1.6 CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

¶The Orbiter that carried the STS-107 crew to orbit 22 years after its first flight reflects the history of the Space Shuttle Program. When Columbia lifted off from Launch Complex 39-A at Kennedy Space Center on January 16, 2003, it su- perficially resembled the Orbiter that had first flown in 1981, and indeed many elements of its airframe dated back to its first flight. More than 44 percent of its tiles, and 41 of the 44 wing leading edge Reinforced Carbon-Carbon (RCC) panels were original equipment. But there were also many new systems in Columbia, from a modern "glass" cockpit to second-generation main engines.

¶Although an engineering marvel that enables a wide-variety of on-orbit operations, including the assembly of the International Space Station, the Shuttle has few of the mission capabilities that NASA originally promised. It cannot be launched on demand, does not recoup its costs, no longer carries national security payloads, and is not cost-effective enough, nor allowed by law, to carry commercial satellites. Despite efforts to improve its safety, the Shuttle remains a complex and risky system that remains central to U.S. ambitions in space. Columbiaʼs failure to return home is a harsh reminder that the Space Shuttle is a developmental vehicle that operates not in routine flight but in the realm of dangerthe Shuttleʼs unique capabilities. ous exploration.

The citations that contain a reference to "CAIB document" with CAB or — 9

¶Heppenheimer, Development of the Space Shuttle, p. 355.

CTF followed by seven to eleven digits, such as CAB001-0010, refer to a — 10

¶document in the Columbia Accident Investigation Board database maintained As Howard McCurdy, a historian of NASA, has noted: "With the by the Department of Justice and archived at the National Archives. now-familiar Shuttle configuration, NASA officials came close to meeting their cost estimate of $5.15 billion for phase one of the Shuttle

¶Columbiaʼs Final Flight

¶Space Shuttle missions are not necessarily launched in the same order they are planned (or "manifested," as NASA calls the process). A variety of scheduling, funding, technical, and – occasionally – political reasons can cause the shuffling of missions over the course of the two to three years it takes to plan and launch a flight. This explains why the 113th mission of the Space Shuttle Program was called STS-107. It would be the 28th flight of Columbia.

¶While the STS-107 mission will likely be remembered most for the way it ended, there was a great deal more to the dedicated science mission than its tragic conclusion. The planned microgravity research spanned life sciences, physical sciences, space and earth sciences, and education. More than 70 scientists were involved in the research that was conducted by Columbiaʼs seven-member crew over 16 days. This chapter outlines the history of STS-107 from its mission objectives and their rationale through the accident and its initial aftermath. The analysis of the accidentʼs causes follows in Chapter 3 and subsequent chapters.