page_title: Space Shuttle program
section_title: Columbia  2003
hierarchical_section_title: Space Shuttle program / Accidents / Columbia  2003
caption_attribution_description: English: Discovery begins the nine-minute Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver, or 'backflip,' on its last visit to the International Space Station. This view of the nose, crew cabin and forward payload bay of the space shuttle Discovery was provided by an Expedition 27 crew member during a survey of the approaching STS-134 vehicle prior to docking with the International Space Station. As part of the survey and part of every mission's activities, Endeavour performed a back-flip for the rendezvous pitch maneuver (RPM). The image was photographed with a digital still camera, using a 400mm lens at a distance of about 600 feet (180 meters). Polski: Prom Endeavour, rozpoczyna dziewięcio minutowy Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver, lub "backflip", podczas jego ostaniej wizyty na Międzynarodowej Stacji Kosmicznej. Zdjęcie dziobu, kabiny załogi i przedniej części komory ładunkowej wahadłowca Endeavour, wykonali członkowie 27 ekspedycji, podczas przeglądu osłony termicznej promu. Od katastrofy promu Columbia, a konkretnie od STS-114 począwszy, takie przeglądy stały się standardami pozostałych misji. Zdjęcie zostało wykonane z odległości 180 metrów aparatem cyfrowym uzbrojonym w obiektyw 400 mm.
context_page_description: The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. Its official name, Space Transportation System, was taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft of which it was the only item funded for development.
  The Space Shuttle—composed of an orbiter launched with two reusable solid rocket boosters and a disposable external fuel tank—carried up to eight astronauts and up to 50,000 lb of payload into low Earth orbit. When its mission was complete, the orbiter would reenter the Earth's atmosphere and land like a glider at either the Kennedy Space Center or Edwards Air Force Base.
  The Shuttle is the only winged crewed spacecraft to have achieved orbit and landing, and the only reusable crewed space vehicle that has ever made multiple flights into orbit. Its missions involved carrying large payloads to various orbits, providing crew rotation for the space station, and performing service missions on the Hubble Space Telescope.
context_section_description: The Shuttle program operated accident-free for seventeen years after the Challenger disaster, until Columbia broke up on reentry, killing all seven crew members, on February 1, 2003. The ultimate cause of the accident was a piece of foam separating from the external tank moments after liftoff and striking the leading edge of the orbiter's left wing, puncturing one of the reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) panels that covered the wing edge and protected it during reentry. As Columbia reentered the atmosphere at the end of an otherwise normal mission, hot gas penetrated the wing and destroyed it from the inside out, causing the orbiter to lose control and disintegrate.
  After the Columbia disaster, the International Space Station operated on a skeleton crew of two for more than two years and was serviced primarily by Russian spacecraft. While the "Return to Flight" mission STS-114 in 2005 was successful, a similar piece of foam from a different portion of the tank was shed. Although the debris did not strike Discovery, the program was grounded once again for this reason.
  The second "Return to Flight" mission, STS-121 launched on July 4, 2006, at 14:37 (EDT). Two previous launches were scrubbed because of lingering thunderstorms and high winds around the launch pad, and the launch took place despite objections from its chief engineer and safety head. A five-inch (13 cm) crack in the foam insulation of the external tank gave cause for concern; however, the Mission Management Team gave the go for launch. This mission increased the ISS crew to three. Discovery touched down successfully on July 17, 2006 at 09:14 (EDT) on Runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center.
  Following the success of STS-121, all subsequent missions were completed without major foam problems, and the construction of ISS was completed (during the STS-118 mission in August 2007, the orbiter was again struck by a foam fragment on liftoff, but this damage was minimal compared to the damage sustained by Columbia).
  The Columbia Accident Investigation Board, in its report, noted the reduced risk to the crew when a Shuttle flew to the International Space Station (ISS), as the station could be used as a safe haven for the crew awaiting rescue in the event that damage to the orbiter on ascent made it unsafe for reentry. The board recommended that for the remaining flights, the Shuttle always orbit with the station. Prior to STS-114, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe declared that all future flights of the Space Shuttle would go to the ISS, precluding the possibility of executing the final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission which had been scheduled before the Columbia accident, despite the fact that millions of dollars worth of upgrade equipment for Hubble were ready and waiting in NASA warehouses. Many dissenters, including astronauts, asked NASA management to reconsider allowing the mission, but initially the director stood firm. On October 31, 2006, NASA announced approval of the launch of Atlantis for the fifth and final shuttle servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, scheduled for August 28, 2008. However SM4/STS-125 eventually launched in May 2009.
  One impact of Columbia was that future crewed launch vehicles, namely the Ares I, had a special emphasis on crew safety compared to other considerations.
  NASA maintains extensive, warehoused catalogs of recovered pieces from the two destroyed orbiters.
caption: Space Shuttle Discovery as it approaches the International Space  Station during STS-114 on July 28, 2005. This was the Shuttle's "return to flight" mission after the Columbia disaster
exif: {}