Last minute on space shuttle Columbia

When the first alarm bell rang on February 1, 2003, the crew of seven on the US Columbia spacecraft only had one more minute to live but they did not know it.

Pilot William McCool (left) and Rick Husband commander (right) are operating the Columbia ship before the accident on February 1, 2003.Photo: Reuters.

On December 30, the US Aerospace Agency (NASA) released a detailed report on Columbia's last minute, the space shuttle exploded in the sky of Texas six years ago. The purpose of this 400-page report is to find ways to improve safety for NASA's future spacecraft.

For the ill-fated astronauts, the 2003 fateful landing turned into a disaster so fast that they could not close the visor on the helmet. The Columbia shattered at a height of about 19 km in the sky of Texas as it prepared to land on the Kennedy Space Center. The cause of the accident was a hole in the left wing of the ship, created after the insulating ceramic piece hit the wing while the ship was launched 16 days earlier.

Columbia ships exploded when returning to the earth atmosphere at a speed of 5.6 km / s.Photo: Reuters.

Then astronaut William McCool hurriedly pressed several buttons while the ship crashed in an uncontrollable way. He did not know that his efforts did not bring any results. Meanwhile, most crews are preparing for a return trip to Earth without paying any attention to themselves. Some did not wear protective gloves and still opened the lid on the hat. Even a person who was sitting in a posture did not wear a seat belt.

In just a few seconds after the first siren sounded, the pressure in the module containing the crew dropped very quickly and disappeared causing them to faint immediately. Extremely hot air from the outside poured into the module, killing the entire crew and fusing equipment.

Module contains crew separated from the ship and spins very fast. If astronauts do not lose their lives due to hot air currents, they cannot survive after the body is rotated like a pinwheel with the module. In other words, the 7 astronauts on the Columbia ship had no chance of surviving.

7 ill-fated astronauts photographed on Columbia.Photo: AP.

After analyzing Columbia's debris, the investigation team found that the astronauts turned many buttons in the cabin right after the sirens sounded. They also restarted the ship's automatic control system.

'Many bells sounded simultaneously. The crew tried their best in an effort to regain control of the ship. They only had a brief minute to handle an extremely urgent situation. Despite great efforts, they have no chance of surviving the accident, ' concluded Wayne Hale, a senior NASA expert.

Analysis shows that astronaut helmets do not protect them. The absence of safety regulations before landing has caused unnecessary damage. The investigation team discovered many defects in the ship's parachute seats and systems. But even if the system landed even if there were no problems, it was not used, because the astronauts had fainted earlier.

If not killed by all the above reasons, 7 astronauts still die due to the harsh conditions of the upper floor of the atmosphere. Increasing the automatic feature for astronaut costumes and turning it into an integral part of the spacecraft are two of the 30 proposals that the report offers.

During the last flight, space shuttle Columbia brought Ilan Ramon (Israeli astronaut for the first time into space), Kalpana Chawla (first female astronaut born in India), Rick Husband (commander of the ship). ), Willie McCool (pilot), Michael P. Anderson, Laurel B. Clark and David M. Brown.

Since the accident of the Columbia ship in 2003, NASA has successfully launched 11 space shuttles. The latest voyage of the ship is Endeavor carrying equipment to upgrade ISS International Space Station, last November.