Anniversary

It has been 10 years to the day that the space shuttle Columbia was destroyed over Texas while returning to Earth. During the flight into orbit, a piece of foam insulation broke from the main fuel tank and put a hole in the heat shield on the leading edge of the shuttle’s left wing. From that point on, Columbia’s astronauts were doomed but didn’t know it. On the descent from orbit, the hole in the wing allowed atmosphere heated to plasma temperatures to enter the wing and cause further damage. The hot plasma heated the inside surfaces of the wing causing heat shield tiles on the wing to de-bond. Eventually the left wing failed. During this process the damaged wing produced drag which forced the shuttle’s nose to the left. Thrusters fired to compensate for the drag and force the nose back in line with the shuttle’s flight path. When the drag from the damaged left wing became too great, the thrusters could no longer compensate and the shuttle began to spin. At Mach 18, aerodynamic forces then broke it up. Until this point in time, the crew were alive and trying to save Columbia. According to the accident report:

“We have evidence from some of the switch positions that the crew was trying very hard to regain control. We're talking about a very brief time in a crisis situation.

"This report confirms that although the valiant Columbia crew tried every possible way to maintain control of their vehicle, the accident was not ultimately survivable."

Depressurization rendered the crew unconscious within seconds. The breakup of the crew module was so violent that the upper seatbelts were broken.

"As a result, the unconscious or deceased crew was exposed to cyclical rotational motion while restrained only at the lower body. Crew helmets do not conform to the head. Consequently, lethal trauma occurred to the unconscious or deceased crew due to the lack of upper body support and restraint."

Ultimately, approximately 84,000 pieces of of debris weighing roughly 85,000 pounds (38% of the orbiter’s dry weight) were recovered.  Included in the debris was a can of round worms from a science experiment on board Columbia. The worms survived their fall to Earth.