BREAKING NEWS: Communication lost with space shuttle Columbia

[Stephania5]

Shuttle landing in question
Flight controllers declare a 'contingency'
Saturday, February 1, 2003 Posted: 9:43 AM EST (1443 GMT)


CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) -- NASA lost communication with space shuttle Columbia shortly before its scheduled landing on Saturday. It was unclear whether there were any other problems.

Mission Control reported no communication with the shuttle after 9 a.m. EST.

The shuttle was carrying the first Israeli astronaut and six Americans, and authorities had feared it would be a terrorist target.

Fifteen minutes after the expected landing time, and with no word from the shuttle, NASA announced that search and rescue teams were being mobilized in Dallas and Fort Worth areas.

NASA, while not saying the shuttle had exploded, broken up or crashed, warned that any debris found in the area should be avoided and could be hazardous.

Inside Mission Control, flight controller hovered in front of their computers, staring at the screens. The wives, husbands and children of the astronauts who had been waiting at the landing strip were gathered together by NASA and taken to separate place.

Columbia was at an altitude of 200,700 feet over north-central Texas at a 9 a.m., traveling at 12,500 mph when mission control lost contact and tracking data.

Reporters at the landing strip were ordered away 7 minutes after the scheduled touchdown with still no sign of the shuttle.

In 42 years of human space flight, NASA has never lost a space crew during landing or the ride back to orbit. In 1986, space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff.

Security had been tight for the 16-day scientific research mission that included the first Israeli astronaut.


The shuttle Columbia was captured by TV cameras as it flew over Dallas, Texas, on Saturday morning, on its way to a planned 9:16 a.m EST landing at the Kennedy Center.


Ilan Ramon, a colonel in Israel's air force and former fighter pilot, became the first man from his country to fly in space, and his presence resulted in an increase in security, not only for Columbia's January 16 launch, but also for its landing. Space agency officials feared his presence might make the shuttle more of a terrorist target.

On launch day, a piece of insulating foam on the external fuel tank came off during liftoff and was believed to have struck the left wing of the shuttle. NASA said as late as Friday that the damage to the thermal tiles was believed to be minor and posed no safety concern during the fiery decent through the atmosphere.

[Silly Dreamer]

I really hope everyone onboard is okay :(

Ben

[danielfred1235]

Originally posted by Silly Dreamer
I really hope everyone onboard is okay :(

Ben
You and me both.

[Troll]

:sad: :shocked:

[Korenchkin]

Theres no hope theyre still alive anymore :( :cry:

[hockey_fan]

:sad:
I don't want to start any unsubstantiated rumours...

But from all appearances it looks like the Shuttle broke up on re-entry... :sad:

Will wait for official word...

[La Diablesa]

I SAW IT IN THE NEWS!!! :sad:


:devil:

[Marine]

Godspeed, Columbia.

[Stephania5]

The shuttle was in pieces, firey pieces, 200,000 ft above the ground. There will be no survivors. It really is tragic. The shuttle Challenger exploded on Jan. 28, 1986 so it's kind of creepy...

[Marine]

HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- The space shuttle Columbia, with seven astronauts aboard, broke up as it descended over central Texas Saturday toward a planned landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Police in Nacogdoches, Texas, reported "numerous pieces of debris" both inside the city limits and in Nacogdoches County.

"Information is really sketchy," Det. Greg Sowell said. "We want people to stay away, because some of it could be toxic."

Sowell said officers and city and county employees were being dispatched to stand by the debris until the arrival of FBI and NASA representatives.

Residents as far east as Shreveport, Louisiana, reported seeing and feeling an apparent explosion.

Search-and-rescue teams from the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, area were alerted and residents were urged to stay away from any possible debris from the shuttle, which may be hazardous, said NASA public affairs officer James Hartfield.

Shuttle commander Rick D. Husband, pilot William C. McCool, payload commander Michael P. Anderson, mission specialists David M. Brown, Kalpana Chawla and Laurel Clark and Israel's first astronaut, Ilan Ramon, were on board.

President Bush was briefed at Camp David, Maryland, and cut short his stay at the retreat to return to the White House.

The administration was preparing to convene a "domestic event" conference among all domestic and military agencies that may be involved in the next step.

An administration official said the shuttle's altitude -- over 200,000 feet -- made it "highly unlikely" that the shuttle fell victim to a terrorist act.

"We have no information at this time that indicates that this was a terrorism incident," said Gordon Johndroe, press secretary for the Department of Homeland Security. "Obviously, the investigation is just beginning, but that is what we know now."

Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge went to the White House shortly after hearing the report.

NASA officials at the Johnson Space Center in Houston said they last had contact with the shuttle about 9 a.m. EST, and it had been expected to touch down at about 9:16 a.m. EST.

Video of the shuttle tracking over Dallas showed multiple vapor trails, but NASA spokesman Kyle Herring said it was too early to determine the source.

Steve Petrovich, a police officer in Palestine, Texas, said he heard "a rumble and boom" at about 8 a.m. CDT (9 a.m. EST).

Jim Hubbs of New Boston, Texas, said he heard police discussing over a police scanner "a smoking object going southeast" that disappeared in the Bowie County area near the Arkansas state line.

Amy Townsend, of Carthage, said she heard a loud boom that shook her house. She said there were two or three loud noises that lasted about a minute and that she saw a cloud of smoke outside her house.

Don Farmer of Lufkin, outside of Dallas, said he heard loud noises that lasted for 10 to 15 seconds. The noise sounded like dynamite exploding, and he thought it was an aircraft breaking the sound barrier.

Dozens of people, including several officers, reported seeing "a ball of fire," Bowie County Sheriff's office dispatcher Jodine Langford said. "They saw it go out and then break into pieces," she said.

Officials said no tracking data were available.

The Israeli Embassy in Washington has dispatched a small team to Florida to be with Col. Ilan Ramon's wife, four children and his parents, a spokesman for the Israeli embassy told CNN.

Ramon's family members had traveled from Israel to watch the planned return of the shuttle to the Kennedy Space Center Saturday morning.

Ramon's father was at a television station watching the unfolding coverage. Ramon, 48, took part in the 1981 bombing of the nuclear reactor in Iraq.

Columbia is the oldest of NASA's shuttle fleet, first launched in 1981. It was on its 28th mission. The shuttle underwent an extensive, 17-month overhaul that began in September, 1999.

It rejoined the shuttle fleet in February, 2001 and flew its first mission after the upgrades in March, 2002.



http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/02/01/shuttle.columbia/index.html

[jen]

ALL PRAYERS GO OUT TO THEM AND THE FAMILIES>

[danielfred1235]

Shuttle Columbia Breaks Apart in Flames
9 minutes ago


By MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle Columbia broke apart in flames over Texas on Saturday, killing all seven astronauts just 16 minutes before they were supposed to glide to ground in Florida.


"It's gone," said a senior U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The official said debris from the shuttle, spread across Texas and apparently some other states, had been positively identified. Though there was no official word from NASA (news - web sites), this official said there was no hope for either the shuttle or its crew.


Six Americans and the first Israeli astronaut were on board.


At Kennedy Space Center (news - web sites), the U.S. flag next to the countdown clock was lowered to half-staff. NASA officials wouldn't confirm that the crew was dead but said President Bush (news - web sites) would be making an announcement.


Administration officials said there was no immediate indication of terrorism. A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said no threat was made and the shuttle was out of range of a surface-to-air missile.


Columbia had been expected to land in Florida at 9:16 a.m.


At 9 a.m., Mission Control lost all data and contact with the crew. At the same time, residents in eastern Texas reported hearing "a big bang."


Television footage showed a bright light over Texas followed by smoke plumes streaking diagonally through the sky. Debris appeared to break off into separate balls of light as it continued downward. NASA declared an emergency after losing contact with the crew and sent search teams to the Dallas-Fort Worth area.


Residents of Nacogdoches, Texas, said they found bits of metal strewn across the city. Dentist Jeff Hancock said a metal bracket about a foot long crashed through his office roof.


"It's all over Nacogdoches," said barber shop owner James Milford. "There are several little pieces, some parts of machinery ... there's been a lot of pieces about 3 feet wide."


Two hours after the shuttle had been expected to land, the giant screen at the front of Mission Control showed a map of the Southwest United States and what should have been Columbia's flight path.


NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe was meeting with the astronauts' families, who had been waiting at Kennedy Space Center for the shuttle's landing, spokeswoman Melissa Motichek said.


"A contingency for the space shuttle has been declared," Mission Control somberly repeated over and over as no word or any data came from Columbia.


It was the 113th flight in the shuttle program's 22 years and the 28th flight for Columbia, NASA oldest shuttle.


In 42 years of U.S. human space flight, there had never been an accident during the descent to Earth or landing. On Jan. 28, 1986, space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff.


The shuttle is essentially a glider during the hour-long decent from orbit and is covered by about 20,000 thermal tiles to protect against temperatures as high as 3,000 degrees.


On Jan. 16, shortly after Columbia lifted off, a piece of insulating foam on its external fuel tank came off and was believed to have hit the left wing of the shuttle. Leroy Cain, the lead flight director in Mission Control, assured reporters Friday that engineers had concluded that any damage to the wing was considered minor and posed no safety hazard.


The shuttle was at an altitude of about 203,000 feet over north-central Texas at 9 a.m., traveling at 12,500 mph, when Mission Control lost all contact and tracking data.

Gary Hunziker in Plano, Texas, said he saw the shuttle flying overhead. "I could see two bright objects flying off each side of it," he told The Associated Press. "I just assumed they were chase jets."

"The barn started shaking and we ran out and started looking around," said Benjamin Laster of Kemp, Texas. "I saw a puff of vapor and smoke and saw big chunk of material fall."

Former astronaut John Glenn and his wife were watching on television at their home in Maryland.

"Anytime you lose contact like that, there's some big problem. Of course, once you went for several minutes without any contact, you knew something was terribly wrong," Glenn said.

Security had been extraordinarily tight for Columbia's 16-day scientific research mission because of the presence of Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut.

Ramon, 48, a colonel in Israel's air force and former fighter pilot, had survived two wars. He became the first man from his country to fly in space, and his presence resulted in an increase in security, not only for Columbia's launch, but also for its planned landing. Space agency officials feared his presence might make the shuttle more of a terrorist target.

"The government of Israel and the people of Israel are praying together with the entire world for the safety of the astronauts on the shuttle Columbia," Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites)'s office said in a statement.

Columbia's crew had completed 80-plus scientific research experiments during their time in orbit.

Only three of the seven astronauts had flown in space before, the shuttle's commander, Rick Husband, Michael Anderson, and Kalpana Chawla. The other four were rookies: pilot William McCool, David Brown, Laurel Clark and Ramon.

Just in the past week, NASA observed the anniversary of its only two other space tragedies, the Challenger explosion, which killed all seven astronauts on board, and the Apollo spacecraft fire that killed three on Jan. 27, 1967.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=514&ncid=514&e=1&u=/ap/20030201/ap_on_sc/space_shuttle

R.I.P., crew of Columbia mission STS-107. You will not be forgotten. :cry: :sad: :cry: :sad:

[aFinn]

:sad:

[Marine]

http://users.wi.net/~johnh/Columbia_Radar.gif

[FinnFreak]

This is indeed a very sad day...

it's days like these when the payback for technological development
happens...

without sacrifices we'll never get forward, and during days like these,
the price seems more than we can bear...


our prayers are with you...


John / FinnFreak

No one leaves you
When you live in their heart and mind
And no one dies
They just move to the other side
When we're gone
Watch the world simply carry on
We live on laughing and in no pain
We'll stay and be happy
With those who have loved us today
Marillion - Estonia

[Logan]

All of Israel grieves the lost of our first astronaut, and his 6 American companions :(

Rest in peace.

[Heather]

This is so tragic:sad: My prayers go out to their families and friends:(

[MiniShaniaTwain]

I heard. Everyone will be in my thoughts and prayers for this horrible accident. :sad:

[MiniShaniaTwain]

I hope everyone gets a chance to read and respond to this, so I'm moving this topic back up.

[chloe]

They all dreamed of climbing into the heavens and they died in the heavens.........


Chloe

[SHANIANUTS!]

This is a terrible tragedy and another huge setback for the space program - I find it hard to fathom that similar tragedies in the space program have all happened within the space of a week's time from the end of last month thru the beginning of this month.

[BlueJill]

Whenever tragedy like this happens, whether it's a personal event in my life or something major, like 911, I always think of the Vince Gill song, "Hey God."

Hey God, I just lost a dear old friend
Hey God, I hope he's in your angel band
Hey God, you know he believed in you
Just help us understand why you do the things you do

Hey God, send me down some comfort, please
Hey God, I'll be down here on my knees
Hey God, will we ever comprehend
The forgiveness and grace that lies waiting in the end?

Oh, there's anger and tears
For all of the years that your children won't have you to hold
Oh, my heart has been broken
The angels have spoken
Still I wish I could watch you grow old

Hey God, I know he didn't die alone
Hey God, tell my old friend "Welcome Home"
Hey God, please hear me when I pray
Pray for a little peace 'til we meet again someday
Pray for a little peace 'til we meet again someday


While I did not know these brave astronauts personally, someone did, and that's all that matters. May God bless those families and may He give them peace until they meet with their loved ones again.

Take care,
Much Love,
Jill

[Andrew]

:( I watched the news all day yesterday. This is very sad. :(

[WHEN]

I've seen the shuttle take off from Fla several times and you always think, especially since Challenger, that the take off is by far the most dangerous. After they make it to space, you assume that they are home free. Obviously this is not the case.
They now rest in Gods hands.

[SHANIANUTS!]

Tribute to Shuttle Columbia crew


"Seven New Angels"
February first, two thousand and three,
as returning to Earth, a shuttle was lost.
Two women and five men, lost in the debris,
realizing their dreams, but paying a high cost.

A very sad day, for families and friends,
of two women and five men, living their dreams.
Sailing the heavens, till the trip suddenly ends,
as mighty explosions, thru the sky streams.

In Heaven now, seven new angels reside,
two women and five men, their lives have been taken.
For their life long dreams, they lived and died,
and now a whole world, by this tragedy is shaken.

The entire world weeps, and is in despair,
for two women and five men, who traveled in space,
All the joy and wonders, that together they share,
they now share with each other, in God's Heavenly Grace.

~written by Frank J. Hornsby

[Mutt-]

:cry: I cried, but I don't believe it. :mad:

[MiniShaniaTwain]

You know something? I read an article that said some stupid Iraqis were celebrating Columbia's loss when they heard it. They were saying it was,"God's venegence toward the U.S." Isn't that awful? I HATE THOSE IRAQIS!

[Ammoguy]

Horrible news :sad: :sad: My prayers are with the families too.. :sad:

[chloe]

The were taught to hate at such an early age. From the time that they were born they were taught two things 1) To hate the jews 2) To hate Americans.........

That is why when they poll them over there, the naturally say that they hate us....they are people under extreme brain washing from the time they were old enough to learn what hate is. They don't know any better. We are always going to be seen as the big bad ugly nation........

That is why I am always amazed when people give credence to al those reports sighting how much they dislike us, well, just like a child taught to hate a minority or a homesexual, they are taught to center their life around hating us......so their views are very skewed.

I feel sorry for them, having to live over there, filled with so much hate. I cannot imagine living a life with constant murderous thoughts.....

Chloe

[Marine]

I often wonder, when i see stuff that says GOD has avenged someone, why the hell GOD targets those that have nothing directly to do with the oppression of others. You'd think that a clearer message would be say...everyone in the whitehouse dropping dead, or congress, but nooooo, I guess that GOD's too smart to do something that obvious.

[chloe]

Heartbreaking quote:

"The wife of Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon told Israeli reporters in Houston late Sunday, that at the liftoff, while everyone was celebrating, their 5-year-old daughter said, ''I lost my Daddy.''

''Apparently she knew,'' Rona Ramon said, sobbing."

Chloe

[Troll]

Remembering Columbia, five years later
Lessons about safety culture still resonate, NASA managers say

NASA has launched seven shuttle missions since the loss of seven astronauts aboard Columbia five years ago today, but the disaster still resonates as the space program prepares for its most ambitious year yet since it resumed orbiter flight.

Beginning with the Atlantis orbiter's planned Feb. 7 launch to the International Space Station (ISS), NASA hopes to launch up to six shuttle flights this year — five of them dedicated to orbital construction. The lessons from Columbia, however, are always close by, mission managers said.

"I think every day about Columbia and how that came about, and how we can prevent similar events," NASA's shuttle chief Wayne Hale said this week, attributing the accident to what Apollo astronaut Frank Borman called a "failure of imagination."

Legacy of Columbia
Columbia broke apart while reentering the Earth's atmosphere one early Saturday morning on Feb. 1, 2003, bringing to a tragic end what had until then been a successful 16-day science mission. The shuttle's destruction claimed the lives of mission commander Rick Husband, pilot Willie McCool and mission specialists Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon — Israel's first astronaut.

Months later, investigators would trace the physical cause of the accident to a suitcase-sized chunk of foam that popped free from Columbia's external fuel tank during its Jan. 16, 2003 launch. The foam punched a hole in the orbiter's heat shield along its left wing leading edge, leaving it vulnerable to the superheated atmospheric gases during landing.

But investigators also faulted NASA's internal culture for contributing the accident, a point the space agency has worked hard ever since to prevent from resurfacing.

"I think we had a culture that was very adversarial in a lot of ways, where bad news was not particularly well received," Hale told SPACE.com, adding that the agency has since strived to foster more open communications. "I think that has allowed a lot of the workforce to feel much more comfortable in bringing things forward that they would have been more hesitant to in the old days."

NASA held an official Day of Remembrance on Thursday to recall Columbia's crew, as well as astronauts killed in the Challenger accident in 1986, the 1967 Apollo 1 fire and others who died in the pursuit of space exploration. Astronauts, agency officials, dignitaries and Columbia crew family members gathered today at a public memorial service at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor's Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

"I'm amazed that it's been five years," said Evelyn Husband-Thomas, the widow of Columbia's commander, during the service. "This morning I could not stop thinking about Rick and Willie, and Kalpana and Mike and Laurel and Ilan. All of our families went through so much that day. We so miss them and we will never forget them."

NASA chief Michael Griffin stressed that the agency must always remember that human lives, and the nation's space program, ride on its daily decisions.

"The more we remember those real reasons, the longer it will be before we have another cause for mourning," Griffin said in a statement.

Returning to flight
NASA returned its shuttle fleet to flight in July 2005 after spending more than two years and $1.4 billion to develop new heat shield inspection and safety tools. That year, the agency flew one shuttle flight and followed with three more 2006, and another three in 2007.

Former astronaut Eileen Collins, who commanded NASA's first post-Columbia mission STS-114, said the accident taught her that spaceflight is more dangerous and complicated than she realized. But it did not damper her support for the endeavor, she said.

"I believe that one of the most important things that we're doing as a country, if not the most important thing, is leaving our planet and exploring space," Collins said.

Astronauts now use a sensor-tipped extension of their shuttle's robotic arm to scan for heat shield damage in orbit. Before a shuttle docks at the ISS, station astronauts make a complete photographic survey of its heat shield, then return the images to Earth for analysis. Meanwhile, engineers continue to develop new tools, some of which will be tested during shuttle flights this year, while tweaking orbiter fuel tanks to reduce the risk of foam debris like that which struck down Columbia.

"There seems to be a lean towards excessive caution," said John Logsdon, director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, in an interview.

Logsdon said that, unlike its post-Challenger years, NASA has not slid back into a complacency or comfort zone during the last five years of shuttle flight.

The fact that the agency delayed Atlantis' launch from early December to next week to identify and fix a recurring fuel gauge sensor glitch is an example of its reinvigorated approach to safety, Logsdon said.

"They were tempted to say these sensors weren't needed, but they didn't," Logsdon said of the sensors, which serve as a backup system to shut down an orbiter's main engines before their fuel tank runs dry.

Logsdon said much of the shuttle's success since Columbia lies with top NASA leaders like Griffin and Hale, who have demonstrated a scrupulous and strong commitment to safety.

Their successors, he hopes, will continue that track record as NASA retires its three remaining space shuttles to make way for their capsule-based successor — the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle and its Ares rockets.

"Some day, historians will look back at our hardware and our technology and consider it primitive and risky, just as well look back at the early sailing ships and shake our head," said William Gerstenmaier, head of NASA space operations, during today's memorial, adding that those early explorers accomplished amazing feats. "We do not fully know what our efforts in space will enable for future generation. But if we carefully and creatively apply our technology and accept some risk, the benefits to future generations are unlimited."

NASA plans to retire the shuttle fleet by September 2010 after flying up to 13 more shuttle flights to complete station construction and overhaul the Hubble Space Telescope.

"I think you can carry attitudes over," Logsdon said of the shift to a new spacecraft. "And that new system is designed to be a much safer system."

© 2007 Space.com. All rights reserved. More from Space.com.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22939759

[faithfully]

"I believe that one of the most important things that we're doing as a country, if not the most important thing, is leaving our planet and exploring space," Collins said.

Yes Space, Man's Dream to go to the Stars:]

[SevenUp!]

Thanks for the article Andrew, we must always remember.

[nds76]

Wow, another blast from the past! lol

[Troll]

"I believe that one of the most important things that we're doing as a country, if not the most important thing, is leaving our planet and exploring space," Collins said.

Yes Space, Man's Dream to go to the Stars:]

Totaly agree.

[Troll]

Astronaut's diary goes on display in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM - Pages from an Israeli astronaut's diary that survived the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia and a 37-mile fall to earth are going on display this weekend for the first time in Jerusalem.

The diary belonged to Ilan Ramon, Israel's first astronaut and one of seven crew members killed when Columbia disintegrated upon re-entering the atmosphere on Feb. 1, 2003. Part of the restored diary will be displayed at the Israel Museum beginning Sunday.

A little over two months after the shuttle explosion, NASA searchers found 37 pages from Ramon's diary, wet and crumpled, in a field just outside the U.S. town of Palestine, Texas. The diary survived extreme heat in the explosion, extreme atmospheric cold, and then "was attacked by microorganisms and insects" in the field where it fell, said museum curator Yigal Zalmona.

"It's almost a miracle that it survived — it's incredible," Zalmona said. There is "no rational explanation" for how it was recovered when most of the shuttle was not, he said.

NASA officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The U.S. space agency returned the diary to Ramon's wife, Rona, who brought it to forensics experts at the Israel Museum and from the Israeli police. The diary took about a year to restore, Zalmona said, and it took police scientists about four more years to decipher the pages. About 80 percent of the text has been deciphered, and the rest remains unreadable, he said.

Two pages will be displayed. One contains notes written by Ramon, and the other is a copy of the Kiddush prayer, a blessing over wine that Jews recite on the Sabbath. Zalmona said Ramon copied the prayer into his diary so he could recite it on the space shuttle and have the blessing broadcast to Earth.

Most of the pages contain personal information which Ramon's wife did not wish to make public, he said.

"We agreed to do the restoration completely respecting the family's privacy and the sensitivity about how intimate the document is," museum director James Snyder said.

The diary provides no indication Ramon knew anything about potential problems on the shuttle. Columbia's wing was gashed by a chunk of fuel tank foam insulation at liftoff and broke up in flames just 16 minutes before it was scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. All seven astronauts on board were killed.

The diary is being displayed as part of a larger exhibit of famous documents from Israel's history, held to mark the country's 60th anniversary this year. Also on display will be Israel's 1948 declaration of independence, the 1994 peace treaty with Jordan and a bloodstained sheet of paper with lyrics to a peace anthem that was carried by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin at the time of his assassination in 1995.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081003/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_astronaut_s_diary

[Troll]

NASA reports new details of Columbia deaths
Faulty equipment caused doomed shuttle crew to suffer 'lethal trauma'

WASHINGTON - Seat restraints, pressure suits and helmets of the doomed crew of the space shuttle Columbia didn't work well, leading to "lethal trauma" as the out-of-control ship lost pressure and broke apart, killing all seven astronauts, a new NASA report says.

At least one crew member was alive and pushing buttons for half a minute after a first loud alarm sounded, as he futilely tried to right Columbia during that disastrous day Feb. 1, 2003.

In fact, by that time, there was nothing anyone could have done to survive as the fatally damaged shuttle streaked across Texas to a landing in Florida what would never take place.

But NASA scrutinizes the final minutes of the shuttle tragedy in a new 400-page report released Tuesday. The agency hopes to help engineers design a new shuttle replacement capsule more capable of surviving an accident. An internal NASA team recommends 30 changes based on Columbia, many of them aimed at pressurization suits, helmets and seatbelts.

As was already known, the astronauts died either from lack of oxygen during depressurization or from hitting something as the spacecraft spun violently out of control. The report said it wasn't clear which of those events killed them.

And in the case of the helmets and other gear, three crew members weren't wearing gloves, which provide crucial protection from depressurization. One wasn't in the seat, one wasn't wearing a helmet and several were not fully strapped in. The gloves were off because they are too bulky to do certain tasks and there is too little time to prepare for re-entry, the report notes.

Had all those procedures been followed, the astronauts might have lived longer and been able to take more actions, but they still wouldn't have survived, the report says.

The new report comes five years after an independent investigation panel issued its own exhaustive analysis on Columbia, but it focused heavily on the cause of the accident and the culture of NASA.

The new document lists five "events" that were each potentially lethal to the crew: Loss of cabin pressure just before or as the cabin broke up; crew members, unconscious or already dead, crashing into objects in the module; being thrown from their seats and the module; exposure to a near vacuum at 100,000 feet; and hitting the ground.

Columbia disintegrated as it returned to Earth at the end of its space mission. The accident was caused by a hole in the shuttle's left wing from a piece of foam insulation that smashed into it at launch. The breach in the wing brought it down upon its return to Earth. Killed in the disaster were commander Rick Husband, pilot William McCool, Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, and Ilan Ramon of Israel.

A timeline of what was happening in crew compartment shows that the first loud master alarm — from a failure in control jets — would have rung at least four seconds before the shuttle went out of control.

Twenty-six seconds later either Husband or McCool — in the upper deck with two other astronauts — "was conscious and able to respond to events that were occurring on board."

Shortly after that, the crew cabin depressurized, "the first event of lethal potential." That would have caused "loss of consciousness" and lack of oxygen. It took 41 seconds for complete loss of pressure.

Dr. Jonathan Clark, a former NASA flight surgeon whose astronaut wife, Laurel, died aboard Columbia, praised NASA's leadership for releasing the report "even though it says, in some ways, you guys didn't do a great job.

"I guess the thing I'm surprised about, if anything, is that (the report) actually got out," said Clark, who was a member of the team that wrote it. "There were so many forces" that didn't want to produce the report because it would again put the astronauts' families in the media spotlight.

Some of the recommendations already are being applied to the next-generation spaceship being designed to take astronauts to the moon and Mars, said Clark, who now works for the National Space Biomedical Research Institute at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

Kirstie McCool Chadwick, sister of pilot William McCool, said a copy of the report arrived at her Florida home by FedEx Tuesday morning but that she had not read it.

"We've moved on," Chadwick said. "I'll read it. But it's private. It's our business ... Our family has moved on from the accident and we don't want to reopen wounds."

Remembering Columbia's 7 astronauts
Here is a look at those who perished Feb. 1, 2003.

Commander Rick Husband, 45, was an Air Force colonel from Amarillo, Texas. The former test pilot was selected as an astronaut in 1994 on his fourth try. He was survived by his wife and two children. Besides flying, Husband's other passion in life was singing. The baritone sang in a church choir for years and used to sing in barbershop quartets.

Pilot William McCool, 41, was a Navy commander who grew up in Lubbock, Texas. He graduated second in his 1983 class at the Naval Academy, went on to test pilot school and became an astronaut in 1996. McCool was an experienced Navy pilot with more than 2,800 hours in flight. McCool was married with three sons. The Columbia mission was his first spaceflight.

Payload commander Michael Anderson, 43, was the son of an Air Force man and grew up on military bases. He was flying for the Air Force when NASA chose him in 1994 as one of only a handful of black astronauts. He traveled to Russia's Mir space station in 1998. The lieutenant colonel was a native of Spokane, Wash. and was married with two daughters. He was in charge of Columbia's dozens of science experiments.

Kalpana Chawla, 41, emigrated to the United States from India in 1980s. At the time, she wanted to design aircraft. She was chosen as an astronaut in 1994 after working at NASA's Ames Research Center in northern California. She had flown to space once before, in 1997. She was survived by a husband.

David Brown, 46, was a Navy captain, pilot and doctor. The Arlington, Va., native joined the Navy after a medical internship, then went on to fly the A-6E Intruder and F-18. He became an astronaut in 1996. Columbia's mission was his first spaceflight.

Laurel Clark, 41, was a diving medical officer aboard submarines and then a flight surgeon before she became an astronaut in 1996. Her role on Columbia was to help with science experiments. The Racine, Wis., native was married to a NASA doctor and had a son.

Ilan Ramon, 48, was a colonel in Israel's air force and the first Israeli in space. His mother and grandmother survived the Auschwitz death camp, and his father fought for Israel's statehood alongside grandfather. Ramon fought in the Yom Kippur War 1973 and the Lebanon War 1982 and served for years as a fighter pilot. He was chosen as Israel's first astronaut in 1997, then moved to Houston the next year to train. He had a wife and four children who lived in Tel Aviv.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28436243

[orchestragirl]

Both of my parents worked on building the space shuttles so it always feels especially personal and sad when anything happens to them or their crew. :(

[SevenUp!]

Awwww Julia :(

Horrible tragedy we continue to learn from nearly six years later. :(

[Hockeystick]

Both of my parents worked on building the space shuttles so it always feels especially personal and sad when anything happens to them or their crew. :(

Wow Julia, that's amazing, but don't feel bad.

The maintenance of these machines are not always easy to control.

[faithfully]

:(:bow:

[Troll]

Both of my parents worked on building the space shuttles so it always feels especially personal and sad when anything happens to them or their crew. :(

Sorry to hear that.