Documentary 2008 - Space Shuttle Disaster (Part 7/7)

At the end of a nearly flawless 15-day mission in early 2003, the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere, killing the crew of seven. In this documentary, we probe the accident and the decisions stretching back four decades that made the tragedy almost inevitable.

The Columbia disaster, during the 113th shuttle mission, was the beginning of the end for the space plane. NASA responded by announcing the retirement of the shuttle in 2010, to be replaced by the Orion crew exploration vehicle as part of the Constellation program, which is inspired partly by an earlier generation of Apollo-style rocketry and spacecraft. The decision to retire the space shuttle program is currently under intense review, as it would leave the U.S. with a "space gap" until the new Orion vehicle becomes ready around 2015.

Exploring the past and future of the shuttle through the lens of the Columbia accident, we interview key NASA personnel who witnessed problems with the space shuttle program firsthand, including NASA engineer Rodney Rocha, who tried to sound the alarm about Columbia's potentially damaged condition; and flight director Leroy Cain, who worked with controllers to make sense of a cascade of warning signals from the craft during its ill-fated return to Earth.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• NASA
• Space
• Shuttle
• Disaster
• Columbia

[FionnMarr]

Hi from New Zealand.

Great documentary. Recriminations aside I think the decision to return to ELVs is the right one.

What it really boils down to is that the future of space exploration (and our own species) is dependent on a brave few flying experimental vehicles built by the lowest bidder and backed by the American taxpayer.

We may be all in this together but it's always America who get asked to foot the bill. God bless you all you crazy, adventure seeking, risk taking, courageous yanks!

[OzSpud72]

awesome documentary... just a pebble in the pond .. be many centuries before we will make safety paramount over the cost effectiveness of any venture into space.. to be honest, we could fund the entire human space exploration and fund every aspect of human evolution in regards to education, housing and food.. Just get rid of all the war mongers.... give the world a unified direction .. the rest will follow...

[anthonywhitefull]

@OzSpud72 how

[smoshlovingdragon]

Question. Did Obama cancel the Constellation programme?

[pc14iii]

You would think the managers would have learned from the Challenger about not listening to the engineers.

[DLPBurke]

@myrtlebox It is nowhere near as bad as religion since it cannot promise afterlife or godly rewards. I am a patriot.

[myrtlebox]

@DLPBurke My personal opinion (as atheist), is that there will be no peace until religion is discarded. Since that will probably not ever happen, there will probably never be peace.

Plato: "Only the dead have seen the end of war."

I'm sorry to say it, but nationalism is just as big a factor as religion. Each nation is only as sane as the people in power. We all know that sane nations can be swept up by insane tyrants. When this happens, it is probably best to have a defense ready.

[myrtlebox]

@OzSpud72 Eventually the world will shed war expenses. In theory, we can do it now, but I doubt it will happen in the next 100 years.

GWB spent $3-4 TRILLION on his useless wars, so your point is extremely valid.

The problem is getting rid of the "War Mongers" It is equivalent to taking guns away from an NRA member.

Until a critical mass of nations have crossed over into freedom and are interconnected economically, I see US dollars continuing to be fed to the war machine ;-(..

[serhanogan]

Here is a question that has never been asked: If the left wing was damaged during take-off (which I believe is the case. I am no conspiracist) why did the flight control recorded or reported no anomalies in the temperature sensors within the left wing during ascent? I am sure all the sensors were kept on during ascent too, considering the Challenger disaster. Even if large pieces were torn apart due to harsher re entry there should still be some cracks that let cold air in before the right wing.

[DLPBurke]

@OzSpud72 unfortunately in order to get rid of war mongers, youd need to wage war, and you would certainly need to end islam as a world religion.

[centurion180ad]

@superbubbadude You seem to be moral, and are struggling. If you were an ignorant Ivy League educated juvenile fool with a bigot’s sense of entitlement, you’d have no problem conceptualizing the psychopathic sacrifice of 7 astronauts and a multibillion dollar orbiter for personal gain.

[charlesmcguffy]

As Carl Sagan said, the shuttle is not exploration because you keep going to the same place.