Space Shuttle Columbia

seven astronauts lost their lives when the space shuttle Columbia broke up as it returned to Earth. This was the second space shuttle disaster after the Challenger blew up during launch in 1986. Shuttle operations were interrupted by Challenger's demise. It wouldn't be until 1989 that Columbia flew again. But before that the Columbia flew once more in November 1983, carrying the Spacelab experiment module for the first time as well as the first European Space Agency astronaut. Columbia was then shelved for major upgrades before flying just one mission in 1986; that mission carried Democrat Bill Nelson on board, among the astronauts. The Columbia disaster directly led to the retirement of the space shuttle fleet in 2011. In a way Columbia was different from the previous shuttles because it was the first space shuttle to fly in space in 1981 and it was NASA's oldest shuttle. Columbia spend a total time of 300 days, 17 hours, 40 minutes, and 22 seconds. Columbia completed 27 successful missions before its disaster. Its 28 mission was just purely for…

The Columbia Shuttle was the oldest shuttle in the NASA fleet. On January 16, 2003 Columbia Space Shuttle’s 28th mission took place. Eight seconds into the launch a piece of foam insulation broke off from the propellant tank and hit the left wing of the shuttle. The cameras used to capture the launch could not focus accordingly on the shuttle while taking off; crash engineers could not pinpoint exactly where the damage took place. On February 1, 2003 Columbia Shuttle broke down while when…

INTRODUCTION This memorandum is a failure analysis report regarding the Space Shuttle Columbia¬, the first space-rated Space Shuttle in NASA’s Orbiter fleet that disintegrated during re-entry during the end of its 28th mission on 1 February 2003 (Columbia Accident Investigation Board [CAIB], 2003, p. 39). The accident, described as a “tragedy” by former President George W. Bush, seized the lives of all seven crew-members aboard and led to a two-year suspension of the Space Shuttle Program…

Fifteen years ago on February 1, 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia Crashed. Columbia launched January 16, 2003. Around 82 seconds after Columbia had lifted-off a piece of foam had fallen from a “biopod ramp” which was a piece that helped support the external tank. With this piece fallen the department of defense prepared to use the orbital spy cameras to get a look at the left wing. However, NASA officials declined the offer. On the day of February 1,2003, Columbia was making a normal landing…

When the first shuttle Columbia or STS-1 blast off for the moon in April 12, 1981 by the commander, John Young, and pilot Bob Crippen. Scientist has been working on how to bring food in to outer space. According to (Witze, Alexandra. "Space Eats.) “Space food was born in August 1961 when cosmonaut Gherman Titov nibbled a few crackers while orbiting Earth, months later John Glenn was America's first man to eat anything in the near-weightless environment of Earth orbit. He found out that eating in…

No, the Space shuttle Columbia could not have made the necessary orbital maneuvers to dock with the ISS for safety. The shuttle Columbia launched to an orbital inclination of 39 degrees. (Gebhardt 2013) The International Space Station however is at an inclination of 51.6 degrees, a 12.6 degrees difference.(Cooney n.d.) After launch, the shuttle does not have enough fuel on board to be able to make an inclination change of this magnitude. Because of the extra weight shuttles are not loaded…

Managing Change at NASA For NASA, by the end of 1985, the need for change would begin to unfold as communication breakdown among its people began to take place (Palmer, Dunford & Akin, 2009). The need for change was not recognized until disaster struck and investigative results identified key information as to the need for change (Palmer, Dunford & Akin, 2009). The Space Shuttle Challenger explosion in early 1986 was the first costly event which resulted from communication breakdown. After…

were necessary. The changes came as follows: the fans inside the oxygen tank were removed, the probes to judge the amount of oxygen in the tank were changed from aluminum to stainless steel and the wiring to and from the oxygen tanks were changed from copper to stainless steel (Teitel). Then finally, an additional oxygen tank was installed on the opposite side of the module to prevent a total failure of flight and life support systems (Teitel). The Shuttle program was born out of the Apollo…

When Columbia re-entered the atmosphere and exploded, killing the seven astronauts on board it was a horrible tragedy. It exploded do to a large piece of foam falling from the shuttle's external tank and fatally damaging the wing of the spacecraft. The hole on the left wing allowed gases from the atmosphere to pour into the shuttle as it began to re-enter the the Earth's atmosphere,eventually leading to loss of the spacecraft. While investigating for two years following the accident, space…

hindered by complacency and conformity which can be detrimental to success and in some cases, it can be fatal. The space shuttle Columbia disaster on 2003 may have been caused by complacent leaders who are driven by objectives and disregarded safety. Complacency and conformity are the main factors of the Columbia shuttle disaster. Management was complacent with current processes as evidence of poor leadership, communication, and initiative to change. Complacency is a silent killer without any…