It records many hundreds of different parameters and contained very extensive logs of structural and other data which allowed the CAIB to reconstruct many of the events during the process leading to breakup. After the initial Shuttle test-flights were completed, the recorder was never removed from Columbia and was still functioning on the crashed flight. However, since Columbia was the first shuttle used in space, it had a special flight data OEX (Orbiter EXperiments) recorder, designed to help engineers better understand vehicle performance during the first test flights.
Rather the vehicle data are transmitted in real time to the ground via telemetry. Unlike commercial jet aircraft, the space shuttles do not have flight data recorders intended for after-crash analysis. Deal and consisted of expert military and civilian analysts who investigated the accident in great detail.Ĭolumbia 's flight data recorder was found near Hemphill, Texas on March 20, 2003. The Columbia Accident Investigation Board, or CAIB, was chaired by Air Force Brigadier General Duane W. In any case, the original formulation had shown frequent foam losses, as discussed earlier in this article.įollowing protocols established after the loss of Challenger, an independent investigating board was created immediately following the accident. The composition change did not contribute to the accident. However, the bipod ramps were manufactured from BX-250 foam which was excluded from the EPA regulations and did use the original freon formula. STS-107 used an older "lightweight tank" (a design that was succeeded by the "superlightweight tank", both being upgrades from the original space shuttle external tank) where the foam was sprayed on to the larger cylindrical surfaces using the newer freon-free foam. The composition of the foam insulation had been changed in 1997 to exclude the use of freon, a chemical that is suspected to cause ozone depletion while NASA was exempted from legislation phasing out CFCs, the agency chose to change the foam nonetheless. Tile damage had also been traced to ablating insulating material from the cryogenic fuel tank in the past. Incidents of debris strikes from ice and foam causing damage during take-off were already well known, and had damaged orbiters, most noticeably during STS-45, STS-27, and STS-87. The investigation focused on the foam strike from the very beginning. Analysis of 31 seconds of telemetry data which had initially been filtered out because of data corruption within it showed the shuttle fighting to maintain its orientation, eventually using maximum thrust from its Reaction Control System jets. They were followed seconds and minutes later by several other problems, including loss of tire pressure indications on the left main gear and then indications of excessive structural heating". Sensors and hydraulic systems on the left wing.