Columbia Shuttle

The recommendations that the CAIB assigned to NASA would help to prevent this disaster from happening again. Since the exposing of the external fuel tank foam caused Columbia to explode the CAIB’s first recommendation was to improve external fuel tank foam. They will improve on this by using bolt catchers which will not allow for the external tank to break free (History.com Staff). In doing this future shuttles will not be able to lose a backup tank for emergencies. There are also important pre-flight inspections that must be passed before a shuttle can go into orbit. There are extensive pre-flight tests of the shuttle's leading edge panels, and the protective panels on the leading edges of the shuttle's wings. It was developed because a breach in a reinforced carbon carbon (RCC) panel on Columbia's left wing is believed to have …show more content…
The STS Mission staff went over the checklist before the launch and made sure that everything was ready in order for the Columbia Shuttle to launch. Their checklists were were clear and the shuttle was ready for its launch. But unfortunately the two centers that were in charge for this launch were busy because as soon as the space shuttle lifts off the launchpad in Florida, Mission Control in Houston takes control of the mission. The staff in Florida had no control of what went on in Houston, which could have been apart of the problem for the disorganization (Ochoa). The larger team could have made better decisions to tell the astronauts in space the accident that they could have solve without dying while landing. They did not take the astronauts’ feelings in consideration. NASA was only thinking about their reputation and how it could have been affected by telling the astronauts about the accident that could harm their lives.They did not want the public to know that NASA has created an accident that could kill the astronauts