Reference
- ChallengerSecond of the US space shuttles. It made its first flight on 4 April 1983. On its tenth flight on 28 January 1986 the vehicle was destroyed, and its crew of seven killed, when a fault with an O-ring in one of the external rocket boosters led to the explosion of the main fuel tank 73 seconds after lift-off. The accident grounded the shuttle programme until 29 September 1988.
- Columbia DisasterAn accident that occurred on February 1, 2003, about fifteen minutes before the space shuttle Columbia's scheduled landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Columbia disintegrated about forty miles above the earth, killing all seven astronauts aboard: Commander Richard D. Husband; pilot William C. McCool; payload commander Michael P. Anderson; mission specialists David M. Brown, Kalpana Chawla, and Laurel Clark; and Israel's first astronaut, Ilan Ramon. Witnesses reported debris falling from the sky from California to Louisiana. An investigation found that upon takeoff, foam insulation broke off a pylon connecting the shuttle to its main fuel tank, gouging a hole in the shuttle's left wing that allowed super hot gas to penetrate the wing during reentry. The oldest of NASA's shuttle fleet, the Columbia was first launched in 1981. It was on its twenty-eighth mission.
- EndeavourFifth of the US space shuttles. It made its first flight on 7 May 1992. Endeavour was built as a replacement for Challenger, destroyed in an explosion shortly after lift-off in 1986. It was used for the mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope in 1993 and for the first assembly of the International Space Station (ISS) in 1998 that connected the Unity module to the Zarya module, as well as five more trips to the ISS before the Columbia disaster in 2003. It made the last shuttle flight before that tragedy, being launched on 23 November 2002 to change the resident crews and install truss hardware. This was Endeavour's 19th flight. Its next flight took place in August 2007, after a gap of over four years. The craft's final flight, its 25th, was in May 2011, delivering instruments and components to the ISS. This was the penultimate mission of the Shuttle programme.
- Space ShuttleThe Space Shuttle was developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as one component of a program intended to secure the future of the agency after the lunar landings in 1969 and to ensure that the U.S. maintained world leadership and technological superiority in space. Initially conceived as a system to transport humans and materials to a space station, its final configuration embodied a trade-off between NASA’s ambitions and the economic and political constraints ensuing on a loss of support for space among the American people and Congress in the early 1970s.
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Perspectives
Wheels Stop
Humanity's first reusable spacecraft and the most complex machine ever built, NASA's Space Shuttle debuted with great promise and as a dependable source of wonder and national pride. But with the Challenger catastrophe in 1986, the whole Space Shuttle program came into question, as did NASA itself, so long an institution that was seemingly above reproach. Wheels Stop tells the stirring story of how, after the Challenger disaster, the Space Shuttle not only recovered but went on to perform its greatest missions. From the Return to Flight mission of STS-26 in 1988 to the last shuttle mission ever on STS-135 in 2011, Wheels Stop takes readers behind the scenes as the shuttle's crews begin to mend Cold War tensions with the former Soviet Union, conduct vital research, deploy satellites, repair the Hubble Space Telescope, and assist in constructing the International Space Station. It also tells the heart-wrenching story of the Columbia tragedy and the loss of the magnificent STS-107 crew. As complex as the shuttle was, the people it carried into orbit were often more so--and this is their story, too. Close encounters with astronauts, flight controllers, and shuttle workers capture the human side of the Space Shuttle's amazing journey--and invite readers along for the ride. Browse more spaceflight books at upinspace.org. Purchase the audio edition.
The Space Shuttle
Describing the development and operation of the Mir Space Station over the last 10 years, this text focuses specifically on the engineering technology aspects of constructing and operating an orbital complex designed to be occupied by humans over a long period of time. Its publication coincides with the advent of the International Space Station.
Bold They Rise
After the Apollo program put twelve men on the moon and safely brought them home, anything seemed possible. In this spirit, the team at NASA set about developing the Space Shuttle, arguably the most complex piece of machinery ever created. The world's first reusable spacecraft, it launched like a rocket, landed like a glider, and carried out complicated missions in between. Bold They Rise tells the story of the Space Shuttle through the personal experiences of the astronauts, engineers, and scientists who made it happen--in space and on the ground, from the days of research and design through the heroic accomplishments of the program to the tragic last minutes of the Challenger disaster. In the participants' own voices, we learn what so few are privy to: what it was like to create a new form of spacecraft, to risk one's life testing that craft, to float freely in the vacuum of space as a one-man satellite, to witness a friend's death. A "guided tour" of the shuttle--in historical, scientific, and personal terms--this book provides a fascinating, richly informed, and deeply personal view of a feat without parallel in the human story. Browse more spaceflight books at upinspace.org. Purchase the audio edition.
Truth, Lies, and O-Rings
What they didn't want you to know "We all watched in shock and disbelief when Challenger was lost. Probably no one felt more disappointment and regret than Allan McDonald, who had warned us not to launch that day. His story tells of loss, grief, and the eventual rebuilding and recovery."--Robert "Hoot" Gibson, former Space Shuttle pilot and commander "A major contribution to a difficult episode in the history of human spaceflight."--Roger D. Launius, Division of Space History, Smithsonian Institution "McDonald tells the heartbreaking tale of how he saw his words of warning ignored, and the fateful consequences of that decision."--Donald C. Elder III, Eastern New Mexico University On a cold January morning in 1986, NASA launched the Space Shuttle Challenger, despite warnings against doing so by many individuals, including Allan McDonald. The fiery destruction of Challenger on live television moments after launch remains an indelible image in the nation's collective memory. In Truth, Lies, and O-Rings, McDonald, a skilled engineer and executive, relives the tragedy from where he stood at Launch Control Center. As he fought to draw attention to the real reasons behind the disaster, he was the only one targeted for retribution by both NASA and his employer, Morton Thiokol, Inc., makers of the shuttle's solid rocket boosters. In this whistle-blowing yet rigorous and fair-minded book, McDonald, with the assistance of internationally distinguished aerospace historian James R. Hansen, addresses all of the factors that led to the accident, some of which were never included in NASA's Failure Team report submitted to the Presidential Commission. Truth, Lies, and O-Rings is the first look at the Challenger tragedy and its aftermath from someone who was on the inside, recognized the potential disaster, and tried to prevent it. It also addresses the early warnings of very severe debris issues from the first two post-Challenger flights, which ultimately resulted in the loss of Columbia some fifteen years later.
Bringing Columbia Home
Voted the Best Space Book of 2018 by the Space Hipsters, the dramatic inside story of the epic search and recovery operation after the Columbia space shuttle disaster. On February 1, 2003, Columbia disintegrated on reentry before the nation's eyes, and all seven astronauts aboard were lost. Author Mike Leinbach, Launch Director of the space shuttle program at NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center was a key leader in the search and recovery effort as NASA, FEMA, the FBI, the US Forest Service, and dozens more federal, state, and local agencies combed an area of rural east Texas the size of Rhode Island for every piece of the shuttle and her crew they could find. Assisted by hundreds of volunteers, it would become the largest ground search operation in US history. This comprehensive account is told in four parts: Parallel Confusion Courage, Compassion, and Commitment Picking Up the Pieces A Bittersweet Victory For the first time, here is the definitive inside story of the Columbia disaster and recovery and the inspiring message it ultimately holds. In the aftermath of tragedy, people and communities came together to help bring home the remains of the crew and nearly 40 percent of shuttle, an effort that was instrumental in piecing together what happened so the shuttle program could return to flight and complete the International Space Station. Bringing ColumbiaHome shares the deeply personal stories that emerged as NASA employees looked for lost colleagues and searchers overcame immense physical, logistical, and emotional challenges and worked together to accomplish the impossible. Featuring a foreword and epilogue by astronauts Robert Crippen and Eileen Collins, and dedicated to the astronauts and recovery search persons who lost their lives, this is an incredible, compelling narrative about the best of humanity in the darkest of times and about how a failure at the pinnacle of human achievement became a story of cooperation and hope.
Part I: Acceleration Machines - Launching a Space Vehicle
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This program details the physics involved in launching a space vehicle. The Space Shuttle and Saturn V launches are dynamically examined in terms of the vehicle's thrust, changing weight, net force, acceleration, and velocity throughout the initial stages of ascent and injection into orbit. The dynamics of launching a rocket from the earth's surface is contrasted to the lift-off of the Lunar Module from the surface of the moon. The rocket engine principle is discussed in terms of Newton's Third Law of Motion. Newton's Second Law of Motion, expressed in terms of momentum, is used to find the magnitude of thrust produced by a single Space Shuttle main engine. Launch trajectories and the effect of the earth's rotation on launching a rocket into orbit are also explained.
Part II: Physics in Space - Orbital Motion and Re-entry
- Kanopy This link opens in a new windowThis program focuses on the physics of orbital motion and re-entry into the earth's atmosphere. The program discusses the dynamics of orbital motion and the apparent weightlessness experienced while in orbit. Kepler's 3 laws of planetary motion are applied to satellites, explaining the characteristics of both circular and elliptical orbits. Orbital motion of the Space Shuttle is studied in terms of the acting gravitational centripetal force, orbital radius, and orbital velocity. Satellite deployment from the Space Shuttle and subsequent attainment of geosynchronous orbit is also examined. The weightless environment provides a unique opportunity for motion studies in which Newton's Three Laws of Motion become particularly apparent. Heat transfer in the vacuum of space and a discussion on thermal energy concludes the program as the atmospheric re-entry of the Space Shuttle is contrasted to that of the Apollo Command Module.
Websites
- NASAOfficial website for the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Space ShuttleRead more about the space shuttle program from NASA itself
- Space Shuttle VideosWatch videos of space shuttle missions from NASA itself
Space Shuttle Columbia
- Kanopy This link opens in a new windowSpace Shuttle Columbia: Mission of Hope is the untold, inspirational story of Colonel Ilan Ramon, a fighter pilot and son of Holocaust survivors who became the first astronaut from Israel. Inspired by his family and country, Ramon's mission into space became a quest to tell the world a powerful story about the resilience of the human spirit. Although the seven astronauts of Columbia tragically perished on February 1, 2003, a remarkable story of hope, friendship across cultures, and an enduring faith emerged.
Online Resources
- Space shuttle testing of the TriDAR 3D rendezvous and docking sensorThis paper presents results from the first two Space Shuttle test flights of the TriDAR vision system. TriDAR was developed as a proximity operations sensor for autonomous rendezvous and docking (AR&D) missions to noncooperative targets in space. The system does not require the use of cooperative markers, such as retro‐reflectors, on the target spacecraft. TriDAR includes a hybrid three‐dimensional (3D) sensor along with embedded model based tracking algorithms to provide six‐degree‐of‐freedom (6 DOF) relative pose information in real time.
- Temporary, Emergent Interorganizational Collaboration in Unexpected Circumstances: A Study of the Columbia Space Shuttle Response EffortIn an inductive case study of the Columbia space shuttle disaster response effort, we use observations, archival records, and in-depth interviews with representatives from several responding agencies to explore factors that facilitated this interorganizational collaboration. The Columbia response effort defies conventional theories of collaboration.
- Variations in Risk Management Models: A Comparative Study of the Space Shuttle Challenger DisasterManagers seeking to assess risk within complex systems face enormous challenges. They must identify a seemingly endless number of risks and develop contingency plans accordingly. This study explores the strengths and limitations of two categories of risk assessment tools: product assessment techniques including Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) and Risk in Early Design (RED) and process assessment techniques, such as Layer of Protection Analysis (LOPA) and the Swiss Cheese Model (SCM). A NASA case study is used to evaluate these risk assessment models.
Christa McAuliffe: Teacher in Space
- Kanopy This link opens in a new windowPortrait of the teacher who died in the tragic explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986. Includes interviews with her parents and students.