Tribute by Shrox
Rocketry to the Columbia shuttle and crew.
We
continue here with more space history with a look at
disasters and tragedies in space.
The recent Shuttle Columbia tragedy
unfortunately reminds us of the sacrifices made for
the cause of space exploration. Space programs have
been national causes with the astronauts and cosmonauts
closely held by the public as heros. When a disaster
occurs that leads to the deaths of space explorers,
it becomes a cause of national mourning.
Here we provide resources about
some of the worst disasters in space history.
Crew survival study - released Dec.30.08, this investigation
sought to obtain lessons for future spacecraft crew
survival techniques by examining the final moments
of the Columbia crew.
The
flight of STS-1 - In celebration of the 20th anniversary
of the first shuttle flight, the NASA history group
created this site devoted to information about the
flight.
Florida Today
had a tremendous multi-chapter, in-depth report on
the Columbia accident and what led to it. Unfortunately,
the articles are not currently accessible.
RLV
News in 2003 - many entries about and links
to articles dealing with the Columbia investigation.
Way
Up There - this song was written by Tena
Clark before the disaster but Patti Labelle's
rendition of it at the memorial has identified
the song with the tragedy
Contact Lost byDeep
Purple - Kalpana Chawla was a great fan of
the ban and had taken three of the band's CDs
with her. During the flight she even exchanged
emails with them. The CDs were discovered in the
wreckage and were made part of three commemorative
plaques, two of which will go to the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame Museum.
Commander Virgil "Gus" Grissom
Edward White
Roger Chaffee
Soyuz 1, 04/24/67: Re-entry parachute failure
Vladimir Komarov
Soyuz 11, 06/29/71: Capsule depressurization during
entry
Georgy Dobrovolsky
Viktor Patsayev
Vladislav Volkov
Challenger, STS-51L: 01/28/86: Booster failure during
launch
Commander Francis "Dick" Scobee
Pilot Michael Smith
Mission Specialist Judith Resnik
Mission Specialist Ronald McNair
Mission Specialist Ellison Onizuka
Payload Specialist Gregory Jarvis (private sector
engineer)
Spaceflight Participant Christa McAuliffe (school
teacher)
Columbia, STS-107: 02/01/03: Left wing plasma intrusion
during entry
Commander Rick Husband
Pilot William McCool
Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla
Mission Specialist Laurel Clark
Mission Specialist Michael Anderson
Mission Specialist David Brown
Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon (Israel)
Liberty Bell 7- Recovery
Discovery Online, Expeditions funded the recovery
of the Mercury 7 capsule that sank accidentally after
the Gus Grissom flight.
