Could the crew of Columbia have been rescued?

Question

Did NASA know about the piece of foam damaging the ceramic heat shield during the launch while the shuttle was in flight? Could they have instructed the astronauts to repair the damage themselves, or send a second shuttle as a rescue mission, and leave Columbia to plummet to earth and break up? Did NASA accept a level of risk from damage to the tiles based on the fact that some had previously been damaged and not caused any problems on re-entry?

Answer 1

A rescue mission, though risky, might have been possible, provided NASA management took action soon enough. It was determined that had NASA management acted in time, two possible contingency procedures were available: a rescue mission by shuttle Atlantis, and an emergency spacewalk to attempt repairs to the left wing thermal protection.



Video taken during lift-off of STS-107 was routinely reviewed two hours later and revealed nothing unusual. The following day, higher-resolution film that had been processed overnight revealed the foam debris striking the left wing, potentially damaging the thermal protection on the Space Shuttle. At the time, the exact location where the foam struck the wing could not be determined due to the low resolution of the tracking camera footage.



NASA's chief thermal protection system engineer was concerned about left wing TPS damage and asked NASA management whether an astronaut would visually inspect it. NASA managers never responded. The NASA Mission Management Team felt there was insufficient evidence to indicate that the strike was an unsafe situation, so they declared the debris strike a "turnaround" issue (not of highest importance) and denied the requests for the Department of Defense images.



Of course, now that NASA know they were wrong to ignore it, a great deal of the Shuttle's time in orbit is now spent checking all the tiles thoroughly.

Answer 2

The extent of the damage wasn't fully known. Yes NASA saw the debris fall off the tank, and its a issue they have had for many many years. But it had never been an issue. As unfortunate as it is, this was a tough lesson we learned, and it cost us the lives of 7 souls. NASA has learned and has implemented heat shield inspections before and after docking with the ISS, they also have changed the launch conditions to ensure they can monitor the foam and any debris throughout launch.



A repair in space would be improbable. the damage was too much. It wasn't just a tile that came loose, it was a basketball size hole put into the wing. If they had been aware of the danger, I would imagine the astronauts would have stayed at the ISS and hitched a ride on a few souyz capsules or an empty rescue shuttle. They would have then piloted the empty and damage Columbia to land in the pacific.

Answer 3

Once Columbia began re-entering Earth's atmosphere, there was no way to save them. But they could have stayed in space for a few days, while another vehicle might have rescued them.



Another shuttle might even have been able to bring materials to make a repair patch for the wing, so that it could have re-entered via computer control. The shuttle is quite capable of doing an entire launch and landing with no astronauts aboard.

Answer 4

They did know something had happened, but not the extent of the damage. Yes, the probably assumed that the damage was slight.



In any event, there would have been no way to rescue the astronauts even if they had known. No other shuttle sits ready on the launch pad, it would have been weeks or months before another mission could be launched.

Answer 5

No, there was no possible way to save the crew of Columbia. The officials at NASA saw the piece come off, but they didnt know exactly what it was. If they had known, Im pretty sure they would have sent the crew to stay aboard the ISS and then retrieved them with another shuttle.

Answer 6

In my own opinion as an engineer, it beggars belief to me that the foam covering of the external fuel tank couldn't have been protected by a casing to avoid pieces from falling off. There were certainly plenty of precedents seen on camera. Also why does NASA have to use 30 year old technology?

Answer 7

Yes. I believe that the report on the accident noted that Atlantis could have been launched in time. Or perhaps they should not have taken the tile repair kit off to save weigh.