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STS-107
Report #19 
Saturday, February 1, 2003 - 7:00 p.m. CST 
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas 

The Space Shuttle Columbia and its seven astronauts were lost today 
when the vehicle broke up over north central Texas during its reentry 
from orbit.

Communications were lost with Columbia and its crew at around 8:00 
a.m. CST, while the shuttle was traveling about 18 times the speed of 
sound at an altitude of 207,000 feet. Columbia was 16 minutes from 
landing at the Kennedy Space Center when flight controllers at Mission 
Control lost contact with the vehicle. Columbia was returning from a 
16-day scientific research mission, its 28th flight, which launched on 
January 16.

Aboard Columbia were Commander Rick Husband, completing his second 
flight, Pilot William McCool, wrapping up his first mission, Mission 
Specialists Dave Brown, also completing his first mission, Kalpana 
Chawla, on her second flight, Laurel Clark, a first-time space 
traveler, Payload Commander Mike Anderson, ending his second flight, 
and Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon of the Israel Space Agency, on his 
first flight.

Prior to the loss of communications with Columbia, the shuttle's 
return to Earth appeared perfectly normal. After assessing some wispy 
fog near the shuttle's three-mile long landing strip at KSC before 
dawn, Entry Flight Director Leroy Cain gave approval for the firing of 
the shuttle's braking rockets to begin its descent from orbit.

Husband and McCool began the deorbit burn to allow Columbia to slip 
out of orbit at 7:15 a.m. CST. There was no indication of anything 
abnormal with Columbia's reentry until the last communications between 
Mission Control and the crew.

At Columbia's intended landing site, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe 
and Associate Administrator for Space Flight William Readdy met with 
the families of the astronauts to offer their condolences, vowed to 
uncover the cause of the accident and press ahead with the Shuttle 
program.

"This is indeed a tragic day for the NASA family, for the families of 
the astronauts who flew on STS-107, and likewise is tragic for the 
nation," said O'Keefe. 

"We have no indication that the mishap was caused by anything or 
anyone on the ground," O'Keefe added.

In a briefing, Chief Flight Director Milt Heflin said that around 7:53 
a.m.  CST, just minutes before communications were lost with Columbia, 
flight controllers detected indications of a loss of hydraulic system 
temperature measurements associated with Columbia's left wing, 
followed three minutes later by an increase in temperatures on the  
left main gear tires and brakes. At 7:58 a.m., flight controllers 
noted a loss of bondline temperature sensor data in the area of the 
left wing followed a minute later by a loss of data on tire 
temperatures and pressures for the left inboard and outboard tires.

After several attempts to try to contact Columbia, Cain declared a
contingency, whereby flight controllers began preserving documentation
regarding the entry phase of the flight. Recovery forces fanned out 
from Texas to Louisiana to try to recover debris that will be 
pertinent to the mishap investigation.

Space Shuttle Program Manager Ron Dittemore said several teams have 
been organized to gather data for analysis and will report to an 
external investigation board that was appointed by Administrator 
O'Keefe. Dittemore added that no specific orbiter debris or crew 
remains have been positively identified at this time, and that there 
is no leading theory for the cause of the accident.

Dittemore said the processing of other shuttles at the Kennedy Space 
Center for future launches has been temporarily halted to enable 
engineers to review data regarding vehicle processing and to focus 
attention on capturing all pertinent information involving Columbia's 
prelaunch preparations.

NASA managers will be meeting on a regular basis to begin reviewing 
data associated with Columbia's investigation. The next status 
briefing from the Johnson Space Center is tentatively scheduled from 
the Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX at 12:00 p.m. CST Sunday. It 
will be seen on NASA Television with two-way question and answer 
capability for reporters from NASA centers.

NASA TV can be found on AMC-2, Transponder 9C, vertical polarization 
at 85 degrees West longitude, 3880 MHz, with audio at 6.8 MHz.

On the International Space Station, Expedition 6 Commander Ken 
Bowersox, Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin and NASA ISS Science Officer 
Don Pettit were informed of the loss of Columbia and its crew shortly 
after a Russian Progress resupply vehicle undocked from the ISS. 
Filled with discarded items no longer needed on the ISS, the  Progress 
was commanded to deorbit by Russian flight controllers and reentered 
the Earth's atmosphere.

A new Progress cargo ship will be launched Sunday from the Baikonur
Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 6:59 a.m. CST (1259 GMT) filled with 
supplies for the Expedition 6 crew. It is scheduled to dock to the ISS 
Tuesday morning. ISS program officials say, if necessary, the current 
resident crew could remain in orbit until late June with the supplies 
being ferried to the station on the new Progress.

Additional status reports will be issued as new information becomes
available.

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