Failure Analyst Identifies Cause of Columbia Disaster
YOWUSA.COM, 24-Mar-2003
Marshall Masters
On
February 1, 2003, all seven crewmembers of the Colum-bia shuttle mission
STS-107 lost their lives when their wounded craft disintegrated 39 miles
above Texas. Current thought points to damage caused to heat tiles on
the underside of the shuttle’s left wing during the Jan 16, 2003 launch.
Since then, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) has ordered
NASA to revamp the makeup of its own internal investigation because
of the suspicion that NASA managers could skew their findings so as
not to destroy careers as well as vital space programs.
On
February 1, 2003, all seven crewmembers of the Colum-bia shuttle mission
STS-107 lost their lives when their wounded craft disintegrated 39 miles
above Texas. Current thought points to damage caused to heat tiles on
the underside of the shuttle’s left wing during the Jan 16, 2003 launch.
Since then, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) has ordered
NASA to revamp the makeup of its own internal investigation because
of the suspicion that NASA managers could skew their findings so as
not to destroy careers as well as vital space programs.