This day 18 years ago, NASA’s Space shuttle Columbia exploded while reentering Earth’s atmosphere, killing all its seven crew members including Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian-origin woman to go to space. The space shuttle was destroyed at about 7:30 PM IST on February 1, 2003, after a 16-day scientific mission. It was the second fatal disaster that occurred in the Space Shuttle program, after the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion which happened in 1986 in which the shuttle had exploded just 73 seconds into the flight.
The STS-107 mission was launched on January 16, 2003 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It conducted a range of international scientific experiments during its 15 days, 22 hours, 20 minutes, 32 seconds in orbit. The accident triggered an investigation which took place over the course of the next seven months. A massive search operation for the debris was also carried out.
The Columbia Accident Investigation Board in its investigation found that a hole was punctured in the leading edge on one of the wings of Columbia during the launch 16 days prior to the explosion. When the shuttle re-entered the atmosphere, the damage enabled hot atmospheric gases to penetrate the heat shield. This destroyed the internal wing structure and made the spacecraft unstable, causing it to break apart.
The report flagged serious questions on NASA's risk-assessment and decision-making processes. Following the accident, all Space Shuttle flight operations were suspended for a period of over two years. NASA made several changes at the technical and organizational levels.
The debris field of the Columbia space shuttle covered hundreds of miles across Texas and into Louisiana and Arkansas. In a massive search operation, nearly 84,000 pieces of debris of the vessel were recovered. It has been stored in the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center.
A museum “Remembering Columbia” was set up in Hemphill, Sabine County, Texas to honour the crew members of the space shuttle who lost their lives. The families of the crew members contributed several personal items of the deceased to be placed on permanent display.
The crew members who died aboard the Columbia space shuttle were:
1. Rick Husband, Commander, 2. William C. McCool, Pilot, 3. Michael P. Anderson, Payload Commander/Mission Specialist, 4. David M. Brown, Mission Specialist, 5. Kalpana Chawla, Mission Specialist, 6. Laurel Clark, Mission Specialist, and 7. Ilan Ramon, Payload Specialist.
A videotape which was recovered showed a 13-minute recording of the astronauts made during the start of re-entry into the atmosphere. It showed the crew members conducting routine re-entry procedures and sharing jokes with each other, which indicated they had no idea of what was to come.