Lessons from the Columbia Disaster

Lessons from the Columbia Disaster

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Key Insights
  • The Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere due to damage sustained during launch.
  • A piece of insulating foam broke off during liftoff, striking the left wing and damaging the thermal protection system.
  • Mission managers discounted the significance of the foam strike, and no inspection or contingency plans were implemented.
  • NASA implemented corrective actions, including creating contingency plans for future missions and releasing a report with lessons learned.
  • Both the Columbia and Challenger disasters highlighted requirement issues related to physical factors and human perception of risk and normalized violations.
#ColumbiaDisaster #NASA #RiskManagement #EngineeringFailures #SpaceExploration
create your future www.utdallas.edu
Office of Communications
Columbia Disaster
Robiel Ghebrekida…
1/12
create your future www.utdallas.edu
Table of Contents
1. Overview
2. Cause of the Failure
3. Co…
2/12
create your future www.utdallas.edu
Columbia Disaster
• Space shuttle Columbia, re-entering Earth…
3/12
create your future www.utdallas.edu
Cause of Failure
• Insulating foam separates from external ta…
4/12
create your future www.utdallas.edu
Cause of Failure
• Many times chunks of insulating foam broke…
5/12
create your future www.utdallas.edu
Cause of Failure
• Foam strike detected in launch videos on D…
6/12
create your future www.utdallas.edu
Earlier Shuttles
• January 28, 1986, the shuttle Challenger e…
7/12
create your future www.utdallas.edu
Earlier Shuttles
• Liquid hydrogen tank explodes, ruptures li…
8/12
create your future www.utdallas.edu
Corrective Actions
• NASA created a contingency plans to 
la…
9/12
create your future www.utdallas.edu
Requirement Issue
– Both disasters happened because of both p…
10/12
create your future www.utdallas.edu
Bibliography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Colum…
11/12
create your future www.utdallas.edu
Questions
12/12

Lessons from the Columbia Disaster

  • 1. create your future www.utdallas.edu Office of Communications Columbia Disaster Robiel Ghebrekidan SYSM 6309: Advanced Requirements Engineering Summer 2013 6/22/2013
  • 2. create your future www.utdallas.edu Table of Contents 1. Overview 2. Cause of the Failure 3. Corrective Action 4. Requirement Issues
  • 3. create your future www.utdallas.edu Columbia Disaster • Space shuttle Columbia, re-entering Earth’s atmosphere at 10,000 mph, disintegrates • As a result: – All 7 astronauts are killed – $4 billion spacecraft is destroyed – Debris scattered over 2000 sq-miles of Texas – NASA grounds shuttle fleet for 2-1/2 years
  • 4. create your future www.utdallas.edu Cause of Failure • Insulating foam separates from external tank 81 seconds after lift-off • Foam strikes underside of left wing, breaches thermal protection system (TPS) tiles • Superheated air enters wing during re-entry, melting aluminum struts • Aerodynamic stresses destroy weakened wing
  • 5. create your future www.utdallas.edu Cause of Failure • Many times chunks of insulating foam broke off at launch and dinged the thermal protection system • NASA had observed it so many times on orbiters that did return safely, they didn’t consider it a serious problem
  • 6. create your future www.utdallas.edu Cause of Failure • Foam strike detected in launch videos on Day 2 • Engineers requested inspection by crew or remote photo imagery to check for damage • Mission managers discounted foam strike significance • No actions were taken to confirm shuttle integrity or prepare contingency plans
  • 7. create your future www.utdallas.edu Earlier Shuttles • January 28, 1986, the shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds into its launch, killing all seven crew members • Investigation reveals that a solid rocket booster (SRB) joint failed, allowing flames to impinge on the external fuel tank
  • 8. create your future www.utdallas.edu Earlier Shuttles • Liquid hydrogen tank explodes, ruptures liquid oxygen tank • Resulting massive explosion destroys the shuttle
  • 9. create your future www.utdallas.edu Corrective Actions • NASA created a contingency plans to launch a rescue for future mission • Released a report outlining what it had learned from the Columbia accident with regard to crew safety and survivability for future spaceflight.
  • 10. create your future www.utdallas.edu Requirement Issue – Both disasters happened because of both physical and human factors. – Each successful mission reinforced the perception that foam shedding was unavoidable…either unlikely to jeopardize safety or an acceptable risk. – Foam shedding, which violated the shuttle design basis, had been normalized
  • 11. create your future www.utdallas.edu Bibliography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Columbia_disaster http://www.space.com/19436-columbia-disaster.html
  • 12. create your future www.utdallas.edu Questions


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