Space Shuttle Columbia disaster facts for kids
Final launch of Columbia
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| Date | February 1, 2003 | ||||||||||||||
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| Time | 08:59 EST (13:59 UTC) | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Over Texas and Louisiana | ||||||||||||||
| Cause | Wing damage from debris | ||||||||||||||
| Outcome | Shuttles grounded for 29 months | ||||||||||||||
| Deaths |
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| Inquiries | Columbia Investigation Board | ||||||||||||||
The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurred when Space Shuttle Columbia broke up when it was reentering the atmosphere on February 1, 2003. The cause of the disaster was that a piece of foam broke from the external fuel tank. This made a hole in the shuttle's wing. During its entry, hot gases entered the wing, causing it to break up. All of the people on board died when it broke up.
Parts of Columbia were found across the state of Texas. The cockpit window is now inside the Space Shuttle Atlantis Pavilion at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Contents
Crew
- Commander: Rick D. Husband, a U.S. Air Force colonel and mechanical engineer
- Pilot: William C. McCool, a U.S. Navy commander
- Payload Commander: Michael P. Anderson, a U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and physicist
- Payload Specialist: Ilan Ramon, a colonel in the Israeli Air Force
- Mission Specialist: Kalpana Chawla, an Indian-born aerospace engineer
- Mission Specialist: David M. Brown, a U.S. Navy captain and surgeon
- Mission Specialist: Laurel Blair Salton Clark, a U.S. Navy captain and surgeon
Related pages
Images for kids
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Close-up of the left bipod foam ramp that broke off and damaged the shuttle wing
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Columbia prior to launch. The circled area on the ET is the left bipod foam ramp, and the circled area on the orbiter is the location that was damaged.
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The flight deck of Columbia during reentry
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Columbia reentry image taken at the Starfire Optical Range near Albuquerque, New Mexico. Debris is visible coming from the left wing (bottom).
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FLIR imaging photograph of Columbia's disintegration captured by an AH-64D Apache attack helicopter during training with RNlAF (Royal Netherlands Air Force) personnel out of Fort Hood, Texas.
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A grid on the floor is used to organize recovered debris
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Recovered power-head of one of Columbia's main engines
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Mock-up of an orbiter's wing's leading edge made with an RCC-panel taken from Atlantis. Simulation of known and possible conditions of the foam impact on Columbia's final launch showed brittle fracture of RCC.
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Columbia's window frames on display as part of the "Forever Remembered" installation at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in 2018
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A makeshift memorial at the main entrance to the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas
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Columbia memorial on Mars Exploration Rover Spirit
See also
In Spanish: Accidente del transbordador espacial Columbia para niños
