NASA Columbia disaster: The investigation into one of history’s worst space tragedies – and its lasting legacy
Scott Hubbard remembers exactly where he was on the day of one of the deadliest tragedies in the history of space travel.
Before he stepped out of bed on the morning of 1 February 2003, a radio broadcast brought news that NASA’s Columbia space shuttle was “overdue” on its return to Earth.
“I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that something had gone wrong,” he recalls.
The spacecraft, which had launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida just over two weeks prior, with seven astronauts aboard, was scheduled to land that morning.
But the landing never came.
Columbia, which flew its maiden voyage back in April 1981, disintegrated over Texas 16 minutes before its planned Florida touchdown, killing its entire crew. They were commander Rick Husband; pilot William McCool; the mission specialists Michael Anderson, Laurel Clark, David Brown and Kalpana Chawla; and payload specialist Ilan Ramon, who was the first Israeli astronaut.
L/R: The Columbia crew – David Brown, Rick Husband, Laurel Clark, Kalpana Chawla, Michael Anderson, William McCool, Ilan Ramon. Pic: NASA
It marked the beginning of the end for America’s space shuttle programme, which had already endured the loss of seven astronauts in the Challenger disaster of 1986.
For Hubbard, a veteran of the US space agency who served as its first Mars programme director, Columbia changed his view of rocket launches forever.
“When that low-frequency rumble, that pressure wave hits you, you have a feeling of awe about the power that is being used to lift out of the gravity well of the Earth. But having had the Columbia experience, when I see a launch that has people on board, there’s that extra sense of anxiety: ‘Have I done everything possible to ensure mission success?'”
The crew pictured aboard Columbia during its final mission. Pic: NASA
The call that changed everything
Before the loss of the crew was even confirmed, Hubbard received a call from the NASA administrator’s office asking him to represent the agency in an investigation into what happened.
The administrator at the time was Sean O’Keefe, who was with the families of the astronauts when it became clear something was wrong.
“The mood went from excitement and anticipation to despair, once it became evident that the shuttle wasn’t coming home,” he tells Sky News.
“Normally, you can set your watch as to when the shuttle will come through the atmosphere. Just like a launch day, we had a countdown clock, with these big numbers that would progressively roll downwards.
“It got to within about two minutes of 00 – usually before you see the shuttle, you hear two sonic booms as the shuttle passes the sound barrier, which tells you it’s about to land. Neither sonic boom showed up.”
The breakup of Columbia had already occurred, its wreckage raining down on Texas while the crew’s loved ones waited unawares at the Kennedy Space Center.
Not long later, the official investigation was launched.
Scott Hubbard was picked as the only NASA representative on the investigative board to work with Air Force generals, Navy admirals, and former US astronauts to paint a detailed picture of why Columbia ended in tragedy.
“I knew, if we were facing loss of the crew, that this would be having the same impact on the agency that the Challenger accident had years before,” he says.
“So I went into this with a determination to do whatever I could.”
NASA’s mission control centre at the moment it lost contact with Columbia. Pic: NASA
‘The most difficult duty’
The Columbia investigation was expected to last 30 days. It ended up taking six months.
Beginning with seven-day work weeks from a base outside Johnson Space Center in Houston, Hubbard labels it the “most difficult duty” of his 20 years at NASA.
“The first part was the very sad search and recovery operation for the remains of the crew, so the families could have some closure,” he says. Remains for all seven astronauts were found.
Some 25,000 people were involved in efforts to collect pieces of the wreckage, O’Keefe recalls, which was strewn across a 200-mile swathe of land from Dallas to the Louisiana border.
Tributes left outside NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston
Hubbard’s background in science and engineering saw him assigned to focus on the technical cause of the accident.
“Initially, it was circumstantial evidence,” recalls Hubbard.
“There was only one good, high-resolution image of this piece of foam falling off of the main tank and hitting the shuttle somewhere on its left wing, and then a spray of debris coming out.”
That incident had occurred not during re-entry, but after the launch on 16 January – 82 seconds into the flight.
Mission control notified the commander and pilot, who were assured that – because it had happened on previous missions too – there was no reason for alarm when it came to re-entry.
Still from a video of the launch showing the moment of foam impact on the wing. Pic: NASA
Proving the cause of the tragedy
But when Columbia re-entered the atmosphere, the damage to the wing let in “superheated gases” that led to the destruction of the wing and subsequent disintegration of the entire shuttle.
“Foam falling off had been happening since the very first flight of the shuttle, 30 years before,” says Hubbard.
“But while it was originally labelled an in-flight anomaly, which is the most serious of problems, it eventually became considered a turnaround issue, just a maintenance thing, and was demoted in its seriousness.
“We think this casual approach, to what was a serious issue, was one of the organisational causes of the accident.”
G. Scott Hubbard during a news briefing on the investigation into the disaster
Due to a “sense of denial” among those who were interviewed during the investigation, Hubbard says he pushed for a test that would look to recreate the so-called anomaly, settling on a research facility in Texas used to simulate the impact of a bird striking parts of an aeroplane.
Over the course of months, it was configured to the specifications of what happened to Columbia.
The test was carried out on live TV on 7 July 2003 – and the result was beyond doubt.
“It caused two emotions in me simultaneously,” Hubbard recalls.
“One was ‘yes, we proved it’, and the other was, ‘oh my God, this is how these people died’.
“And that was… quite a moment.”
The legacy of Columbia
The Columbia Accident Investigation Board’s full report – which O’Keefe received 10 days before its publication in August 2003 – made 29 recommendations to improve the safety of future space shuttle flights, all of which were adopted by NASA.
They included that foam falling from the shuttle’s external tank during launch, as had been accepted as par for the course among NASA engineers, should no longer be allowed to happen.
The agency has not lost astronauts during spaceflight since.
“It was a hard-hitting report,” says O’Keefe. “Nothing was light about it. It was very critical, however, that’s what we needed to hear.”
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NASA commemorates the victims of Columbia, as well as its other fallen astronauts, every January, with flowers laid and tributes read during a memorial service at Kennedy Space Center.
The site at Cape Canaveral has been a hub of excitement since November, when the launch of the Artemis mission kicked off NASA’s bid to return people to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years.
Space is also increasingly the playground of private enterprise, with the likes of SpaceX and Blue Origin setting themselves grand targets to go further than humans have before. A worthy venture, O’Keefe says, but – for all the wonder so many feel upon witnessing a launch – never one that should see people lose sight of the risk.
“The nature of it just scared me every single time,” he admits. “Everybody who talked about shuttle launches that are ‘routine’ – there is no such thing. Every one of them is an opportunity for disaster, and that’s the nature of it.
“But over the course of human history, we have done things that are inherently dangerous because our curiosity gets the better of us.”
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Why are we still racing to space?
For Hubbard, who became chairman of SpaceX’s safety panel in 2012, with Elon Musk among those receiving his advice, the lessons learned from Columbia are only growing in importance.
“Space is a hard thing to do, launching humans into space is difficult, and we have been fortunate that thus far there have been relatively few disasters,” he tells Sky News. (NASA has lost 15 astronauts during spaceflight: seven in Columbia and Challenger, and one, Michael Adams, in a sub-orbital flight in 1967.)
Hubbard says the experience of Columbia “profoundly changed” his view of human exploration of space, but our collective ambition to go further, faster, is only going one way.
“Any rocket you send up there, you can’t say with any certainty it’s going to be just fine,” says O’Keefe. “But the alternative is: ‘let’s not go?’ And the answer is, you can’t relent to that.”
At least 40 people have been killed across four states after Hurricane Helene barrelled its way across southeastern US.
Emergency crews are racing to rescue people trapped in flooded homes after Helene struck the coast of Florida as a highly destructive Category 4 storm.
It generated a massive storm surge, wreaking a trail of destruction extending hundreds of miles north.
Millions are without power in Florida and neighbouring states.
Meanwhile, dozens of people are trapped on the roof of a flooded Tennessee hospital, with a “dangerous rescue operation” under way.
The Unicoi County Hospital is engulfed in “extremely dangerous and rapidly moving water”, according to Tennessee’s Ballad Health.
Patients and staff are trapped on the roof of Unicoi County Hospital. (Pic: Erwin Police Chief Regan Tilson)
It said 54 people were relocated to the roof of the Unicoi County Hospital, while seven were in rescue boats.
“The situation at the hospital is very dangerous and TEMA [The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency] and National Guard resources are engaged in what can only be described as a dangerous rescue operation,” Ballad Health added.
Local official Michael Baker told Sky News people are being moved from the roof “little by little”, describing the flooding as “unprecedented”.
“We’ve never seen anything like this,” he said.
Steinhatchee in the Big Bend area of Florida. Pic: Reuters
Flooding has severely damaged property in Atlanta. Pic: AP
As of early afternoon, Helene, which has been downgraded to a tropical depression, was packing maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (55 kph) as it slowed over Tennessee and Kentucky, the National Hurricane Center said.
It struck overnight with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (225 kph) in the rural Big Bend area, the northwestern part of Florida.
The National Hurricane Center said preliminary information shows water levels reached more than 15ft above ground in that region.
US President Joe Biden has approved emergency declaration requests from the governors of several southern states affected by Helene.
Georgia, Florida, Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina are being supported by emergency response personnel including search and rescue teams, medical support staff and engineering experts.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has said dozens of people are trapped in buildings damaged by the storm, with multiple hospitals in southern Georgia without power.
In western North Carolina, Rutherford County emergency officials have told residents near the Lake Lure Dam to immediately evacuate to higher ground, warning “Dam failure imminent”.
Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said the damage from Helene in the area appears to be greater than the combined damage of Idalia and Hurricane Debby in August. “It’s demoralizing,” he said.
Getting around by kayak is easier than car in St Petersburg, Florida. Pic: AP
Rescue teams in Venice, Florida. Pic: Venice Police Department
Many stranded in places like Tampa could only be reached by boat, with officials warning the water could contain live wires, sewage, sharp objects and other debris.
More than four million properties are without power across Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio, according to the logging website, PowerOutage.
Why this hurricane season is defying forecasts
Despite Helene’s power, this hurricane season has been more remarkable for its lack of activity.
At the start of the hurricane season, which runs from 1 June to 30 November, sea surface temperatures were (and remain) off-the-charts warm.
It’s this ocean heat that fuels tropical storms.
This combined with a developing La Nina phenomenon led the US forecasters to predict 2024 would be a major hurricane season. Between 17 and 24 storms were expected, with eight to 13 developing into hurricanes.
Hurricane Beryl grazed the coast of Jamaica in July as a Category 5 hurricane. It was the earliest storm of that size ever recorded and was seen as a harbinger of the prediction. But, so far at least, it’s failed to materialise.
There have been just six hurricanes so far this year – slightly below average. But why?
It seems to be due to what’s happening on the other side of the Atlantic where ocean warming forced the African monsoon further north than usual.
This led to catastrophic flooding in central and west Africa displacing millions, but it also shifted the weather system that usually spawns hurricanes and spins them across the Atlantic.
There’s already abundant evidence our warming oceans and atmosphere are making storms more intense – but predicting where they will occur and how often is never simple – and perhaps getting even harder as our planet gets hotter.
Prior to the hurricane making landfall, officials in Florida begged residents to evacuate. The sheriff’s office in rural Taylor County issued a chilling warning to those who refused to leave.
“Please write your name, birthday, and important information on your arm or leg in a permanent marker so that you can be identified and family notified,” the post on Facebook said.
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Child and dog rescued from floods
Forecasters now expect the storm to continue weakening across Tennessee and Kentucky.
It is feared heavy rain over the Appalachian Mountains could cause mudslides and flash flooding.
Helene has made landfall in northwestern Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, with forecasters warning of a “catastrophic” storm surge.
The National Hurricane Centre in Miami said Helene struck near the mouth of the Aucilla River in the Big Bend area of Florida’s Gulf Coast at around 11.10pm local time.
High winds, possibly in excess of 140mph (225kph), and flash floods are possible, the weather service said.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told reporters one person had died while driving on a motorway when a sign fell on to their car.
“When Floridians wake up tomorrow morning, we’re going to be waking up to a state where, very likely, there’s been additional loss of life. And certainly, there’s going to be loss of property,” Mr DeSantis said.
Florida’s Big Bend, where Helene has made landfall. Pic: Reuters
“You’re going to have people that are going to lose their homes because of this storm. So please keep those folks in mind, keep them in your prayers.”
Two other people are reported to have been killed in a possible tornado in neighbouring south Georgia as the storm approached, the Associated Press reported.
‘Unsurvivable scenario’ to play out
More than one million homes and businesses were already without power shortly after the hurricane made landfall, according to tracking website poweroutage.
States of emergency have been declared in Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas, with hurricane and flash flood warnings in place as far away as south-central Georgia.
Officials pleaded with residents in the path of the storm to heed mandatory evacuation orders or face life-threatening conditions.
Traffic cameras showed waves overtopping roads in St Pete Beach, Florida. Pic: Florida Department of Transportation
The surge caused by the hurricane – the wall of seawater pushed on land by hurricane-force winds – could rise as high as 20ft (6.1m) in some spots, as tall as a two-storey house, Michael Brennan, director of the hurricane centre, said in a video briefing.
“A really unsurvivable scenario is going to play out” in the coastal area, Mr Brennan said, with water capable of destroying buildings and carrying cars pushing inland. Millions of people are under the current flood watch.
Forecasters warned the storm surge could be particularly “catastrophic and unsurvivable” in Apalachee Bay.
Hurricane Helene in the Gulf of Mexico moving towards Florida. Pic: NOAA/AP
‘It’s going to cause a lot of damage’
Residents in the city of Tallahassee told Sky’s US partner NBC News that they stocked up on sandbags, food and supplies, before leaving their homes.
The city’s mayor John Dailey urged people to take the evacuation warnings “extremely seriously”, calling Helene “the biggest storm in the history of the city to hit us head-on”.
Speaking to NBC News on Wednesday, Mr Dailey said though they are “very prepared”, he was also “very nervous, and I hope everyone is nervous”.
He added: “This is a big storm. It is going to cause a lot of damage.”
Surfers taking advantage of heavy winds in Key West. Pic: Rob O’Neal/The Key West Citizen/AP
Flooding has already hit Madeira Beach, Florida. Pic: Max Chesnes/Tampa Bay Times/AP
Jared Miller, sheriff of Wakulla County, went further – calling the storm “not a survivable event for those in coastal or low-lying areas”.
The county has issued a mandatory evacuation order, but one resident, Christine Nazworth from Crawfordville, which is located about 25 miles (40km) from Apalachee Bay, said her family would be sheltering in place.
She said: “I’m prayed up. Lord have mercy on us. And everybody else that might be in its path.”
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Damage caused by Tropical Storm Helene in Puerto Juarez, Cancun, Mexico. Pic: Reuters/Paola Chiomante
Helene caused streets to flood in Guanimar, Cuba. Pic: AP/Ramon Espinosa
Leslie Powell, from Quincy, a city a similar distance from Tallahassee, told NBC she was leaving her mobile home to go to a shelter with her eight-month-old baby and six-year-old daughter.
She said simply: “I’m scared. I’ve got a lot of trees around my home, so it’s not safe for me and my kids.”
Helene is expected to remain a full-fledged hurricane as it rolls through the Macon, Georgia, area on Friday, forecasters said.
Sir Keir Starmer is to meet with Donald Trump later tonight.
It is believed to be the first meeting between the current UK prime minister and former – and potentially future – US president.
The pair are set to meet overnight UK time, which is the evening in New York, where Sir Keir is currently located while on a visit to the UN.
David Lammy, the Labour foreign secretary, has met Mr Trump‘s vice presidential candidate, JD Vance.
Speaking to journalists, Sir Keir reiterated he wanted to meet both Mr Trump and Kamala Harris ahead of the November vote.
However, meeting the Democrat is hard due to the “usual diary challenges”.
Sir Keir said: “It’ll be really to establish a relationship between the two of us.
“I’m a great believer in personal relations on the international stage.
“I think it really matters that you know who your counterpart is in any given country, and know them personally, get to know them face to face.
“So it’s really along those lines. I won’t go into what we’ll actually discuss, obviously, but that’s the purpose of it, as you’d expect, ahead of the election.”
Sir Keir is in New York at the United Nations. Pic: Reuters
Asked if a Trump presidency would leave Ukraine exposed, Sir Keir said the nature of the “special relationship” between the UK and US “always sits above whoever holds the particular office”.
“The US people will decide who they want as their president, and we will work with whoever is president,” he added.
“I’m not going to speculate on what any particular issues may be on the other side of the election.”
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Mr Trump said he thought Sir Keir was “very nice”.
He said: “I actually think he’s very nice. He ran a great race, he did very well, it’s very early, he’s very popular.”
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Mr Trump went on to praise Reform UK leader Nigel Farage as well, saying: “I think Nigel is great, I’ve known him for a long time.”
“He had a great election too, picked up a lot of seats, more seats than he was allowed to have actually.
“They acknowledged that he won but for some reason you have a strange system over there, you might win them but you don’t get them.”
This appears to be a misunderstanding of how the UK’s first past the post system for elections chooses MPs – Reform won fewer seats compared to its vote share because it came second in many seats.
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