Columbia:

Her Continued Mission

On Feb. 1, 2003, after a successful 16-day mission, the Columbia and her crew — commander Rick Husband; pilot William McCool; mission specialists David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Michael Anderson, and Laurel Clark; and payload specialist Ilan Ramon — headed back to Earth. Sixteen minutes from home, the space shuttle broke apart during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. NASA, other organizations and the public immediately set out to find the crew and remaining pieces of Columbia.

While NASA needed to study Columbia to learn exactly what happened to the shuttle and return to flight, the agency also knew that the artifacts had a lot to teach others. NASA started the loan program, so others could study her: learning her lessons and advancing science for future generations. This is Columbia's continued mission.

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Providing a Culture That Encourages the Expression of Opinions

Steve Shih, associate administrator of NASA’s Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity, speaks to the importance of providing a culture that encourages the sharing of different perspectives, concerns and ideas without fear of retaliation.

Helping Hands

In this video, NASA’s Gerry Schumann and Mike Ciannilli share personal stories of the people they met during their time supporting the Columbia search efforts.

U.S. Forestry Service and Wildland Firefighters

Gerry Schumann, NASA Institutional Safety and Mishap Investigation program executive, and Mike Leinbach, former space shuttle launch director, discuss the important role the U.S. Forestry Service and the wildland firefighters played in the Columbia search efforts.

Learning From the Locals

Gerry Schumann, NASA Institutional Safety and Mishap Investigation program executive, shares the story of when he personally learned, after a difficult task, how much local knowledge could improve the Columbia recovery efforts.

Helicopter Operations

NASA’s Gerry Schumann and Mike Ciannilli, who were both onsite during the recovery efforts, explain the role of helicopter searches during the Columbia recovery efforts, and explain how two additional lives were lost during this time.

Reconstruction

Mike Leinbach, former space shuttle launch director, led NASA’s reconstruction efforts after the loss of Columbia. In this video, he shares how the agency worked to piece together the found debris to learn exactly what happened during the accident.

Learning From the Debris

In this video, Mike Ciannilli, manager, Apollo, Challenger, Columbia Lessons Learned Program; Mike Leinbach, former space shuttle launch director; and Darren Cone, executive director, Center for the Advancement of Space Safety and Mission Assurance, discuss the story the Columbia debris had to tell and what was learned from studying these artifacts.

Spaceflight Made Safer: A Personal Experience

Listen as Danny Olivas, astronaut of STS-117 and STS-128 and founder of the Center for the Advancement of Space Safety and Mission Assurance, shares his experience of how Columbia research made his time in space safer.

Using New Technology to Advance Findings

Darren Cone, executive director, Center for the Advancement of Space Safety and Mission Assurance, explains how new technology and scientific advancement give researchers further insight into what happened to Columbia.

Materials Research

In this video, Ngozi Ochoa, University of Texas at El Paso and Center for the Advancement of Space Safety and Mission Assurance Research Ph.D. graduate, shares details of her materials research on Columbia.

Columbia: Still Coming Home

NASA’s Gerry Schumann and Mike Ciannilli explain how pieces of Columbia are still being found today and how these findings make it home to NASA.

Remembering Columbia Museum

Gerry Schumann, NASA Institutional Safety and Mishap Investigation program executive, explains how the Remembering Columbia Museum in Hemphill, Texas, came to be.

Hemphill Memorial

Listen as Gerry Schumann, NASA Institutional Safety and Mishap Investigation program executive, explains how Hemphill, Texas, paid its respects to Columbia’s astronauts.

A New Way of Doing Business

Danny Olivas, astronaut of STS-117 and STS-128 and founder of the Center for the Advancement of Space Safety and Mission Assurance, explains how spaceflight is changing and the importance of sharing the lessons of the past with new generations who may not be familiar with previous spaceflight programs.

To learn more about the Columbia STS-107 mission and crew, please visit the Columbia page.

For information about the Apollo, Challenger, Columbia Lessons Learned Program (ACCLLP), including the Columbia Preservation Office, contact ACCLLP Manager Mike Ciannilli.

And for more information about the Columbia: Her Continued Mission project, please fill out the following form:

Produced with the support of the

NASA Office of Safety and Mission Assurance

in conjunction with the

NASA Safety Center

and the

NASA Apollo, Challenger, Columbia Lessons Learned Program

with special thanks to

NASA Kennedy Space Center NASA White Sands Test Facility All who have contributed to the NASA photography and video archives The University of Texas at El Paso