
It failed in the goal of achieving reliable access to space, partly due to multi-year interruptions in launches following Shuttle failures. This should be contrasted with the originally envisioned costs of $260 per kilogram ($118 per pound) of payload in 1972 dollars (approximately $558 per pound adjusting for inflation to 2019). When all design and maintenance costs are taken into account, the final cost of the Space Shuttle program, averaged over all missions and adjusted for inflation (2008), was estimated to come out to $1.5 billion per launch, or $60,000 per kilogram ($27,000 per pound) to LEO. In contrast, the comparable Proton launch vehicle is said to cost as little as $110 million, or around $5,000 per kilogram ($2,300 per pound) to LEO, despite not being reusable. īy 2011, the incremental cost per flight of the Space Shuttle was estimated at $450 million, or $18,000 per kilogram ($8,200 per pound) to low Earth orbit (LEO). Space Shuttle incremental per-pound launch costs ultimately turned out to be considerably higher than those of expendable launchers. Fundamentally, it failed in the goal of reducing the cost of space access. It showed the crew members conducting routine re-entry procedures and sharing jokes with each other, which indicated they had no idea of what was to come.Criticism of the Space Shuttle program stemmed from claims that NASA's Space Shuttle program failed to achieve its promised cost and utility goals, as well as design, cost, management, and safety issues. Ilan Ramon, Payload Specialist.Ī videotape which was recovered showed a 13-minute recording of the astronauts made during the start of re-entry into the atmosphere. Anderson, Payload Commander/Mission Specialist, 4. The crew members who died aboard the Columbia space shuttle were:ġ. The families of the crew members contributed several personal items of the deceased to be placed on permanent display. It has been stored in the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center.Ī museum “Remembering Columbia” was set up in Hemphill, Sabine County, Texas to honour the crew members of the space shuttle who lost their lives. In a massive search operation, nearly 84,000 pieces of debris of the vessel were recovered. The debris field of the Columbia space shuttle covered hundreds of miles across Texas and into Louisiana and Arkansas. NASA made several changes at the technical and organizational levels. Following the accident, all Space Shuttle flight operations were suspended for a period of over two years. The report flagged serious questions on NASA's risk-assessment and decision-making processes. This destroyed the internal wing structure and made the spacecraft unstable, causing it to break apart. When the shuttle re-entered the atmosphere, the damage enabled hot atmospheric gases to penetrate the heat shield.


The Columbia Accident Investigation Board in its investigation found that a hole was punctured in the leading edge on one of the wings of Columbia during the launch 16 days prior to the explosion.

A massive search operation for the debris was also carried out. The accident triggered an investigation which took place over the course of the next seven months. It conducted a range of international scientific experiments during its 15 days, 22 hours, 20 minutes, 32 seconds in orbit. The STS-107 mission was launched on Janufrom Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It was the second fatal disaster that occurred in the Space Shuttle program, after the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion which happened in 1986 in which the shuttle had exploded just 73 seconds into the flight. The space shuttle was destroyed at about 7:30 PM IST on February 1, 2003, after a 16-day scientific mission. This day 18 years ago, NASA’s Space shuttle Columbia exploded while reentering Earth’s atmosphere, killing all its seven crew members including Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian-origin woman to go to space.
