Report: shuttle crew could have survived up to a minute after breakup
Posted: Tue, Feb 25, 2003, 8:18 PM ET (0118 GMT)
The crew of the space shuttle Columbia could have survived for up to a minute after the orbiter started breaking up, MSNBC reported. An analysis by shuttle engineers found that the orbiter could have completed at least one "full tumble" in about 20 seconds, with the crew cabin intact, before the fuselage of the vehicle broke up. The crew cabin would have then fallen for "tens of seconds" before it was crushed by heat and deceleration. The report emphasized that investigators have no evidence to directly show that the crew indeed survived that long, only that theoretically they could.
The crew of the space shuttle Columbia could have survived for up to a minute after the orbiter started breaking up, MSNBC reported. An analysis by shuttle engineers found that the orbiter could have completed at least one "full tumble" in about 20 seconds, with the crew cabin intact, before the fuselage of the vehicle broke up. The crew cabin would have then fallen for "tens of seconds" before it was crushed by heat and deceleration. The report emphasized that investigators have no evidence to directly show that the crew indeed survived that long, only that theoretically they could.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Roscosmos replaces cosmonaut on next Crew Dragon mission to ISS
Posted: Sat, Dec 6 9:45 AM ET (1445 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Sunday, December 14
Unseenlabs and S&P Global Collaborate for Maritime Surveillance from Space
Unseenlabs — 10:38 am ET (1538 GMT) New research group to explore the evolution of the Magellanic Clouds
Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics — 10:32 am ET (1532 GMT) SpacePNT starts manufacturing the ultra-precise GNSS receiver for GENESIS mission
SpacePNT — 10:31 am ET (1531 GMT) UAH student researcher leads discovery of fastest gamma-ray burst ever recorded
Univ. of Alabama Huntsville — 10:30 am ET (1530 GMT) Gemini and Blanco Telescopes Unlock Clues to Origin of Longest Gamma-ray Burst Ever Observed
National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory — 10:29 am ET (1529 GMT) |
