The pilot, Cmdr. He would be 75 years old if he were alive today.Strangely, there's a man also named . Space is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. The Columbia Accident Investigation Board, or CAIB, as it was later known, later released a multi-volume report (opens in new tab) on how the shuttle was destroyed, and what led to it. The seven-member crew Rick Husband, commander; Michael Anderson, payload commander; David Brown, mission specialist; Kalpana Chawla, mission specialist; Laurel Clark, mission specialist; William McCool, pilot; and Ilan Ramon, payload specialist from the Israeli Space Agency had spent 24 hours a day doing science experiments in two shifts. It resulted in a nearly three-year lapse in NASA's shuttle program, with the next shuttle, Discovery, taking off on September 29, 1988. NASA Day of remembrance. at the, Left Wheel Well. See Kobe Bryant crash photos for reference. The Columbia disaster directly led to the retirement of the space shuttle fleet in 2011. Switches had been activated, oxygen tanks hooked up, etc. pieces of debris material. It was initially built between 1975 and 1978 to be a test vehicle, but was later converted into a fully fledged spacecraft. Remember the Columbia STS-107 mission with these resources from NASA (opens in new tab). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Manning, Stuff like that probably hasnt been made public out of respect for the family, Respect for families doesnt mean much if there is money/ clout involved to some unfortunately. A trail of debris from space shuttle . * Please Don't Spam Here. These pieces of RCC (Reinforced Carbon Carbon) It has been 50 years since the Apollo 1 fire killed Roger Chaffee at Cape Kennedy's Launch Complex 34 in Florida. I know the bodies of Columbia's crew did not fare well- I would imagine it was unfortunately much the same for those aboard the Challenger. The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986, when the NASA Space Shuttle orbiter Challenger (mission STS-51-L) broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members, which included five NASA astronauts and two payload specialists.The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida at 11:38 EST . It worked. 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. And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. At the time, the shuttle program was focused on building the International Space Station. What caused the space shuttle Columbia disaster? Answer (1 of 4): I'm familiar with the CAIB report, although I haven't read all of it. Despite the hundreds and hundreds of debris sightings swamping law enforcement officials in Texas, recognizable portions of the crew's capsule had not yet been found. SpaceX Crew-6 astronaut launch: Live updates, Shuttle Columbia's Final Mission: Photos from STS-107, scan the shuttle's belly for broken tiles, ceremonially named Columbia Memorial Station, Columbia tragedy began the age of private space travel, https://history.nasa.gov/columbia/index.html, https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/orbiters/orbiterscol.html, SpaceX 'go' to launch Crew-6 astronauts for NASA on March 2 after rocket review, Celestron Outland X 10x42 binoculars review, European Union to build its own satellite-internet constellation, SpaceX astronaut missions for NASA: Crew-6 updates, International Space Station: Live updates, Your monthly guide to stargazing & space science, Subscribe today and save an extra 5% with code 'LOVE5', Issues delivered straight to your door or device. Before the crash it used to to say: could keep the existing shuttles flying through 2030. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor. Alittle more than a minute after the shuttle's launch, piecesof foam insulation fell from the bipod ramp, which fastens an external fuel tank to the shuttle. Answer (1 of 7): There's a side to this that isn't widely told. 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 launch had received particular attention because of the inclusion of McAuliffe, the first member of the Teacher in Space Project, after she beat 11,000 candidates to the coveted role. The whole shuttle, including the crew cabin came apart in the air. 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. However, NASA officials in charge declined the offer, according to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) and "Comm Check (opens in new tab)," a 2008 book by space journalists Michael Cabbage and William Harwood, about the disaster. You technically could take covert photos as early as the 19th century. listed 2003, Piece of STS-107 left wing underside, forward Main landing gear uplock roller from STS-107 (same as above). NASA. The Columbia mission was the second space shuttle disaster after Challenger, which saw a catastrophic failure during its launch in 1986. "Those would be new contaminants that we haven't dealt with before," Whitcomb said. NY 10036. Columbia's 28th trip into space was long overdue, the mission having been delayed (per History) for two years as a result of one issue or another, but the shuttle finally lifted off on January 16, 2003.Though Columbia would spend a bit over two weeks in orbit, its fate was sealed a mere 81 seconds into its mission. Shortly afterward, NASA declared a space shuttle 'contingency' and sent search and rescue teams to the suspected debris sites in Texas and later, Louisiana. The crew died as the shuttle disintegrated. Columbia window lying exterior-side up. Its impact on US human spaceflight program, and the resulting decision to discontinue the Space Shuttle Program, was so dramatic that to this date NASA has not recovered an autonomous human access to space. The astronauts probably survived the initial breakup of Columbia, but lost consciousness in seconds (opens in new tab) after the cabin lost pressure. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). 26 never-seen-before images have now been found, capturing the horror of the worst space shuttle disaster in American history. As they had been in the sea during that time, you can imagine what sort of impact that environment would have on them. Photographed at the Columbia reconstruction hangar at KSC on March 3, 2003. "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. 02. The breach in the wing brought it down upon its return to Earth. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. The exhibit was created in collaboration with the families of the lost astronauts. I think it was a very difficult and emotional job for the recovery crew, and they wouldnt be eager to share any of that with the world. The group determined that hot gases leaked through a joint in one of the booster rockets shortly after blastoff that ended with the explosion of the shuttle's hydrogen fuel. Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy photo gallery. "I'll read it. Columbia tore up when it re-entered the atmosphere and its heat tiles flew off. Deaths happen 24/7 non-stop on this . Imaged released May 15, 2003. . Seven astronauts paid that price when shuttle Columbia exploded in the sky on this day fifteen years ago. drawings as a tool in the process of identifying recovered RCC debris Correspondent Mike Schneider in Orlando, contributed to this report.
While many details of the Columbias last flight have long been known, this was the most extensive study ever performed on how the astronauts died and what could be done to improve the chances of survival in a future accident. After the 1996 crash of TWA flight 800 off Long Island, scientists were able to identify all 230 victims from tissue fragments collected from the ocean. In 2008, NASA issued a report describing the few minutes before the Columbia crew crashed. 'The result would be a catastrophe of the highest order loss of human life,' he wrote in a memo. 'My grandfather worked for NASA as a contractor for years,' writes American Mustache. Although the shuttle broke up during re-entry, its fate had been all but sealed during ascent, when a 1.67-pound piece of insulating foam broke away from an external fuel tank and struck the leading edge of the crafts left wing. An overview of the Columbia debris reconstruction hangar in 2003 shows the orbiter outline on the floor with some of the 78,760 pieces identified to that date. The Columbia disaster occurred On Feb. 1, 2003, when NASAs space shuttle Columbia broke up as it returned to Earth, killing the seven astronauts on board. Photographed at the. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Private U.S. companies hope to help fill the gap, beginning with space station cargo and then, hopefully, astronauts. But NASA scrutinizes the final minutes of the shuttle tragedy in a new 400-page report released Tuesday. NASA says it has already incorporated many lessons from the Columbia accident in the design of its next-generation space travel system, known as Constellation. Since the government recovered the bodies, there would be no leak in photos by a third party. In the weeks after the disaster, a dozen officials began sifting through the Columbia disaster, led by Harold W. Gehman Jr., former commander-in-chief of the U.S. Joint Forces Command. Personal artifacts from each of the 14 astronauts are also on display. This sequence of never-before-seen photographs shows the Challenger space shuttle disaster from a dramatic new perspective as it explodes over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all seven crew on board. Pamela A. Melroy, a shuttle commander and a leader of the study team, said in the conference call that the crew was doing everything they were trained to do, and they were doing everything right as disaster struck. Switches had been activated, oxygen tanks hooked up, etc. Temperature readings from sensors located on the left wing were lost. Feb. 2, 2003 -- One day after the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated in the sky, a NASA official said remains from all seven astronauts had been found while another official voiced . The disaster, which occurred over Texas, was caused by a . After the Columbia disaster, pieces of Columbia space shuttle debris are seen stored in a hangar at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida during accident investigation in 2003. NASA suspended space shuttle flights for more than two years as it investigated the cause of the Columbia disaster. By Space.com Staff. The crew module was found that March in 100 feet of water, about 18 miles from the launch site in a location coded "contact 67." Jansen's tragic death aged 28 . Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! NASA's space shuttle Columbia was destroyed during re-entry on Feb. 1, 2003, in a tragic disaster that killed the shuttle's seven-astronaut crew. Astronaut Remains Found on Ground. 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 search for debris took weeks, as it was shed over a zone of some 2,000 square miles (5,180 square kilometers) in east Texas alone. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Seven crew members died in the explosion, including Christa McAuliffe . 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Besides Commander McCool, the crew included Ilan Ramon, a colonel in the Israeli Air Force; Lt. Col. Michael P. Anderson of the United States Air Force; Kalpana Chawla, an aerospace engineer; and two Navy doctors, Capt. Almost everyone from the Space Center went up into the east Texas area known as the Big Thicket. NASA eventually recovered 84,000 pieces, representing nearly 40 percent of Columbia by weight. In this photo the space shuttle Challenger mission STS 51-L crew pose for a portrait while training at Kennedy Space Center's (KSC) Launch complex 39, Pad B in Florida this 09 January 1986. , updated Debris from the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia streaks over Tyler, Tex., on Feb. 1, 2003. NASA's Day of Remembrance honors the memories of astronauts who died during the Apollo 1, space shuttle Challenger and shuttle Columbia tragedies. 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. A cemetery posted a personal ad for a goose whose mate died. Searchers, including the FBI, recovered about 38 percent of the shuttle . Remembering Columbia STS-107 Mission. It also called for more predictable funding and political support for the agency, and added that the shuttle must be replaced with a new transportation system. More than 84,000 pieces of shuttle debris were recovered, some of which is included in a traveling NASA display to stress safety. On February 1, 2003, during re-entry, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over northern Texas with all seven crewmembers aboard. Sharon Christa McAuliffe (ne Corrigan; September 2, 1948 - January 28, 1986) was an American teacher and astronaut from Concord, New Hampshire, who was killed on the Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS-51-L where she was serving as a payload specialist.. She received her bachelor's degree in education and history from Framingham State College in 1970 and her master's degree in . Press J to jump to the feed. More than 82,000 pieces of debris from the Feb . Some remains from the seven-member crew of the space shuttle Columbia have been recovered in rural east Texas, and forensics experts think the astronauts could be genetically identified despite the orbiter's disintegration 39 miles overhead. After the accident, Boisjoly testified to a presidential commission investigating the Challenger accident. This problem with foam had been known for years, and NASA came under intense scrutiny in Congress and in the media for allowing the situation to continue. If you dont learn from it, he said, what a tragedy., Report on Columbia Details How Astronauts Died, https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/science/space/31NASA.html. NASA. The Department of Defense was reportedly prepared to use its orbital spy cameras to get a closer look. NASA's rule regarding safetyfirst, so prevalent after the Apollo 1 fire in 1967,waned over the years, but it wasn't necessarily the fault of the organization itself. the photo with surrounding latch mechanisms lying nearby. published 27 January 2013 Photos: The Columbia Space Shuttle Tragedy. Delivered Sadly but vividly, exploration is not free, there's always a price to be paid. The National Air and Space Museum is considering the display of debris from space shuttles Challenger and Columbia. on a wall in the, Closeup of a left main landing gear uplock 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; crewmembers, 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. The space shuttle was engulfed in a cloud of fire just 73 seconds after liftoff, at an altitude of some 46,000 . The shuttle and crew suffered no ill effects in space, but once the Columbia entered Earth's atmosphere, the wing was no longer protected from the intense heat of re-entry (as much as 3,000 degrees fahrenheit). He'd once boasted of subsisting on "angel food". By John . Among the recovered material were crew remains, which were identified with DNA. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. But it's private. That's when a piece of foam from the external fuel tank came off and damaged . Columbia disintegrated as it returned to Earth at the end of its space mission. All rights reserved. "Forever Remembered", a collaborative exhibit between NASA and the families of the astronauts lost in the Challenger and Columbia accidents, opened at the KSC Visitor Complex in 2015. illustrate how identified pieces of the debris puzzle are laid-out Debris from the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia streaks over Tyler, Tex., on Feb. 1, 2003. There no question the astronauts survived the explosion, he says. In a scathing report issued in August 2003, an investigative board later found that a broken safety culture at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was largely responsible for the deaths. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. 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. Pieces of Columbia space shuttle debris are seen stored in a hangar at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida during accident investigation in 2003. together on the hangar floor, one piece at a time. On the bottom row (L to R) are astronauts Kalpana Chawla, mission specialist; Rick D. Husband, mission commander; Laurel B. Clark, mission specialist; and Ilan Ramon, payload specialist. 2003, The left inboard main landing gear tire from Much later, in 2008, NASA released a crew survival report detailing the Columbia crew's last few minutes. Some remains from the seven-member crew of the space shuttle Columbia have been recovered in rural east Texas, and forensics experts think the . In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, NASA appointed an independent panel to investigate its cause. Chaffee, along with astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom and Ed White II, died on . Daily Mail Reporter
00:59 EST 16 Jan 2014 He said the cause of death of those on the Space Shuttle . Questions about the demise of the Challenger crew persisted during the investigation that followed. Since the government recovered the bodies, there would be no leak in photos by a third party. But forensic experts were less certain whether laboratory methods could compensate for remains that were contaminated by the toxic fuel and chemicals used throughout the space shuttle. "DNA analysis certainly can do it if there are any cells left," said Carrie Whitcomb, director of the National Center for Forensic Science in Orlando, Fla. "If there is enough tissue to pick up, then there are lots of cells.". In 2021, Daisy completed a PhD in plant physiology and also holds a Master's in Environmental Science, she is currently based in Nottingham, U.K. Space is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Seven crew members were killed. 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 . In the end, it was decided it was best for them not to know. It was the second Space Shuttle mission to end in disaster, after the loss of Challenger and crew in 1986.. Laurel Salton Clark. Congress kept the space program on a budgetary diet for years with the expectation that missions would continue to launch on time and under cost. We're just not sure at this point.". CAIB Photo no photographer Israel's U.S. ambassador was in Houston conferring with NASA officials about the remains of astronaut Ilan Ramon, who was an Israeli fighter pilot. Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, Three-time space shuttle commander Robert Overmyer, who died himself in a 1996 plane crash, was closest to Scobee. An internal NASA team recommends 30 changes based on Columbia, many of them aimed at pressurization suits, helmets and seatbelts. 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. . Video from the launch appeared to show the foam striking Columbia's left wing. 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. In all, 84,800 pounds, or 38 percent of the total dry weight of Columbia, was recovered. On Saturday, Columbia's crew had no chance of surviving after the shuttle broke up at 207,135 feet above Earth. Advertisement. At the time this photo was taken, flight controllers had just lost contact with the Space Shuttle Columbia. When a NASA engineering manager, Don L. McCormack Jr., told Mission Management Team member Linda Ham of his concerns about the issue, he was told by her that it was "no issue for this mission. At that point, Columbia was near Dallas, traveling 18 times the speed of sound and still 200,700 feet (61,170 meters) above the ground. photographer listed 2003, One of the right main landing gear tires The cause of the accident was a faulty seal in one of the shuttle's rockets which compromised the fuel tanks. A museum honoring the Space Shuttle Columbia and the seven . The agency hopes to help engineers design a new shuttle replacement capsule more capable of surviving an accident. Explore how space shuttle Discovery launched America back into space after the shuttle disasters, with this Smithsonian Magazine feature (opens in new tab) by David Kindy. Twenty years ago this Wednesday on Feb. 1, 2003, at 8:48:39 a.m. EST a sensor in the space shuttle Columbia's left wing first recorded unusual stress as the orbiter and its seven crew . Not quite correct as the bodies, or what was left of them, were recovered several weeks after the disaster. Pressure suits will have helmets that provide better head protection, and equipment and new procedures will ensure a more reliable supply of oxygen in emergencies. CAIB Photo no photographer listed 2003 View. I know this an ancient post, but nobody else brought it up so I thought I might as well. It was also a very different time, where you had to have an actual camera with film, and have the film developed. "Remains of some astronauts have been found," said Eileen Hawley, a spokeswoman for Johnson Space Center. This image is a view of the underside of Columbia during its entry from mission STS-107 on Feb. 1, 2003, as it passed by the Starfire Optical Range, Directed Energy Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. While NASA continues to develop ways to transport astronautsfrom Earth tothe space station and to develop a Commercial Crew Program (CCP), no other programs are currently planned for manned flights. Privately funded missions are becomingthe order of the day. NASA ended the shuttle program for good last year, retiring the remaining vessels and instead opting for multimillion-dollar rides on Russian Soyuz capsules to get U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station. HEMPHILL, Texas (KTRE) - The trial of a Hemphill man accused of shooting and killing a 19-year-old woman continued Wednesday. Dental records and X-rays from astronauts' medical files can provide matching information, making the discovery of the skull and the leg particularly valuable, experts said. What happened to the space shuttle Columbiaeffectively ended NASA's shuttle program. One wasn't in the seat, one wasn't wearing a helmet and several were not fully strapped in. Well the title says it all. IIRC one of the salvage divers got PTSD from it and committed suicide not long after. CAIB Photo But they were overruled by Morton Thiokol managers, who gave NASA the green light. The team on the ground knew Columbia's astronauts would not make it home and faced an agonizing decision -should they tell the crew that they would die upon re-entry or face suffocating due to depleted oxygen stores while still in orbit? While I'm not sure about Challenger 7, you can look up Vladimir Komarov if you want to see what it looks like when a rocket's parachute fails. listed 2003, Overhead image of STS-107 debris layout at A post shared by Shipeng 'Harry' Li (@vallesmarinerisian) on Feb 1, 2018 at 11:26pm PST. They did find all seven bodies, but Im assuming their recovery and autopsy photos are classified. 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. TPS (Thermal Protection System) Tiles. Youre not going to find any pics of bodies in space. One of the larger pieces of recovered debris If the bodies were shielded by portions of the cabin until impact with the ground, he said, identification would be easier. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. The Columbia Disaster is one of the most tragic events in spaceflight history. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Related: Shuttle Columbia's Final Mission: Photos from STS-107. The shuttle's external tank was redesigned, and other safety measures were implemented. Free Press. The comments below have not been moderated, By
Jan. 28, 2011. It's our business Our family has moved on from the accident and we don't want to reopen wounds. In fact, it had happened several times before (and without incident), so much so that it was referred to as "foam shedding." The shuttle or orbiter, as it was also known, was a white, plane-shaped spacecraft that became symbolic of NASA's space . 81. if the astronauts were not killed by the blast, then how long did they survive? Michael Hindes was looking through some old boxes of photographs at his grandparents' house when he came across images of what appeared to be a normal shuttle launch. NASA. The wing broke off, causing the rest of the shuttle to break-up, burn, and disperse. To wit: Born on May 19, 1939, Commander Francis Richard Scobee was 46 when he died in the Challenger explosion. Some of the descendants of these roundworms (opens in new tab) flew into space in May 2011 aboard the space shuttle Endeavour, shortly before the shuttle program was retired. In that time, promises had been made by those in charge, butshuttle safety was hindered by NASA's internal culture, government constraints, and vestiges of a Cold War-era mentality. CAIB Photo no photographer Not really. But it was also the vehicle that very nearly ended the space program when a probe into the 1986 disaster found that the shuttle was doomed before it had even taken off. Market data provided by Factset. It took 41 seconds for complete loss of pressure. The real test came when (as was inevitable) another shuttle was lost. It also looks like some of the crew may have survived after impact with the water as they found at least one seatbelt unbuckled. A fight over Earnhardt's autopsy photos led to the law shielding Saget's. When the family of the late comedian Bob Saget sued Orange County officials last week to prevent public release of autopsy . Roger Boisjoly, a NASA contractor at rocket-builder Morton Thiokol Inc, warned in 1985 that seals on the booster rocket joints could fail in freezing temperatures. All the Comments are Reviewed by Admin. CAIB Photo no photographer Officials had initially said identification would be done at Dover, but a base spokeswoman, Lt. Olivia Nelson, said Sunday: "Things are a little more tentative now. The accident was caused by a hole in the shuttle's left wing that occurred at launch. I have been looking for some time, but don't seem to find any. While the astronauts upper bodies flailed, the helmets that were supposed to protect them ended up battering their skulls, the report said, and lethal trauma occurred to the unconscious or deceased crew due to the lack of upper-body support and restraint.. All seven astronauts on board were . Just had to edit the article to include the name of the shuttle and the date. shuttle Challenger. Seventy-three seconds into the 28 January 1986 flight of the space shuttle . I had a friend who worked at NASA when Columbia happened. NASA officials said Sunday that there have been at least three reports of local officials finding body parts found on farmland and along rural roads near the Texas-Louisiana state line. Here is a look at the seven who perished Feb. 1, 2003: First published on December 30, 2008 / 1:25 PM. It was ejected in the explosion, and remained intact. From left (top row): David Brown, William McCool and Michael Anderson. 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. A Reconstruction Team member identifies recovered New York, The crew compartment of the space shuttle Challenger, with the remains of astronauts aboard, has been found 100 feet beneath the sea off the coast of Florida, NASA officials announced Sunday. The real test will come come when, inevitably, another shuttle was lost. Challenger as a whole was destroyed at 48,000 feet, but the crew module . 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.