NACOGDOCHES, Texas (KETK) – It has been 20 years since the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated over East Texas, killing all seven astronauts on board and forever bonding the Piney Woods to one of our space program’s darkest days.
Rick D. Husband (Commander), William C. McCool (Pilot), David Brown (Mission Specialist), Laurel Blair Salton Clark (Mission Specialist), Michael P. Anderson (Payload Commander), Ilan Ramon (Payload Specialist) and Kalpana Chawla (Mission Specialist) were roughly 15 minutes away from touchdown when their shuttle exploded on Feb. 1, 2003.
In the blink of an eye, five East Texas counties became an epicenter of a tragedy that shook the nation, just two years after 9/11. Shuttle parts were found spanning 28,000 square miles, according to a report from the Cherokeean Herald at the time.
“The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office became the local command center as two of NASA’s special agents in the office of security management and safeguards were hastily flown in Saturday from Johnson Space Center in Houston,” the Cherokeean Herald reported in their Feb. 5, 2003 edition.
The next week’s issue of the Cherokeean Herald recalled there being 120 government employees “from an alphabet soup of acronyms” that moved into the Rusk command center to collect all shuttle debris reported by residents.
KETK’s Neal Barton was working as chief meteorologist for a Dallas news station at the time, but headed back home to the Piney Woods after he got news of the explosion and recorded debris on his radar. He recalls seeing the wreckage first-hand in downtown Nacogdoches.
“Downtown on the square, on those beautiful red bricks, there was crime scene tape and scattered debris all over downtown,” Barton said. “It was strange. No one spoke loudly, but the sound was deafening.”
Questions of whether the tragedy was an accident or an act of terrorism remained in the early hours of the explosion. Barton said every TV satellite truck in Dallas and Houston were downtown idling.
“It was loud and quiet at the same time. I saw my station’s satellite truck driver, and we just locked eyes and shook our heads,” Barton said.
At that time, the cause of the explosion was still undetermined. Questions remained about what the shuttle was doing over East Texas if it was headed to Florida.
“The reason was the glide-in path was near Longview, because of the extra long runway at East Texas Regional Airport, just in case that was needed. The wreckage was mainly over Nacogdoches and Lufkin. Days later, the bodies and nosecone were recovered in the Hemphill area by Toledo Bend Reservoir.”
Neal Barton
At the time, the Cherokeean Herald reported that 150 volunteer firemen stepped up to help clear debris.
“One thing NASA mentioned time and time again was the hospitality of East Texans,” Barton said. “People volunteering, or being paid, to help clean up debris and the great food locals fed NASA employees for months.”
Barton said a few tried to sell parts of the shuttle on eBay, but they were shut down by the feds.
Though NASA has made changes over the years in the wake of Columbia, Barton said East Texans haven’t.
“20 years have flown by since that day,” Barton recalled. “Our world has changed. NASA has changed. One thing which has not changed is the outwardness, openness and friendliness of East Texas people.”
What happened?
It was later discovered that damage to the left wing’s edge by debris from the external tank all but doomed the Columbia crew right from launch.
Data contained on the Columbia’s Modular Auxiliary Data System was key to the accident investigation, according to NASA’s Columbia Crew Survival Investigation Report, which was made to study crew safety equipment and procedures. The MADS was found near Hemphill in almost-perfect condition.
NASA lost contact with the shuttle at 8 a.m. Central time. In a press release from that day, NASA said search teams in DFW and portions of East Texas had already been alerted and said debris should be avoided as it could be hazardous.
“At the time communications were lost, the shuttle was travelling approximately 12,5000 miles per hour (Mach 18),” according to NASA.
When control was lost, reports estimate that the crew would have been working on troubleshooting.
“Until the forebody separated from the orbiter vehicle, the crew was conscious and had not suffered serious injuries,” the crew survival investigation report stated. “Cause of death was unprotected exposure to high-altitude conditions and blunt trauma.”
National response
At 2 p.m. the day of the tragedy, President George Bush addressed the nation from the White House Cabinet Room.
“In the skies today we saw destruction and tragedy. Yet farther than we can see there is comfort and hope. In the words of the prophet Isaiah, ‘Lift your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? He who brings out the starry hosts one by one and calls them each by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.‘
“The same Creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today. The crew of the shuttle Columbia did not return safely to Earth; yet we can pray that all are safely home.“
President George Bush
Bush ordered all flags to be flown at half-staff through Feb. 5, 2003.
A memorial service was held on Feb. 4. During his address at the service, Bush told stories about all astronauts on board, using a specific anecdote from Captain David Brown:
“His brother asked him several weeks ago what would happen if something went wrong on their mission. David replied, ‘This program will go on.'”
It was David’s family that issued a statement in August of 2003, saying it was time to resume exploration. That September, NASA held it’s first “Return to Flight” status briefing.
In January 2004, the Columbia crew was memorialized on Mars. NASA named the landing site of the Mars Spirit Rover in honor of the crew.
NASA’s next launch was July 26, 2005.