STS-107 (113)

Columbia (28)

Pad 39-A (76)

KSC Landing (62) (Planned)

113th Shuttle Mission

Loss of Vehicle and Crew

NOTE: Click Here for Countdown Homepage

Crew:

Rick D. Husband (2), Commander

William C. McCool (1), Pilot

Michael P. Anderson (2), Payload Commander

Kalpana Chawla (2), Mission Specialist

David M. Brown (1), Mission Specialist

Laurel B. Clark (1), Mission Specialist

Ilan Ramon (1), (ISA) Payload Specialist

Milestones:

OPF -- 3/12/02 (Reference KSC Shuttle Status 3/12/2002)

VAB -- 11/18/02 (Reference KSC Shuttle Status 11/18/2002)

PAD -- 12/09/02 (Reference KSC Shuttle Status 12/09/2002)

Payload:

SpaceHab-DM Research Mission, Freestar

Mission Objectives:

Click here for Additional Info on STS-107

Research Mission, Freestar (MEIDEX,SOLSE-2,CVX-2,SOLCON-3, LPT,SEM,PSRD)

The FREESTAR payload is a Hitchhiker payload through the GSFC Code

870 Shuttle Small Payloads Project. FREESTAR consists of separate

experiments and the Hitchhiker (HH) Carrier (HHC) avionics mounted

on a cross-bay HH Multipurpose Equipment Support Structure

(MPESS). The carrier avionics provides the interface to the

electrical systems, the payload power control, and command and

telemetry capabilities. Examples of some of the experiments that

FREESTAR can carry are MEIDEX, SOLSE-2, CVX-2, SOLCON-3,

LPT, SEM, and PSRD.

Launch:

January 16, 2003 - 10:39 a.m. EDT (15:39 GMT)

On Thursday, 1/16/03, the launch countdown proceeded as scheduled. At 9:18 a.m. EST, a go was given to close the hatch. At 10:10 a.m. EST, the countdown clock exited the planned hold at the T-minus 20 minute mark. At 10:31 a.m. EST, the countdown clock came out of the planned hold at the T-minus 9 minute mark. At 10:35 a.m. EST, a go was given for APU start. Launch occurred at the opening of the launch window.

On Friday, May 24, 2002, in the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF), processing continues for Columbia's STS-107 microgravity research mission. Workers installed the SPACEHAB/FREESTAR payload into Columbia's payload bay after managers determined the small scratch on a support attachment was not a concern. Installation of Space Shuttle Main Engines and servicing of Freon Loop No. 1 is in work. (Reference KSC Shuttle Status 5/24/2002)

Previous launch dates were July 11, 2002, April 4, 2002 and before that January 11, 2001.

Orbit:

Altitude: 150 nm

Inclination: 39

Orbits: 255

Duration: 15 days, 22 hours, 20 minutes, 22 seconds.

Distance: miles

Hardware:

SRB:

SRM:

ET :

MLP :

SSME-1: SN-

SSME-2: SN-

SSME-3: SN-

Landing:

KSC February 1, 9:16 a.m. 2003 (Planned)

Deorbit burn occured at 8:15 a.m. EST (1315 GMT) for a planned landing on KSC Runway 33. Shortly after Roll Reversal #1 (8:53 a.m. EST) at MET 15 days 22 hours 17 min 50 seconds while Columbia was traveling at Mach 20.9 and 224,390ft, flight directors saw a loss of sensor data (offscale low) from the hydraulic systems on the left wing. Initial indications were loss of sensor data near the left inboard part of the wing, followed by sensors on the left outboard area of the wing. At 8:59 a.m. there was a loss of sensor data (Tire pressure offscale low) which caused an onboard alert that was acknowledged by the crew. Communication with the crew and loss of data occured shortly after while Columbia was at a Mission Elapsed Time (MET) of 15 days 22 hours 20 minutes 22 seconds. The vehicle broke up while traveling at 12,500 mph (Mach 18.3) at an altitude of 207,135ft over East Central Texas resulting in the loss of both vehicle and crew. (Reference: JSC Ron Dittemore Post flight Technical News Conference 2/1/2003 3:30pm EST).

Mission Highlights:

KSC Home

Mission Index

Last Mission STS-113

Next Mission STS-114