Columbia Space Shuttle

Because no loss occurred, it does not mean that under slightly different circumstances an injury and other losses may have happened. The absence of injury does not necessarily mean that there was no accident. The myth that just because nothing happened all is in order is clearly busted by the fact that near miss incidents are accidents waiting in the shadows. 

---

Space Shuttle Space shuttle Columbia Space shuttle orbiter Space shuttle vehicles Space suits Space technology... 

FIGURE L.l One of the three hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells used on the space shuttle. Although only one cell is needed to provide life-support electricity and drinking water shuttle flight rules require that all three be functioning. In April 1987, a mission of space shuttle Columbia was cut short when one of the fuel cells malfunctioned. 

Figure 31. However, the oxidation resistance can be improved by impregnation with inhibitors, especially zinc phosphate, which prevents weight loss to about 600°C (32,49). At higher temperatures up to 1400°C, SiC coatings are proving successful, if repeated but only short-time heating is considered (56), as in the case of a reentry space vehicle. An SiC-impregnation process using tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) was used to impregnate the "all-carbon parts of the space shuttle COLUMBIA (9).

Hydrogen mixed with oxygen triggers another notoriously explosive gas-phase reaction that most probably contributed to the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia as well as the Hindenburg disaster. Gas-phase explosions usually react via chain reactions the electron in a radical finds a mate, but in the process steals an electron from another pair, which creates at least one other radical and possibly more, if a bond is disrupted. 

There is intensive interest in Mars as a site for eventual human exploration. Several robotic missions are planned for the near future, and public debate concerning manned space exploration as well as long-term goals for NASA has renewed in the wake of the tragic loss of the space shuttle Columbia in February 2003. 

Aluminum oxide has a very large exothermic enthalpy of formation (AHf = -1670 kJ/mol). This property makes aluminum suitable for use in solid propellants for rockets such as those used for the space shuttle Columbia. When a mixture of aluminum and ammonium perchlorate (NH4CIO4) is ignited, aluminum is oxidized to AI2O3, and the heat liberated in the reaction causes the gases that are formed to expand with great force. This action lifts the rocket. 

Nitroisodimethylamine (NDMA) is a rocket fuel. It is toxic in drinking water in parts per trillion When the space shuttle Columbia burned up on reentry in 2003, NASA warned people not to touch pieces of debris because of this fuel. The widespread contamination from this chemical is just now being realized. 

Astronaut Sidney M. Gutierrez changes the lithium hydroxide canisters on space shuttle Columbia. 

AFIGURE22.il Launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia from the Kennedy Space Center. 

February 1, 2002, Flying over Texas and Louisiana. Before dawn that morning, NASA space shuttle Columbia began its descent from orbit around the Earth following the 15-day mission of STS-107. As the shuttle approached Texas, it began to disintegrate. Before long the communications went silent and debris scattered across two states. NASA put a broad search effort into place to collect the debris. 

Major organizational accidents such as the destruction of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986, the explosion of the Chemobyl s nuclear power plant in 1987, the accident with off-shore platform Piper Alpha in 1988 or the destmction of the space shuttle Columbia in 2003, highlighted the relevance of hmnan contributions to organizational safety. Investigations traditionally considered technical and human factors in the development and prevention of these negative events but, in spite of such operational perspective, statistics have revealed the preponderance of human factors in up to 60-70 percent of the situations (e.g., Deldcer, 2002). 

This book is dedicated to the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-107), Commander Rick Husband, Pilot William McCool, and Mission Specialists Dr. David Brown, Dr. Lauren Clark, Dr. Kalpana Chawla, Michael Anderson and Ilan Ramon for their strength, courage, and great sacrifice in advancing scientific knowledge for us all. Thank you. 

Flexible tailored elastic airfoil section (Sheila Widnall) Widnall applies for a patent for this device, which addresses the problem of being able to measure fluctuations in pressure under unsteady conditions. She serves as secretary of the Air Force (the first woman to lead a branch of the military) and also serves on the board investigating the space shuttle Columbia accident of 2003. 

Columbia supercomputen The NASA supercomputer Columbia, built by Silicon Graphics and Intel, achieves sustained performance of 42.7 trillion calculations per second and is named the festest supercomputer in the world. It is named for those who lost their lives in the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia in 2003. Because technology evolves so quickly, the Columbia will not be the fastest for very long. 

On February 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated in a disaster that killed its crew. When Columbia began its descent, only a handful of NASA engineers were worried that the shuttle and its crew might be in danger. Minutes later, a routine scientific mission became a nonroutine disaster. 

NASA launched the space shuttle Columbia on its STS-107 mission on Januaiy 16, 2003. On Febmaiy 1, 2003, as it descended to Earth after completing a 16-day scientific research mission, Columbia broke apart over northeastern Texas. All seven astronauts aboard were killed. They were commander Rick Husband pilot William McCool mission specialists Michael P. Anderson, David M. Brown, Kalpana Chawla, and Laurel Clark and payload specialist Ilan Ramon, an Israeli (Smith, 2003). 

The space shuttle Columbia lifts off from launch pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida at 9.39am January 16 to begin the STS-107 mission. 

Smith, M.S. 2003. NASA s space shuttle Columbia synopsis of the report of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, Order Code RS21606. 

BARRIERS TO THE INTERPRETATION AND DIFFUSION OF INFORMATION ABOUT POTENTIAL PROBLEMS ORGANIZATIONS LESSONS FROM THE SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA... 

In each of our lives there are a few events that forever serve as reminders of what was, what is, and what ultimately can be. Those few events and the dates on which they occurred serve as lenses through which we judge the successes of yesterday, gauge the relative importance of decisions facing us today, and ultimately decide the course we set for tomorrow. February 1, 2003 serves as one such date for me the event was NASA s tragic loss of the space shuttle Columbia and her crew. 

Space Shuttle Columbia (2003)—disintegrated while re-entering Earth s atmosphere, killing all seven crew members, leaving only three opa ating Space Shuttles and costing approximately 13 billion... 

---