Columbia STS107

real time footage of the Columbia STS 107 re-entry

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Howto & Style

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• Columbia
• STS
• 107

[noslashnognr]

Today is the 6th anniversary. Every astronaut that ever was or will be is a true hero. Every astronaut knows the risks and presses on with more determination than ever. There are even more backup crews and astronaut candidates that are happy to risk their lives in honor of their country and planet in the name of science and knowledge. Still thousands more would drop everything for the opportunity. We must encourage future heroes and never forget these ones who have fallen. Thank you STS 107.

[b6gm6n]

All heros

[cutterschoicenotmine]

ok so when did your application go into nasa for a management role?

[mach25man]

Bailout is planned for 25000ft. And they have to be going a lot slower than Mach3.

Their jumping out side ways with a delta wing. Totally diff. than ejecting. If they jumped side ways at that speed they would hit the wing. RCS jets are used all the way down and turned off right above Mach 1. OMS engines are used initially to de-orbit from 17500mph. They burn for 3min or so. After that they are deactivated.

[antimatterXXXIII]

Bailout is entirely possible and planned for below 100,000 feet - this capability was added after the Challenger accident. The Orbiter would have to be fairly stable and going no faster than Mach 3 in thin air. An SR-71 pilot survived such a bailout in the mid-60s. Because the Orbiter was aerodynamically compromised, one would need to use RCS jets to help stabilize it - usually they are turned off after peak heating. OMS burn to depletion for braking.

-drl

[mach25man]

I'm having trouble understanding your theories. How would the OMS engines slow you down ? And also, jumping out is better than staying in the orbiter but does the suit let you do that at that altitude ? Your still doing serious mach numbers at 120000. I dont agree with you on some stable configuration. Only a computer can do that as it does now. A human cant react that fast or think that fast during entry

[antimatterXXXIII]

No, but the idea is just to keep the vehicle in one piece through peak heating and then get it into a reasonably stable config at say 120,000 feet and get out. The ACES suits would have protected them long enough even at that altitude to get down. The OMS engines could have been used to brake dramatically after peak heating and before thick air to allow bail out at high altitude. It was worth a shot. Cain knew about the launch event - he nixed a spec-out from the Air Force in fact.

[mach25man]

I agree with you about L. Ham but I'm not sure Cain could help any in adjusting the orientation. At that point during entry I think human interference would have made it even worse. The computers are much better at it. And as you probably know, bailout is not an option anywhere near that point.

[antimatterXXXIII]

There had been discussion of the launch foam event for weeks - warnings were given and ignored. Cain should have instantly known that the faulty sensor data meant big trouble on the left side and adjusted the orientation to save the people and sacrifice the vehicle - and prepared for bailout. Instead we hear him covering his eyes and ears, even as the orbiter is disintegrating a hundred miles or so away. He's the epitome of "failure is not only an option, it's inevitable". Pisses me off!

[antimatterXXXIII]

This sort of emotional blanket homily makes me want to throw up. They are people, no better than you and me, in some ways much worse (hypercompetitive and narcissistic). The mission management team, particularly Linda Ham and Leroy Cain, killed these people with incompetence. I love space travel as much as anyone but the Shuttle never had a defined mission. It was space for the sake of going into space. Some good has come from it - Hubble, the ISS - but mostly its a mutual ass-kissing society.

[mach25man]

Recorded before things started to go wrong. Filmed on a Sony Minicam and recorded on Dv tape. Tape was found on ground during debris search.

[2Glaser2]

I mourn all who has died in the crash, please help their families