Columbia space shuttle crash:
What happened to Kalpana Chawla that day
The incident took place in 2003. On February 1, 2003, NASA's space shuttle Columbia returns to Earth. Relatives have gathered to welcome the astronauts. But that's where they get the bad news, the spacecraft exploded shortly after entering Earth's atmosphere. All seven astronauts died. Among them was Kalpana Chawla, an Indian astronaut who was born to go into space. Or he would tell his friends that he would not be sad if he died in space.
Seven crew members were on the mission:
Rick Husband, Commander
Michael Anderson, Payload Commander
David Brown, Mission Specialist
Kalpana Chawla, Mission Specialist
Laurel Clark, Mission Specialist
William McCull, Pilot
Aylan Radhaman, Payload Specialist
Kalpana Chawla
Kalpana Chawla is the first female astronaut to be born in India. Kalpana's parents lived in Karnal, Haryana, India. Kalpana was born there on July 1, 1971. He took part in two space missions.
He was the youngest of four children. After studying Aeronautical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College, he migrated to the United States. Received US citizenship in 1970. He received his master's degree from the University of Texas. He received his doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado in 1986. In the same year, NASA began research on powerlift computational fluid dynamics.
The first opportunity to go into space as an astronaut came in 1997. Columbia took part in the STS-87 mission by pressing the spacecraft. They orbit the earth 252 times in two weeks.
Space shuttle
Previously used space missions could not be used more than once. At the end of the expedition a capsule would fall into the sea. The astronauts were rescued from there. But the space shuttle technology that NASA brings can be used again and again. Thrown like a rocket, they can land on the runway like an airplane.
Danger of spacecraft
Fuel like diesel and diesel cannot be used in spacecraft. Liquid hydrogen and oxygen are used here. Many say it's a lot like sitting on an atomic bomb.
Again, these fuel tanks are very cold and ice accumulates on them. To avoid these problems, special type of thermal foam has to be used.
When the spacecraft enters the Earth's atmosphere at high speed, it gets heated by the collision with the air. In this case also I want a hit shield.
Columbia Mission
The mission that brought the Columbia shuttle to disaster was called STS-107. On January 17, 2003, Columbia left Earth for the International Space Station. They had the name of the expedition, STS-107. NASA was conducting the shuttle operation to take forward the work of the International Space Station. However, the main purpose of the STS-107 mission was to conduct some basic research.
All of them worked in turns and conducted about 60 tests non-stop. These included experiments in life sciences, flowing physics, and physics.
The noise has been there since the launch
The hit-shield damage was captured on camera during the launch of the spacecraft. The incident happened 72 seconds after the spacecraft was launched. The insulator foam hits the left wing of Columbia. While the spacecraft was in space, NASA conducted further investigations in 18 days. It is rumored that the US Department of Defense wanted to help NASA by taking better pictures using space surveillance cameras. But NASA officials ignored that request.
The disaster occurred at 9 am
The spacecraft Columbia took the initiative to land at the Kennedy Space Center on February 1. Local time around 9 am. During this time the mission control began to receive unusual information. No temperature readings were available from Columbia's left wing. Pressure readings were also not available from the left side tire. Columbia was contacted at this time. At 6:59:32, Commander Rick Husband was speaking when communication was cut off.
Columbia was near Dallas at the time, moving at 18 times the speed of sound. It was about 61,160 meters above the ground then. Several more unsuccessful attempts to contact Columbia. But after 12 minutes it was supposed to land on the runway. But within 12 minutes a call came to Mission Control, a local television channel broadcasting a video of the spacecraft or shuttle crashing. NASA confirms the matter later in the day.
The wreckage spreads over an area of about five thousand square kilometers in East Texas. After weeks of searching, NASA recovered about 74,000 pieces or fractions of Columbia, which was about 40% of Columbia. Among these were the remains of astronauts. The identity was later confirmed through DNA testing.
In 2008, NASA released details of the Columbia disaster, especially the last five minutes. The astronauts are said to have probably survived the collapse of Columbia. But they died when the pressure subsided and their cabin collapsed.
After the disaster, questions were raised about NASA's spacecraft system. No NASA spacecraft or shuttle has been in space for more than two years. NASA enlisted the help of Russian spacecraft to keep in touch with the space station.
The cause of the disaster
At the end of the investigation the problem is said to be in the hit shield. The heat shield was damaged during the launch of the spacecraft. As a result, Colombia could not withstand the intense heat that entered the Earth's atmosphere. NASA already knew about this problem. But there was an uproar in the media as to why NASA was sitting quietly without taking any action. The United States Congress is also debating this.
It crashed into the skies of Texas and Louisiana as it entered the Earth's atmosphere. Special foams are used to protect the spacecraft from high temperatures. But during the launch, some of the foam fell off and hit the left wing.
When it enters the atmosphere, hot air enters through the broken part of the wing and destroys its structure. At one stage the spacecraft crashed.
Photo: Space shuttle Colombian astronauts at the start of the journey.
hmmm sad but true