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What is the purpose of this FAQ?
Following the loss of the Space the Space Shuttle Columbia and its crew during its reentry on 2/1/03, many of the regular contributors on the Usenet groups under the sci.space.* hierarchy became concerned that the associated newsgroups, as well as other news sources during the time of crisis, would be inundated with requests for information as well as with deliberate and malicious attempts at disinformation, chaos and slander. In an attempt to both assist those looking for information as perform damage control inflicted by those seeking to cause the aforementioned detrimental acts, this FAQ was produced to provide a basic quick information source for those seeking news and facts on the loss of Columbia.
By providing a basic FAQ addressing the most common questions asked by persons new to the sci.space.* hierarchy and/or those regulars who were at the time just finding out about the tragedy, it was hoped that the degradation of the groups' signal-to-noise ratio that usually follows events of this nature would be curtailed to a tolerable level, as well as hopefully reduce the level of baseless and unfounded speculation that tragic events such as the loss of Columbia tend to foster. Based on the observations of those both within the newsgroups, as well as in the major news services, this FAQ managed to fulfill its purpose, especially during the first month following Columbia's breakup over Dallas, TX. In the first 60 days of the FAQ's existence, the website hosting it saw more than 1.8 million confirmed unique visitors, with over 4 million hits to the Master Index page alone. In the first 90 days, that total was over 6 million hits, and as of 2/1/07, that total is just under 9 million, with some 5 million hits being unique.
While updates were suspended on 5/16/03 due to time constraint issues, the FAQ at that stage was complete enough that it still valid enough to be offered as a reference source on the disaster prior to the official release of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board findings in October of 2003. Since the release of the CAIB findings, the board has essentially disbanded. Their official website has been moved to a NASA server, and is now maintained as a historical information website by the NASA Public Affairs Office.
Although this FAQ website was originally scheduled to be retired upon the Return to Flight of the Shuttles, at the request of several FAQ contributors, along with some in the aerospace industry who are involved in the Return to Flight operations, this FAQ is no being maintained on a limited basis to provide a quick "straight talk" reference to the loss of Columbia and the subsequent recovery and investigation efforts. As a result, many sections do not reflect the successful Return to Flight of the remainder of the Shuttle fleet. This is a known issue, and the reader is advised to take this into consideration, and to also note that several of those who were major contributors to this FAQ have tentatively agreed to give this site a final major revision in an effort to synchronize common questions and answers between the FAQ and the CAIB's final report. As a cursory review of the site noted few differences, and those of a marginal nature, the plan now is to have this completed and online to mark the 5th anniversary of the loss of Columbia and her crew. Plans also include a section dealing with how the sci.space.* hierarchy banded together on short notice to produce this FAQ, including a timeline of events and related postings.
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Introduction & Copyright Information
The STS-107 "Columbia" Loss FAQ is Compiled & Maintained by B0b Mosley.
This FAQ copyrighted February 1, 2003, Permission to copy, store, and repost elsewhere is granted as long as the original document is unaltered and attribution is given to the author(s) listed above in the body of the document. This especially applies to the print media, specifically two newspapers in Florida, employees of which on several occasions quoted text from the early versions of the FAQ and claimed as having originated from their own sources. While this is a common practice in today's journalist circles, it's still plagiarism, and only cheapens the intent of their reporting.
Any and all corrections and/or additions should be posted to either the Usenet newsgroups sci.space.shuttle or sci.space.history, as well as e-mailed to the compiler listed above. As this FAQ will be evolving as the situation unfolds, having all the data made public for discussion will help weed out any inaccuracies that this document hopes to circumvent.
Finally, if links to this document are provided by commercial news services from their respective websites, permission is granted automatically provided all above restrictions are complied with, and an e-mail notification is sent to the FAQ Compiler listed above. This is *only* for propagation study purposes, and will not be considered an "official endorsement" of this document for any sort of promotional purposes.
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Special thanks go to the following individuals for their contributions to the numerous revisions to the FAQ and/or their emotional and physical support, especially in the first week following the loss of Columbia and her crew:
Matthew Baker
Roger Balettie
Alan Barclay
Chris Bennetts
Kent Betts
Mark Bradford
Simon Bradshaw
T. Brahms
John Beaderstadt
John B. Charles
Jim Conforti
David Corsi
Bill Cox
Rick DeNatale
John Duncan
Martin Dunn
Lars Eighner
Wolfgang Ewert
Ed Entwhistle
Wayne Farmer
Dave Fawthrop
Robert G Fenske Jr
Jeff Findley
Bob Furey
Jorge R. Frank
Sham Gardner
Michael R. Grabois
Randall Howard
John Harkness, Jr.
William Hughes
Ron Jarrell
Christopher M. Jones
"Bob K."
Rolf Karlstad
Phil Karn
Richard W Kaszeta
William C. Keel
Kim Keller
Dave Kenworthy
Christian Kjaernet
Jim Knapp
James Lerch
Jerzy Levin-Levitz
Andre Lieven
James Logajan
Troy Loney
Derek Lowe
Tomas Lundberg
Derek Lyons
Jim Mantle
Neal McBurnett
Ken McGlothlen
JF Mezei
Ron Morgan
Dick Morris
Michael Morton
B0b Mosley
Robert B Mosley, Jr.
Jose Montanya
Gene Nygaard
James Oberg
Frank O'Brien
Raoul Ortega
Phill Parker
Robert Pearlman
Mary Pegg
Scott Peterson
"Polar"
David Sander
Eric Scheid
Jim Scotti
Damon Searle
Mary Shafer
Herbert Schaltegger
Reed Snellenberger
Henry Spencer
"StarFurie"
John R. Strohm
Chuck Stewart
Peter Stickney
Brian Thorn
Bob Whitefield
Justin Wigg
Chris Williams
Kevin Willoughby
Diane Wilson
Patty Winter
Chuck Xaviera
Note that on 8/1/05, the e-mail links to each of the contributors were removed to help prevent their addresses being "farmed" by spambots.
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Glossary & Acronyms used in this FAQ
Angle of Attack The Pitch angle of the shuttle in relation to its flight path. AOA Abort Once Around. A Shuttle launch abort mode is used in cases in which a sustainable orbit is not possible, and results in the orbiter circling the Earth once and landing approximately 90 minutes after liftoff. ATO Abort To Orbit. A Shuttle launch abort mode used to boost the orbiter to a safe orbital altitude when performance has been lost and it is impossible to reach the planned orbital altitude upon initial orbital insertion. AvWeek Industry standard affectionate slang term for the aerospace technology publication Aviation Week and Space Technology. AvLeak Another industry standard affectionate slang term for the aerospace technology publication Aviation Week and Space Technology. This one is short for "Aviation Leak & Space Mythology", and refers to the reputation the publication has for publishing both highly accurate breaking news and some really wild speculations on secrets and advances in the space and aviation industries. CDR Commander Contingency Abort A Shuttle launch and/or reentry abort mode caused by loss of more than one main engine during launch, or by failures in other systems during reentry. Dynamic Pressure The pressure of the air cased by an aircraft's motion. What you feel when you stick your hand out of the window of a moving car. Generally abbreviated with the symbol "Q". EAS Equivalent Air Speed. The air speed at Sea Level that would produce the same dynamic pressure observed in flight. EVA Extra Vehicular Activity. A "Space Walk". FCS Flight Control System. The computer system on the spacecraft that determines the control movements needed to make the ship fly the desired maneuvers. The maneuvers can be ordered by a computer (Autopilot) or human (Manual Control) ISS International Space Station LOS Loss Of Signal Mach Number The ratio of a vehicle's speed to the speed of sound at it's altitude. The Speed of Sound varies with temperature, and is different at different heights. However, as applied to the shuttle,
Mach number is "defined" as 1000 ft/sec, which is fairly close to the speed of sound at sea level. But it's a nice round number and usable in situations where the local speed of sound is not relevant or applicable (such as Mach 25 while in orbit, meaning 25Kft/sec) - after all, what's the speed of sound in a vacuum?MECO Main Engine Cut Off NEXRAD NEXt Generation Weather RADar. Uses doppler measurements to show where current precipitation is occurring, where it's going and how fast it's going there. NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration PAO Public Affair Office Pitch Angle of the nose up or down. PLT Pilot Q See Dynamic Pressure. RCC Reinforced Carbon-Carbon RCS Reaction Control System. Small rockets used to point the shuttle when there is not enough Equivalent Air Speed for the aerodynamic control surfaces to be effective. RMS The Remote Manipulator Arm carried onboard most Shuttle missions. It's Canada's major contribution to NASA, and a larger, more advanced version is currently in use on ISS. Not installed on Columbia for STS-107 due to SPACEHAB restrictions. Commonly known inside NASA as the "RMS", but some news services erroneously refer to the RMS as the "CANADARM". Per the NASA PAO, "RMS" is the correct reference term. Roll Angle from the vertical along the long axis of the shuttle. (Tilting left or right). RTLS Return To Launch Site. A Shuttle launch abort mode designed to allow the return of the orbiter, crew, and payload to the launch site, Kennedy Space Center. approximately 25 minutes after liftoff. TAL Trans-Atlantic Abort. A Shuttle launch abort mode where the vehicle would continue on a ballistic trajectory across the Atlantic Ocean, landing on a predetermined runway approximately 45 minutes after launch. TDRS Tracking & Data Relay Satellite Yaw Angle of the nose away from the flight path of the shuttle. (Slewing left or right)