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Dec 6, 2023
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SCI-207 Atmospheric Science
1-3: Structure
Melissa Benway
The tragedy that befell the Columbia Space Shuttle in February 2003 is a direct reflection of
human error and negligence. On Jan. 16, 2003, at 10:39 am EST, the Columbia Space Shuttle and
her seven crew members launched from Pad 39A of the Kennedy Space Center. The shuttle
suffered structural damage during lift off when a portion of insulating foam broke loose from the
shuttle’s external tank and struck the left wing, compromising the shuttle’s thermal shield (Mars,
2023). Unfortunately, this wasn’t an uncommon phenomenon for insulation to be lost during lift
off, as such no major concerns were raised, and no immediate corrective procedures were taken;
the mission proceeded as planned.
The Columbia Shuttle then orbited the earth 255 times over the course of 16 days with an
average altitude of 270-285 kilometers or 170-177 miles (
HSF - STS-107 MCC Status Reports
,
n.d.). At this orbital altitude the shuttle was located within the thermosphere (ionosphere) which
extends upwards to around 600 km (372miles) above earth’s surface. Temperatures within the
thermosphere can reach upwards of 1500
but extremely low density prevents heat retention
℃
and temperatures can plumet during the night (Aguado, 2014). Unlike atmospheric temperatures
which rise and fall with altitude and exposure, the density of earth’s atmosphere continues to
decrease with altitude, with each subsequent layer being far less dense than the last. This
decrease in density explains why the compromised shuttle showed no serious signs of distress
until its time of re-entry.
Space shuttles leaving orbit and returning to earth’s surface will endure extreme temperatures
on descent for the air around it ionizes as heat, momentum, and atmospheric pressure (density)
continues to build encapsulating the vessel. A maximum heat build-up around the shuttle
generally occurs between 400,000 feet to 200,000 feet upon re-entry (Shuttle, 2003). With these
extremes in mind space shuttles and other orbital equipment are built to withstand such intense
conditions, unless their structural integrity is compromised, such is the case involving the
Columbia Space Shuttle on February 1
st
, 2003. The insulation lost during lift off resulted in a
sizeable hole under the left-wing assembly rendering it vulnerable to the burning effects of the
atmospheric layers. The last communications received positioned the shuttle at an altitude of
207,000 feet (39 miles) above sea level, placing it within the mesosphere, and fast approaching
the stratosphere (Aguado, 2014). It was at this point the shuttle disintegrated from exposure to
hot plasma in the left-wing quadrant, which burned and melted through vital components leading
to internal combustion.
Aguado, E., Burt, J. E.
(20141028).
Understanding Weather and Climate, 7th Edition
.
[[VitalSource Bookshelf version]].
Retrieved from vbk://9780133943672/page22.
HSF - STS-107 MCC status reports
. (n.d.).
https://web.archive.org/web/20030201125403/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/spacenews/repo
rts/sts-107/index.html
Mars, K. (2023, September 22). 20 years ago: Remembering Columbia and her crew - NASA.
NASA
. https://www.nasa.gov/history/20-years-ago-remembering-columbia-and-her-crew/
Shuttle blackout myth persists (2003, March 1).
Urgent Comms
.
https://urgentcomm.com/2003/03/01/shuttle-blackout-myth-persists/
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