Columbia 8 years on

Beeker

01 Feb 2003 saw the loss of STS-107/Columbia and her crew of 7 Astronauts, 8 years ago today. A very sad day for space exploration. May they be remembered for many years to come.

Ghost Train

Had forgot it was the same time of year as Challenger.

lord lucan

Equally as poignant as the Challenger disaster,STS-107 also had a human aspect that allowed us to feel like we almost knew the crew. Columbia's final moments before she broke up were captured on video,showing the jovial crew enjoying the ride back to earth and the banter in the crew capsule. Tragic that we get to see their final moments but i guess maybe a little uplifting for their families that they were enjoying doing what they always wanted to do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45r6Ow1tQlM

clln

Thanks Beeker and lord Lucan for remembering the crew of Challenger and Columbia in a non morose way,instead choosing to celebrate their lives.
hope you do not mind if i remember the crew of Apollo 1,
i was going to post it on JAN 27th but chickened out because so many members of boards seem so depressed judging by a thread in the after hours forum here.
although any death is one too many the loss of 17 Astronauts while actually onboard a spacecraft since the early 1960s is also a tribute to the skill of NASA and the courage of its people considering how much the agency has achieved.

this is from NASAs image of the day and i think is such a cool way to remember Astronauts Gus Grissom,Ed white and Roger Chaffe who died when their Apollo capsule was engulfed by flames during a launch rehearsal.it is a picture of the Apollo 1 hills taken by Spirits Pancam on Mars.



To get back to the subject of Columbia this is the coverage by the website Spaceflight now from Feb 1st 2003 and shows just how normal a re-entry it seemed to be until very close to the end.

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/status2.html

for some reason my strongest memory of that day was the footage by Israeli TV of the Father of Israels first man in space tearing off his microphone to rush home to his wife and family once it was apparent what had happened.

Beeker

Reading "Comm Check" at the moment from Michael Cabbage and William Harwood about the Columbia accident, quite good.


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Comm-Check-Flight-Shuttle-Columbia/dp/1439101760/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296722383&sr=8-1

lord lucan

One of the phrases that sticks with me from STS-107 was Cap-Com Charlie Hobaugh repeating the comm check.

Columbia- Houston,Comm Check.

Columbia - Houston,UHF Comm Check.

No response and the slow realisation that something was going terribly wrong. Strange that he ended up as Commander of STS-129,the launch i got to see!!

clln

lord lucan wrote: »

the launch i got to see!!

according to the launch directors video on the 133 thread,two thousand two hundred readings have to be within set parameters before a GO can be issued.

so the odds against you were 22,000 to 1 you:eek:
Atlantis must have a soft spot for you!:)

Beeker

The exchange that always gives me the shivers, even to this day was when Leroy Cain {Flight Director} called Richard Jones {Flight Dynamics Officer} to see when he was expecting to pick up Columbia on radar.

Caine: "FDO, when are you expecting tracking?"
Jones: "One minute ago, FLIGHT."

clln

Beeker wrote: »

The exchange that always gives me the shivers, even to this day was when Leroy Cain {Flight Director} called Richard Jones {Flight Dynamics Officer} to see when he was expecting to pick up Columbia on radar.

Caine: "FDO, when are you expecting tracking?"
Jones: "One minute ago, FLIGHT."

and local TV in Texas was showing the debris trail before Cain knew what was happening.
i think Caine was back in MC for the RTF flight by Discovery?
if i am right it must have been of great comfort to him that he received no blame.

Beeker

clln wrote: »

and local TV in Texas was showing the debris trail before Cain knew what was happening.
i think Caine was back in MC for the RTF flight by Discovery?
if i am right it must have been of great comfort to him that he received no blame.

Yeah he was there for the STS-114 Return to Flight. He became manager for launch intergration at Kennedy after that.

clln

I can never find a larger picture than this of a very special day in Columbia and Atlantis's history,anybody able to help?.it is a picture i love!

On Aug. 2, Columbia was moved back to the VAB, remated, and the hauled back to Pad-A on Aug. 9 for a September 1 launch. Due to a backlog at the VAB, Columbia passed the waiting Shuttle Atlantis/STS-38 which was parked outside the VAB until Columbia could vacate VAB HB3
This produced a once-in-a-program picture of Columba (fully stacked) and Atlantis (fully stacked) side-by-side on the crawler way.

Beeker

clln wrote: »

I can never find a larger picture than this of a very special day in Columbia and Atlantis's history,anybody able to help?.it is a picture i love!

Largest I have is 974kb attached:)

lord lucan

Click on the L for large here:http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/detail.cfm?mediaid=30397

clln

Really thanks a million guys,appreciate it very much.
it is an awe inspiring picture,historic,poignant and one i have wanted to get a print of since i first saw it.
if i have to go without food i will get this on high quality paper and poster size.