The seven astronauts on the Columbia, Commander Rick D. In the following seconds, flight controllers begin reporting a string of problems.Īt 9:03, the Capsule Commander (CAPCOM) attempts to communicate with the orbiter: “Columbia, Houston, comm check.” With the radio calls every 30 seconds going unanswered, everyone begins to realize something might be very wrong, as no radio contact and radar tracking could be established.Īt 9:12 the control room gets the news nobody wanted to her that day, the vehicle broke up and multiple contrails were seen along Columbia’s flight path. “Roger, buh” was his abruptly cutoff answer, the last radio transmission from the crew as the Shuttle was approaching Dallas, Texas. Other sensors begin showing not-nominal readings, while aerodynamic drag on the left wing increase.Īt 8:59, MMACS reports the loss of tire pressure readings on the left landing gear, which is relayed to the Space Shuttle commander. Two of them on system one and one in each of systems two and three”, said the Maintenance, Mechanical, Arm and Crew Systems Officer to the Flight Director on the intercom. “FYI, I’ve just lost four separate temperature transducers on the left side of the vehicle, hydraulic return temperatures. Just 22 minutes before touchdown, at 8:54 AM EST, unusual readings from the sensors showed up at Mission Control as the Space Shuttle Columbia was on approach to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Florida, at the end of the STS-107 mission. The orbiter broke apart while reentering the atmosphere at the end of the STS-107 mission.įebruwill live up as one of the saddest days in the history of space exploration.
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