Here's What EXACTLY Happened In Columbia's Final Moments (Re-upload)| Columbia Disaster
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Published 2023-02-19
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This is the story of columbia, this video will be a bit different from the ones ive done. Long time viewers of the channel will find this video very similar to the ones that i used to do when this channel was starting out, im going to play videos of the space shuttle cause this video required a lot of research. With that out of the way let get to the video ever since i was a little child I was fascinated with the space shuttle. When I was 7 i literally read everything I could about the space shuttle get my hands on and the destruction of columbia hit me hard. This video will be a deep dive into what happened on that fateful day. You see im a nerd and all the documentaries that ive watched never really go into the technical details of into what happened as she reenetred earths atmosphere for the last time and that is what this video will be. Just to clarify I’m not really going to talk about what happened on launch which caused the crash of columbia because thats been talked about ad nauseum. This will be a minute by minute run down of what went down and hopefully you learn something new about columbia that you didnt know before. we need to start at the top. For the sake of simplicity the video will be divided into 5 phases, phase one is from 09:15:30 am GMT time to 13:44:09 pm. This deal with the prep work that was done prior to reentry. We join space shuttle columbia as she is preparing to start the descend down to the runway at kennedy. We have a pretty good idea of whats happening in the orbiter at this point as we recovered tapes from the orbiter that survived the fall to the earth. So there was footage and we were able to see what everyone was up to in the orbiter. On the moring of re entry day they were busy putting things away and prepping the orbiter to land. 45 minutes before the retro rockets would be fired to bring columbia back down the commander and the pilot began to run through checklists needed. Then at 1 pm and 15 minutes and 30 seconds GMT time the de orbit burn occurred, the burn wasnt that long, this slowed the orbiter down just enough that its path now took it into the upper reaches of the atmosphere. They were now on their way down. AT 1:36 and 4 seconds the commander accidentally bumped the rotational hand controller. This wasnt that big of a deal and happened all the time because, the crew were wearing these bulky suits and gloves and sometimes you bumped into things, its not the end of the world and the crew recovered from it pretty quickly. This is where phase two starts, from 1:44 and 9 seconds, this is when the shuttle reached its entry interface point. We have even more data sources for this phase, ground based recording devices now could start to see columbia streaking into the atmosphere and the OEX recorder, columbias equivalent of a flight data recorder was recording sensor data, we also had transmissions from the shuttle itself to piece together what was happening onboard. At this point the shuttle was doing what was known as roll reversals, this is basically where the shuttle banks from side to side, in a way its a way to mitigate the heat that would be starting to build up on the shuttle as it entered the earths atmosphere at hypersonic speeds, think mach 25. But unknown to the crew of the columbia she was starting to shed pieces, but it was nothing serious enough that the crew would have noticed. As columbia entered the earths atmosphere the leading edge of the wings and the nose were experiencing temperatures that reached 2800 fahrenheit. Now on a normal renetery the TPS or the thermal protective system would well protect the shuttle but due to the gaping hole in columbias wing that the protective system was not doing a whole lot of protecting. Superheated gasses were now being funneled into the left wing of columbia at unimaginable speeds. The wing of the space shuttle was starting to lose its properties. This would not be good. At 1:49 and 32 seconds GMT a roll to the right was made to manage energy, Then at 1:51 and 46 seconds the first sign of trouble, the shuttle was starting to yaw a bit to the left, the yaw values were still within limits of previous shuttle flights but this was concerning
All Comments (21)
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I knew and worked with each of these Astronauts and they all were as friendly as could be and beyond intelligent. I was with them in a small ceremony before they left for the cape...I was numb for weeks after this happened, I knew Husband and McCool best, both were superior pilots.
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R.I.P. That courageous crew. I am disabled, retired commercial pilot, and that video almost had me in tears.
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I was stationed at Patrick AFB (Cape Canaveral AFS) at the time (2001-2004) and many of us in the Air Force were frustrated with NASA for refusing our help. We could’ve taken high-res imaging of the Columbia on orbit to check for wing damage. No cost to NASA, it was just a capability we had in AFSPC. NASA refused. It would’ve been very possible to send up Atlantis as a rescue mission and then land Columbia unmanned.
In fact, Colombia could’ve been left in orbit and a future mission might’ve been able to use a repair kit on the wing, and allow Columbia to land autonomously, saving the orbiter completely.
I want to emphasize this point: everyone knew by Day-2 about the foam (initially thought to be a large chunk of ice, but pretty quickly figured out it was a large section of insulating foam from the ET) striking the left wing during ascent. We were concerned about tiles being damaged, leading to a bleed through on deorbit, which is essentially what happened. Except it appears not only were tiles damaged, but an actual holes was punched through the leading edge of the left wing
It was devastating emotionally because we felt very connected to the astronauts and it felt like it was an avoidable loss.
The Columbia orbiter would’ve been lost either way, but the crew had a very good chance to be saved using Atlantis, if only NASA culture wasn’t so screwed up.
The truth is nothing really changed about NASA‘s culture from the January 1986 challenger accident. They never fixed the problem with their broken safety culture and stove-piped chain of operations. Low level engineers feared exactly this scenario, but management level engineers, and NASA executive staff totally disregarded the possibility. Arrogance! Pure arrogance! Again, it would have cost literally nothing for the Air Force to use our ground-based optics to confirm the integrity of Columbia on orbit. The resolution available would have left no doubt as to whether the wing had been damaged. The only “cost“ would’ve been if damage was suspected, NASA would’ve spent about $200 million to achieve a rapid launch of Atlantis. They refuse to even consider it.
I had a conversation with my brother (and Air Force test pilot), while the Colombia was on orbit. He and I grew up, loving the space shuttle, and we commented how pissed off we were going to be if the Columbia was destroyed and 7 crew lost because of NASA’s broken culture.
I’m embarrassed to say this, in hindsight, but at the time, my brother and I joked that we didn’t care so much about the crew, but at the Columbia belonged in the Smithsonian air and space Museum, so we would be furious if the orbiter was lost on reentry. It was a joke, of course. We cared about the seven astronauts as much as anyone, but being lifelong aviation, in space fanboys, we had a particular affinity for the Columbia. The first into space.
I had actually been stationed at Edwards Air Force Base in California when the Columbia landed a couple years prior. It brought tears to my eyes, having grown up, watching Young & Crippen, and Lousma & Fullerton flying those first two missions, and landing at Edwards, on the dry lake bed. -
I'm 70 and have heard my share of this story, never have I seen it so well presented. Factual, respectful, informative. Everything I would want if this were one of my family that had been lost in this disaster. RIP to all of Columbia's crew and peace to their families and friends.
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The one that broke me was when you mentioned how the pilot attempted to restart the APU, in the slim slim hope it might've helped, not knowing the devastation that has befell the orbiter.
Keep trying until you can no longer try.
When you've breathed your last,
And your heart no longer beats.
Rest in the knowledge that
You've tried your very best.
Godspeed, Columbia & crew.
Per Aspera Ad Astra. -
Imagine spraining your back then immediatly trying to do calculus. Now multiply that strain by 50 and your inside a burning machine. It's insane that the commander and mission specialists were still trying to recover the shuttle during the breakup on re-entry.
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Man, I'll never forget. I was at Texas World Speedway for an SCCA race when one of the guys I was there with pointed out the shuttle Columbia overhead as it was coming in for landing we're watching it come in from landing when dude says "I don't think it's supposed to do that" as it went from one shuttle with one vapor trail into a bunch of smaller pieces with a bunch of smaller vapor trails. It literally broke up directly over our heads while we were watching.
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I worked as a software programmer on the Space Shuttle Program from 1982 - 2002. For almost that entire time, I worked on the ground software that processed the telemetry data received from the Shuttle. I was promoted out of the software job just a few weeks before the loss of Columbia. Because of my experience, I was asked to modify the telemetry software to aid in the investigation of the accident (so that numerous replays of the last few minutes of telemetry data received on the ground could be performed). I have so many stories from that day and the few weeks following. Such a sad time for the NASA community.
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Great job on this. I was awake in San Francisco on Feb 1, 2003, watching CNN's coverage of Columbia's return. She was my favorite Shuttle and losing her and this crew was heartbreaking. I wear a shuttle charm on a chain around my neck in tribute to the two crews and orbiters lost during the Shuttle era.
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Heartfelt and appropriate. I remember cooking breakfast and hearing the reporting on NPR that something had occurred with the craft. The updates were increasingly more concerning until it was clear they were lost. Phone call from my dad who worked on the program, in tears, confirmed the loss. Sad day.
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I'm related to Rick Husband. Dad knew him well, both AF pilots, and attended the launch. RIP Col. Husband. You're truly an American hero.
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Very informative, they use the OMS in a powerful burst to re-enter the atmosphere at 25,000 mph. Once they break away from they're fiery cocoon, they perform the HAC, Heading Alignment Cone to bleed off energy to land, because the orbiter is basically a glider when landing.🇺🇸🇺🇸 The fact that the crew troubleshooted all the way to the end is a chivalrous display of professional skill and talent.
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I feel like I want to cry. I have to admit I was shocked when the video stopped half way through. My son was able to find the message you had put in chat about needing to reboot. I am happy that fixed it. This is an amazing video. Thank you so much for it. Such a sad conclusion to such a promising future. Blessings to all.
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The explosion woke me up, but I didn't know it until several hours later.
I was living in Dallas. The shock wave from the explosion shook my sliding glass window hard enough to wake me, but by the time I actually woke up, the sound was over. I never heard the door vibrating. Several hours later, when I heard the news and learned what time the explosion occurred, I pieced everything together and realized why I woke up so suddenly that Saturday morning. -
As angry as I am and always will be at NASA for not taking the opportunity during the 15 day mission to actually check if Columbia was damaged!! I am seriously impressed with Columbia's capabilities. She had a compromised heat shield, a wing that was disintegrating as it melted, pieces flying off. And she still almost made it through the heating region. I mean, she was close! And the amount of control inputs that she made to counteract the drag is phenomenal!
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The shuttle program has always fascinated me. One year, in Florida where I lived, I got up early to watch a shuttle launch. I lived in the west side of the state. It was dark out and my eldest daughter was visiting. She came out with me skeptical we were going to see much. Both had our coffee in hand. Standing in the street and looking to the east we saw the bright white orb in the early morning sky climbing to space. She was gobsmacked watching it and I was just praying and cheering her on. One of my best memories.
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I remember this mission well. We live in Anne Arundel County in Maryland and pilot Willie McCool was a graduate of the Naval Academy. There was a very nice feature article about him in the Annapolis Capital newspaper prior to the mission. We were so happy for him for this mission. That made the loss of Columbia and her crew even sadder for the people in our area. Prayers for the repose of the souls of Columbia’s crew, and for the families and friends they left behind.
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I have always wondered about this too! They always just say "and then the shuttle broke up" and I'm always like...this documentary has so much science and you're just going to end it with "then it broke up." Also I've always wanted to understand what the crew went through
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I've watched several other documentaries on this very topic, including the Nat Geo TV presentation. None of them even reached anywhere close to what yours did here. I got goosebumps watching this with tears in my eyes. I'm very impressed with your research and thoroughness here. In fact, I am not certain I have ever even left a YouTube comment in over a decade and a half here, but your production has truly inspired me. Thank you!
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I didn't realize Columbia fired it's RCS thrusters during it's last descent. I learn something new every time I watch one of these videos.
