Aerodynamics May Explain Space Shuttle Breakup: possible causes, consequences of Columbia disaster

TIME.com ^ | February 1, 2003 | Jeffrey Kluger

[snopercod]

The ET TPS is urethane foam, similar to that "Great Stuff" you buy in spray cans at Home Depot. But it can hold ice.

Also, it has air entrained in it, and as the Shuttle ascends and the air expands, chunks of TPS have been known to separate.

The fix for that was to drill "air holes" into the foam to let the trapped air out without taking the foam with it.

Disclaimer: I haven't worked at KSC for almost 4 years, so their materials and procedures may have changed.

[supercat]

JK: Following the precedent of the Challenger disaster in 1996...

Is that a typo?

[Movemout]

"Yes, there are tape recorders. It is highly unlikely that they survived re-entry intact"

It has been years since they used tape recorders. Everything is digital nowadays. I agree that it is somewhat unlikely that they survived impact but I don't believe it is impossible. Their value would be in recording the last voice communications amongst the crew -- clues to the mishap might reside in those comments and possibly some thoughts that might provide the families with last thoughts. I know there was controversy on another thread about the existence of such recorded conversations from Challenger but I am here to say that they exist and were never made public by official fiat.

[RadioAstronomer]

How long would it take them to examine their data, and given this was a catastrophic incident, don't you think it would be fairly easy for them to put their finger on it?

I really don't know on this one. I sure hope so.

[RaceBannon]

STS-107 (113) Columbia (28) Pad 39-B (52) KSC Landing (62) (Planned) 113th Shuttle Mission NOTE: Click Here for Countdown Homepage Crew: Rick D. Husband (2), Commander William C. McCool (1), Pilot Michael P. Anderson (2), Payload Commander Kalpana Chawla (2), Mission Specialist David M. Brown (1), Mission Specialist Laurel B. Clark (1), Mission Specialist Ilan Ramon (1), (ISA) Payload Specialist Milestones: OPF -- 3/12/02 (Reference KSC Shuttle Status 3/12/2002) VAB -- 11/18/02 (Reference KSC Shuttle Status 11/18/2002) PAD -- 12/09/02 (Reference KSC Shuttle Status 12/09/2002) Payload: SpaceHab-DM Research Mission, Freestar Mission Objectives: Click here for Additional Info on STS-107 Research Mission, Freestar (MEIDEX,SOLSE-2,CVX-2,SOLCON-3, LPT,SEM,PSRD) The FREESTAR payload is a Hitchhiker payload through the GSFC Code 870 Shuttle Small Payloads Project. FREESTAR consists of separate experiments and the Hitchhiker (HH) Carrier (HHC) avionics mounted on a cross-bay HH Multipurpose Equipment Support Structure (MPESS). The carrier avionics provides the interface to the electrical systems, the payload power control, and command and telemetry capabilities. Examples of some of the experiments that FREESTAR can carry are MEIDEX, SOLSE-2, CVX-2, SOLCON-3, LPT, SEM, and PSRD. Launch: January 16, 2003 - 10:39 a.m. EDT (15:39 GMT) On Thursday, 1/16/03, the launch countdown proceeded as scheduled. At 9:18 a.m. EST, a go was given to close the hatch. At 10:10 a.m. EST, the countdown clock exited the planned hold at the T-minus 20 minute mark. At 10:31 a.m. EST, the countdown clock came out of the planned hold at the T-minus 9 minute mark. At 10:35 a.m. EST, a go was given for APU start. Launch occurred at the opening of the launch window. On Friday, May 24, 2002, in the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF), processing continues for Columbia's STS-107 microgravity research mission. Workers installed the SPACEHAB/FREESTAR payload into Columbia's payload bay after managers determined the small scratch on a support attachment was not a concern. Installation of Space Shuttle Main Engines and servicing of Freon Loop No. 1 is in work. (Reference KSC Shuttle Status 5/24/2002) Previous launch dates were July 11, 2002, April 4, 2002 and before that January 11, 2001. Orbit: Altitude: 150 nm Inclination: 39 Orbits: 255 Duration: 15 days, 22 hours, minutes, seconds. (Estimated) Distance: miles Hardware: SRB: SRM: ET : MLP : SSME-1: SN- SSME-2: SN- SSME-3: SN- Landing: KSC February 1, 9:16 a.m. 2003 (Estimated - Landing did not occur) Deorbit burn occured at 8:15 a.m. EST (1315 GMT) for a planned landing on KSC Runway 33. Communication was lost with Columbia at 9:00am EST while Columbia was at approximately 200,000ft over Central Texas while the vehicle was traveling at 12,500 mph. Mission Highlights: KSC Home Mission Index Last Mission STS-113 Next Mission STS-114 Last Updated Saturday February 1 11:49:43 EDT 2003 Jim Dumoulin (dumoulin@titan.ksc.nasa.gov)

[Movemout]

"families with last thoughts." My brain is always ahead of my fingers. Anyway, you get the point, I hope.

[Desdemona]

ping

[RadioAstronomer]

Only if pansies are running the show! Not only do we need to get back there post haste, we need to build a couple more shuttles...

I am not sure the tooling still exists.

I had friends working on the next generation until it got canceled.

[The Great Satan]

From Matt Drudge:

Final radio transmission between Columbia and Mission Control:

Mission Control: 'Columbia, Houston we see your tire pressure messages and we did not copy your last.'

Columbia: 'Roger, uh, ...' (transmission breaks off after the crew member starts to stay a word beginning with the sound 'buh.')

At this point, my money's on a burn-through.

[snopercod]

The OI [Orbiter Instrumentation] data is combined with a number of channels of digital voice data in a black box called the NSP [Network Signal Processor]. From there it goes to the OPS recorders, and the S-band system for transmission to the TDRSS satellites, then to the ground.

It can also go directly to the ground, but that wouldn't work since they were in the "re-entry ionization blackout" at the time, and they have to be over a ground station anyway.

The engineering data (strain gages and thermcouples, etc.) are recorded on the OEX recorder for retrieval only after landing. That data is not downlinked.

[Stefan Stackhouse]

I share your views about the streaming telemetry; it's always captured, uninterrupted, throughout each mission's duration.

But didn't the catastrophic failure happen right during the time when communications is blacked out during re-entry?

[The Great Satan]

NASA press conference coming up in about ten minutes. Supposedly they will have some technical info, and take questions.

[RossA]

Can the ISS be left unattended? It regularly fires rockets to counteract orbit-decay. Even if this could be automated, it needs a resupply of fuel.

[No Truce With Kings]

"Is there a black box, so to speak, on board the shuttles?? Anyone??"

Yes, there are data recorders, and even hardened boxes. However, Columbia disintegrated at Mach 18, and anything aboard then fell 200,000 feet. If the box stayed intact after disintegration, if the box survived impact, if the box can be found -- it could be buried 10 feet deep in the mud of some bayou or river -- and if the magnetic media retained the information stored on it, after exposure to extreme heating . . . in that case we can get a lot of useful information from it.

You are better off going thru the downlinked telemetry.

[Movemout]

"At this point, my money's on a burn-through. "

Possibly, time will tell. Don't forget that an improper angle of attack on atmospheric reentry could cause environmental conditions to exceed the design limits on the Thermal Protection System. I can't imagine the circumstances that would cause the software to issue improper instructions to the Reaction Control System. That software may be the most tested stack on the face of the planet. Brookhaven did a truly remarkable job with it. It almost certainly has to be a hardware failure of some flavor.

[TBall]

I wonder if they will discuss the angle of penetration? Was it at 40 degrees to the horizon?

[_Jim]

A small piece of what looked like a curved SS tile was shown by one of our local TV channels in Arlington, Tx ... this is between Dallas and Ft. Worth ... this would represent the furthestmost-west piece found so far ...

[The Great Satan]

Brookhaven did a truly remarkable job with it. It almost certainly has to be a hardware failure of some flavor.

I'm guessing some duff tiles. But not much to go on at this point.

[Movemout]

"I am not sure the tooling still exists. "

It does. Don't forget that we replaced the Challenger, with the Enterprise I think. It would take a couple of billion dollars. This is a real, honest to God nexus in manned space operations. I look forward to seeing it resolved.