious problem. It’s so easy to say the losses of lives and material could’ve been prevented given the knowledge of today, that’s what I’d like to tell everyone who’s written mostly stupid things here.

[@vsirrmk]

Right on! They knew prom previous flights that the foam breaks off, and no one thought to calculate the impatct? No one thought " what if" ???? It is a design flaw!!

[@GH-oi2jf]

It wasn't a tile that was damaged, it was the carbon leading edge of the wings. But I agree, that carbon structure should have been tough enough to resist a strike of this sort.

[@joso5554]

@@GH-oi2jf indeed. The impacted part was the critical wing leading edge, not the bottom TPS tiles as in many previous flights. And there was only ONE test on a real leading edge, requested by the CAIB, which showed a catastrophic damage to the edge. No such test nor serious modeling study had ever been done before the accident. No in orbit visual monitoring procedure and gear was ever put up before the accident. That’s typical NASA over confidence to the point of criminal voluntary blindness.

[@1peter1180]

every time i see videos of Columbia i always look to see if i could see the hole

[@nakinajay]

When the radio starts to crackle you know it’s breaking apart. You will all be missed. Even by this little Canadian nobody