NASA’s Report on Columbia Crew Survival
NASA released a report today titled, “Columbia Crew Survival Investigation Report.” Being a long time fan of the space program, I’ve already downloaded it and read through the major sections. In particular, I’ve always been fascinated with space suits/pressure suits, so I was anxious to see if the report shed any more light into the ACES pressure suits worn by the Columbia crew.
Did it ever shed some light. This was the most detailed report I’ve ever seen for any aviation/space accident that talked specifically about how the people were affected during the tragedy. It wasn’t grotesque or morbid. But it was sobering. In many ways it was also a wakeup call for the next generation of spacecraft and space suit designers.
No one has ever designed an escape system for an in-flight breakup of a spacecraft. This report shows us how far we have to go based on the performance of the Columbia’s systems. What was clear from the report was that virtually every way the system could fail, did fail. It even failed in ways no one ever expected. If you have the time and an interest in the space program, it is definitely worth the read. And don’t worry, there’s no gory pictures of crew remains at all.
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/298870main_SP-2008-565.pdf
For another interesting read, here’s a short report on whether humans can actually survive exposure to a vacuum.
http://www.geoffreylandis.com/ebullism.html
Posted: December 30th, 2008 under Matt's Rantings.
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