The 2003 Columbia Disaster

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The 2003 Columbia Disaster
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Columbia history
Milestones OV102 July 26, 1972 Contract
Award Nov. 21, 1975 Start structural assembly of
crew module June 14, 1976 Start structural
assembly of aft-fuselage March 16, 1977 Wings
arrive at Palmdale from Grumman Sept. 30,
1977 Start of Final Assembly Feb. 10,
1978 Completed final assembly Feb. 14,
1978 Rollout from Palmdale April 12 1981
Launch Jan 16, 2003 28th and Last
Flight
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Columbia 2003 mission STS-107

• The Columbia disaster occurred on
  February 1
• It disintegrated over Texas during
  re-entry.
• Loss of all seven crew, before concluding
  its 28th mission.

• Caused by damage sustained during launch when
  a piece of foam
• insulation the size of a small briefcase
  (loaf of bread) and known as the
• Left Bipod Foam Ramp broke off the main
  propellant tank.

• The damaged area allowed the hot gases to
  penetrate and
• destroy the internal wing structure,
  causing the in-flight break-up.

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Columbia

• Some foam shedding had been noticed during the
  launch
• However, foam shedding was a common occurrence
  and so it was discounted.
• In the aftermath of the Challenger disaster NASA
  had still not shaken off elements of the mindset
  that contributed the tragedy.
• They believed that as it worked, there was
  nothing to fix.
• They were wrong.

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Thermal Shield

• Primary heat shield made from reinforced
  carbon/carbon tiles.
• Capable of withstanding 1700oC
• Secondary shield Fibrous refractory composite
  insulation (FRCI) tiles, which are flexible and
  very tough.
• These combine with interior insulation to protect
  the crew and vehicle during the atmospheric
  braking phase of orbital re entry.

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External Tank Foam Insulation
Oxygen and hydrogen exist as gases at standard
temperature and pressure. Since their density in
this state is quite low, the amount of these
substances required by the Space Shuttle would
take up an enormous volume. The only way to
carry sufficient propellant in a reasonable
amount of space is to increase the density by
cooling and pressurizing them until they become
liquids.
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External Tank Foam Insulation
The liquid oxygen is cryogenically cooled to
-300F (-184C) The liquid hydrogen is chilled
to -423F (-253C). These liquids must be kept
at high pressure and very low temperature or
they will boil back to a gaseous state.
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Foam Ramp

• The Left Bipod Foam Ramp was a one meter cast
  ramp made entirely out of foam which weighed just
  under 1kg, dry.
• Its purpose was to improve the aerodynamic
  profile of the forward orbiter bipod mount.
• This entire ramp, which was frozen by contact
  with the EFT broke away 81.9 seconds after
  launch.
• The debris struck the leading edge of the left
  wing, punching a hole through the carbon/carbon
  armour.

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Warnings Ignored

• After Columbia safely reached orbit the NASA
  engineering safety team made three requests to
  the Department of defence to provide high
  definition spy satellite pictures of the
  orbiter.
• The requests were refused as the DOD was busy
  over the middle east.
• The engineering team then proposed a space walk
  to check the wing.
• NASA management refused on the grounds that the
  crew schedule was full.
• Had the damage been discovered the crew had no
  way of making repairs,.
• However, Columbia did not have enough fuel to
  dock with the ISS.
• Despite rumours, Columbia was beyond help of any
  kind.

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Re Entry

• February 1st Columbia made a perfect de-orbit
  burn and began the aero braking part of its re
  entry operation.
• 084409 Columbia hit the upper atmosphere at 7.8
  km/s17,500mph.
• Leading edges quickly heat to 1400oC.
• 084839 A sensor on the left wing leading edge
  spar showed strains higher than those seen on any
  previous Columbia re-entry.
• 84932 Columbia executed a pre-planned roll to
  the right.
• Speed Mach 24.5.

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Last Moments

• 85346 Signs of debris being shed were sighted
  by ground observers.
• Speed Mach 22.8.
• Altitude 230,200 feet.
• 85424 The Maintenance, Mechanical, and Crew
  Systems Officer notes that four hydraulic sensors
  in the left wing failed simultaneously.
• Mission Control discuss the instrument failure.
• Over the next few minutes ground observers report
  seeing flashes of light from Columbia, this was
  debris falling from the orbiter and burning up
  in the plasma stream.

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Destruction

• 85915 Engineering note that pressure readings
  had been lost on both left main landing-gear
  tyres, they tell the crew.
• A rapid cascade sensor failure followed.
• The crew response is garbled and before they can
  repeat the message ground observers report that
  Columbia has disintegrated.

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Survival

• Unlike the Challenger accident there was never
  any possibility of survival.
• The orbiter pitched left as its wing broke up and
  lost aerodynamic flow.
• Columbia turned sideways on to the Mach 19.5 air
  stream.
• The orbiter was never designed to withstand
  stress in this orientation and broke up.
• A human dropped into an airflow of this velocity
  would disintegrate as quickly as the orbiter.

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Now

• Foam strikes at launch are still a problem for
  the STS.
• Strikes occur because of the nature of the
  lifter, and there is no way to avoid the problem.
• NASA has investigated many DIY repair methods,
  but none have a realistic chance of working.
• As of now, when a shuttle launches there is
  another ready on short standby.

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The Next Step

• The future appears to lie with truly reusable
  space vehicle.
• Research worldwide has been leaning towards
  hybrid engine space planes such as Skylon and the
  X 34.
• These overcome most of the disadvantages inherent
  in the design of the shuttle.
• The technology is ready, all it needs is the will
  and the money.

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Flight History

• The first shuttle, Columbia flew on 12 April
  1981.
• Since then there have been 128 launches of which
  2 ended catastrophically.
• This gives the shuttle a failure rate of 1.6.
  Which makes it 300 times more dangerous then
  crossing the road.
• Columbia and Challenger were both destroyed in
  accidents, they were also the oldest of the five
  shuttles on the NASA fleet.

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Columbia 2003 mission STS-107

• The investigation board recommended
  improving
• photography of launches, using telescopes
  to
• photograph shuttles while they are in
  space, and
• adding the ability to repair a shuttle while in
  orbit.