[FPSPACE] New York Times report on the NASA Columbia report

[Peter Pesavento]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/science/space/31NASA.html?hp=
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/science/space/31NASA.html?hp=&pagewanted=
print> &pagewanted=print

 

December 31, 2008


Report on Columbia Details How Astronauts Died 


By JOHN SCHWARTZ
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/john_schwartz/
index.html?inline=nyt-per> 

Seven astronauts slipped into unconsciousness
<http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/injury/unconsciousness-first-aid/ov
erview.html?inline=nyt-classifier>  within moments and their bodies were
whipped around in seats whose restraints failed during the wildly spinning
final moments of the shuttle Columbia in 2003, according to a new report
from the space agency.

While the astronauts' upper bodies flailed, the helmets that were supposed
to protect them ended up battering their skulls, the report said, and
"lethal trauma occurred to the unconscious or deceased crew due to the lack
of upper-body support and restraint." 

The 400-page report does not say that better equipment in the crew cabin
would have saved the astronauts on the fatal morning of Feb. 1, 2003, as the
Columbia disintegrated after re-entering the atmosphere on the way to its
landing strip in Florida. 

In fact, the authors stated bluntly, "The breakup of the crew module and the
crew's subsequent exposure to hypersonic entry conditions was not survivable
by any currently existing capability." 

They added, "There is no known complete protection from the breakup event
except to prevent its occurrence."

The new report reconstructs the final moments for the crew, including the
warning signs that things were going badly wrong, including alerts about
tire pressure, landing gear problems and efforts by the computerized flight
system to compensate for the growing damage. 

The craft went into a nauseating flat spin and the pilot, Cmdr. William C.
McCool
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/william_c_mcco
ol/index.html?inline=nyt-per>  of the Navy, flipped switches in a futile
effort to deal with the problems. Though many details of the disaster have
long been known, this was the most extensive study ever performed on how the
astronauts died and what could be done to improve the chances of survival in
a future accident. The goal, NASA
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/nationa
l_aeronautics_and_space_administration/index.html?inline=nyt-org>  officials
said, was to find ways to wrest change from tragedy in the design of
spacecraft to come.

Although the shuttle broke up during re-entry, its fate had been all but
sealed during ascent, when a 1.67-pound piece of insulating foam broke away
from an external fuel tank and struck the leading edge of the craft's left
wing, punching a hole that would later allow superheated gases to cut
through the wing's interior like a blowtorch.

The impact of the foam was obvious in videos taken at launching, and during
the Columbia's 16-day mission NASA engineers pleaded to examine the wing to
see if the blow had caused serious damage. But mission managers held firm to
the then common belief that foam strikes were relatively harmless and
constituted a maintenance problem, not a fatal risk.

In a scathing report issued in August 2003, an investigative board later
found that a "broken safety culture" at NASA was largely responsible for the
deaths. It criticized managers as complacent and too tightly focused on
scheduling and budgetary pressures.

After the accident, NASA redesigned the external fuel tank and greatly
reduced the amount of foam that is shed during launching, among other
physical changes to the shuttle. It also appointed the study group, whose
report can be found at http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/298870main_SP-2008-565.pdf. 

NASA says it has already incorporated many lessons from the Columbia
accident in the design of its next-generation space travel system, known as
Constellation. The capsule design is hardier than the delicate, airplanelike
shuttle, and rides on top of the rocket, out of the range of launching
debris. 

Within the capsule, NASA has called for upgraded seat hardware that will
provide more restraint, and will call for individual radio beacons for crew
members. New pressure suits will have helmets that provide better head
protection, and equipment and new procedures will ensure a more reliable
supply of oxygen in case of emergencies.

The commander for Columbia's last flight was Col. Rick D. Husband
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/rick_d_husband
/index.html?inline=nyt-per>  of the Air Force. Besides Commander McCool, the
crew included Ilan Ramon
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/ilan_ramon/ind
ex.html?inline=nyt-per> , a colonel in the Israeli Air Force; Lt. Col.
Michael P. Anderson
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/a/michael_p_ande
rson/index.html?inline=nyt-per>  of the United States Air Force
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/a/us_air_
force/index.html?inline=nyt-org> ; Dr. Kalpana Chawla
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/kalpana_chawla
/index.html?inline=nyt-per> , an aerospace engineer; and two Navy doctors,
Capt. David M. Brown
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/david_m_brown/
index.html?inline=nyt-per>  and Cmdr. Laurel Salton Clark
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/laurel_salton_
clark/index.html?inline=nyt-per> .

The space agency plans to hold a briefing at 4 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday
to discuss the new report. In a statement accompanying the release of the
report, Michael L. Coats, the director of NASA's Johnson Space Center,
commended the study team, saying, "Their work will ensure that the legacy of
Columbia and her heroic crew continues to be the improved safety of future
human spaceflights worldwide."

 

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