Space Shuttle Columbia
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Space Shuttle Columbia (NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-102) was the first space shuttle in NASA's orbital fleet. Its first mission, STS-1, lasted from April 12 to April 14, 1981. On February 1, 2003, Columbia disintegrated during re-entry on its 28th mission; all seven crew members aboard were killed (see Space Shuttle Columbia disaster).
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History
Construction began on Columbia in 1975 primarily in Palmdale, California. Columbia was named after the Boston-based sloop Columbia captained by American Robert Gray, which explored the Pacific Northwest and became the first American vessel to circumnavigate the world; the name also honored Columbia, the Command Module of Apollo 11. After construction, the orbiter arrived at John F. Kennedy Space Center on March 25, 1979 to prepare for its first launch. On March 19, 1981 during preparations for a ground test, five workers were asphyxiated during a nitrogen purge, resulting in two deaths.
The first flight of Columbia (STS-1) was commanded by John Young (a space veteran from the Gemini and Apollo eras) and piloted by Robert Crippen, a rookie who had never been in space before, but who served as a support crew member for the Skylab missions and Apollo-Soyuz. It launched April 12, 1981 and returned April 14, 1981 after orbiting the earth 36 times.
In 1983, Columbia launched the first mission (STS-9) with 6 astronauts, including the first non-American astronaut on a space shuttle, Ulf Merbold. On January 12, 1986 Columbia took off with the first Hispanic American astronaut, Dr. Franklin R. Chang-Diaz, as well as the first sitting member of the House of Representatives in space, Bill Nelson. Another first was announced on March 5, 1998 when NASA named their choice of U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Eileen Collins as commander of a future Columbia mission making Collins the first woman commander of a space shuttle mission.
Prototype Orbiter
Unlike its sister orbiters, Columbia was different from the beginning, right up to its destruction in 2003. One of the most notable features was the black "chines" located on the upper wing surfaces. In addition, for the first four flights, the orbiter was equipped with modified SR-71 Blackbird ejection seats, that were made inactive after STS-4 and removed after STS-9. It also lacked, until its return to space in 1986, a heads-up display for the commander and pilot, and had an "all-tile" thermal protection system, which was later replaced with Nomex felt blankets.
Other major differences include the orbiter retaining the internal airlock, although it was retrofitted for an external airlock for flights to the International Space Station, along with having, until its last retrofitting, wing markings bearing an American flag on the left (port) wing and a "USA" on the right (starboard) wing--these were replaced with the newer NASA "meatball" logo on the left wing and the American flag and "Columbia" name on the right. Like Atlantis and Discovery, Columbia also had the new MEDS "glass cockpit" display installed during its last retrofit. Another feature, located on the tailfin, was the so-called "STILTS" pod, which was used to measure infrared and other thermal readouts during long-duration missions. The tailfin was also modified to incorporate the drag chute first used on Endeavour.
Final mission
Main article: Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
On its final mission, the craft was carrying the first Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon, and the first female astronaut of Indian birth, Kalpana Chawla. Other crew members on the final flight included Rick Husband (commander), Willie McCool (pilot), Michael P. Anderson, Laurel Clark, and David M. Brown.
On the morning of February 1, 2003, the shuttle re-entered the atmosphere after a 16-day scientific mission. NASA lost radio contact at about 9 a.m. EST, only minutes before the expected 09:16 a.m. landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Video recordings show the craft breaking up in flames over Texas, at an altitude of approximately 39 miles (63 km) and a speed of 12,500 mph (5.6 km/s).
In the months following the tragedy, NASA scientists determined that a hole was punctured in the leading edge on one of Columbia's wings, made of a Carbon-Carbon composite. The hole had formed when a piece of insulating foam from the external fuel tank peeled off during the launch 16 days earlier, puncturing the edge of the wing. Hot ionized gases, called plasma, entered the interior of the wing, destroying the support structure and causing the rest of the shuttle to break apart during the intense heat of re-entry.
The collected debris of the vessel are currently stored in the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center; recovered items are occasionally loaned for research into the hypersonic flight regime.
Flights
Space Shuttle Columbia flew 28 flights, spent 300.74-days in space, completed 4,808 orbits, and flew 125,204,911 miles in total, including its final mission.
| Date | Designation | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 April 12 | STS-1 | First Shuttle mission |
| 1981 November 12 | STS-2 | First re-use of manned space vehicle |
| 1982 March 22 | STS-3 | Landed White Sands Missile Range |
| 1982 June 27 | STS-4 | Last shuttle R&D flight |
| 1982 November 11 | STS-5 | First 4 person crew |
| 1983 November 28 | STS-9 | First 6 person crew |
| 1986 January 12 | STS-61-C | Representative Bill Nelson (D-FL) on board |
| 1989 August 8 | STS-28 | Launched KH-11 reconnaissance satellite |
| 1990 January 9 | STS-32 | Retrieved Long Duration Exposure Facility |
| 1990 December 2 | STS-35 | Carried multiple X-ray & UV telescopes |
| 1991 June 5 | STS-40 | 5th Spacelab - Life Sciences-1 |
| 1992 June 25 | STS-50 | U.S. Microgravity Laboratory 1 (USML-1) |
| 1992 October 22 | STS-52 | Deployed Laser Geodynamic Satellite II |
| 1993 April 26 | STS-55 | German Spacelab D-2 Microgravity Research |
| 1993 October 18 | STS-58 | Spacelab Life Sciences |
| 1994 March 4 | STS-62 | United States Microgravity Payload-2 (USMP-2) |
| 1994 July 8 | STS-65 | International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-2) |
| 1995 October 20 | STS-73 | United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML-2) |
| 1996 February 22 | STS-75 | Tethered Satellite System Reflight (TSS-1R) |
| 1996 June 20 | STS-78 | Life and Microgravity Spacelab (LMS) |
| 1996 November 19 | STS-80 | 3rd flight of Wake Shield Facility (WSF) |
| 1997 April 4 | STS-83 | Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL)- cut short |
| 1997 July 1 | STS-94 | Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL)- reflight |
| 1997 November 19 | STS-87 | United States Microgravity Payload (USMP-4), Kalpana Chawla becomes first Indian-born astronaut to fly on the space shuttle |
| 1998 April 13 | STS-90 | Neurolab - Spacelab |
| 1999 July 23 | STS-93 | Deployed Chandra X-ray Observatory |
| 2002 March 1 | STS-109 | Hubble Space Telescope service mission |
| 2003 January 16 | STS-107 | Shuttle destroyed during re-entry on February 1, 2003 and all seven astronauts on board killed. |
