2003 Space Shuttle Columbia Tragedy: Nasa Plan For Space Shuttle Return To Flight, Response To The Columbia Accident Investigation Board (Caib) Report By The Gehman Board, September 2003

by World Spaceflight News

This is the official technical report released by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) on the final flight of space shuttle Columbia, which ended in the horrible, sudden loss of the vehicle and crew during entry on February 1, 2003. It serves as the engineering report on the facts of the accident, with special emphasis on the tank foam impact during launch and potential damage to the left wing. The preface to the report states: "This Working Scenario report was written to document the collection of known facts, events, timelines, and historical information of particular interest to the final flight of Columbia. The report was written with the understanding that it could be published, either in part or in its entirety, as part of the official Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) report. The report includes information and results from numerous analyses, tests, and simulations related to the Columbia investigation."

This is a full-color reproduction of the highly detailed and well-illustrated Working Scenario report, including nearly 100 pages with color illustrations. The report includes 13 tables and 136 illustrations, figures, color photos, and line drawings.

The introduction states: "The Working Scenario is the result of a joint effort between the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) and the NASA Accident Investigation Team (NAIT). This effort collates and documents the principal facts related to specific vehicle element events, timelines, and data. It also includes pertinent historical data surrounding some of the key vehicle element considerations in the investigation. The scenario addresses the chronology of vehicle events from prelaunch, Launch Countdown, launch/ascent, orbit, and entry as well as specific information for the External Tank (ET) and the Left Hand (LH) wing, including aspects of the Reinforced Carbon-Carbon (RCC) and attachment hardware. Vehicle processing and significant preflight events and milestones are also discussed. The scenario addresses technical aspects only, and does not address management practices or philosophies, or other organizational considerations. The chronological portion of the scenario is contained in Sections 2 through 5 of this report. These sections discuss the prelaunch, launch, orbit, and deorbit/entry. Sections 6 through 8 address the facts related to the Solid Rocket Booster and Space Shuttle Main Engine. Section 9 addresses relevant environmental factors such as weather and age of the ET. Section 10 addresses the details of Columbia vehicle processing, specifically as it pertains to the LH wing, from the most recent Orbiter Major Maintenance, through the processing for STS-107. This section also includes a number of design and historical considerations for the LH wing and for the RCC in general. Section 11 addresses several aspects of the ET, including manufacturing, Kennedy Space Center (KSC) processing, Thermal Protection System (TPS) requirements, and numerous aspects of the foam insulation. These discussions provide the history of the bipod foam ramp design, fabrication, testing, and address the details of bipod foam ramp debris failure modes, testing, and analyses."

World Spaceflight News has covered the Space Shuttle program since its inception, and we had the unfortunate duty of reporting on the Challenger tragedy in 1986. We had hoped that such a profound disaster would never occur again. America will always remember the courageous efforts of the brave crew of Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark, and Ilan Ramon.

Ring-bound

Published September 12, 2003