Shuttle Columbia Breaks-up During Reentry Over Texas

On February 1, 1400 UTC, the space shuttle Columbia broke up during its re-entry trajectory as it passed over eastern Texas. The shuttle was at 63,135 m (207,135 ft) at the time communication was lost. Mission duration to that point was 15 days 22 hours 20 minutes and 22 seconds, translating to 14:59:22 UTC. The seven astronaut crew was lost. The shuttle had been scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center at 14:16 UTC.

A Dallas television station, making a routine filming of the shuttle as it passed over the city, along with many amateurs, captured footage of the breakup on video. Weather radar from several cities showed the debris plume as it fell across eastern Texas and into parts of western Louisiana. An astronomer in California may have captured footage of parts falling from the shuttle as it passed over the state.

At 13:53 UTC three sensors located in the left-hand wheel well "rose significantly" climbing 20 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit in five minutes. Wiring for a set of four sensors toward the back of the wing failed – the wiring passes near the wheel well. At 1354 UTC sensors on the outside wall of Columbia's fuselage above the left wing showed a 60-degree (°F) rise in temperature in five minutes, while the sensors on the right side showed a more normal 15-degree (°F) rise. At 1356 UTC, increased temperatures were noted in the compartment housing the left main landing gear. At 13:58 UTC three bondline temperature sensors in the left wing, embedded in the structure of the vehicle stopped working. Also, at 13:58 flaps on the left wing began moving to steer the shuttle on course after computers detected the shuttle was beginning to fly off course due to increased drag on the left wing. At 13:59 UTC, the temperature and pressure sensors for both tires on the left main landing gear dropped offline. At the same time the flaps on the left wing appeared to be struggling with an even greater amount of drag on the wing as Columbia wanted to roll off course. A total of eight measurements were lost. The loss of one of these final measurements triggered a warning in the cockpit, providing the crew with their first clue something was going wrong. The astronauts were acknowledging this alarm when voice communications with the shuttle were lost. An additional 32 seconds of telemetry were recorded as the vehicle broke up. That information wasn't immediately available because the Mission Control computers only pass on data to flight controllers if the data is of a certain quality and meets several automatic tests for reliability.

The shuttle carried Spacehab’s US$100 million Double Research Module. The lost module was insured, but for how much will not be disclosed until the company’s quarterly report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is filed, by February 15. Spacehab has two space shuttle modules remaining, both configured for carrying supplies to the international space station.

The shuttle fleet has been grounded as investigations into the cause of the disaster begin. It is not yet known what impact this may have on the operation of the International Space Station.

Copyright 2001 - Andrews Space & Technology
Andrews Space & Technology Privacy Statement and Copyright Information

SPACEandTECH Digest is a weekly roundup of the latest industry news of interest to the space professional. SPACEandTECH Flash! is an internet push service offered by Andrews Space & Technology to bring the latest on orders, launches, and important breaking news to your desktop. SPACEandTECH Digest and SPACEandTECH Flash! are part of the Andrews Space & Technology www.spaceandtech.com website, a website designed to serve the information needs of the space industry.

If you would like to subscribe to the SPACEandTECH Flash! (currently a free service), contact the www.spaceandtech.com Editor-in-Chief, Joe Hopkins, at editor@spaceandtech.com