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Columbia: The Seven We Never Met

Columbia video tribute

Return To Flight

Our condolences to the astronauts' families, and to the entire NASA family.

• 29 January 2004 - Final NASA entry here, noting the CAIB's release of additional volumes in their report.

• 27 August 2003 - Wednesday - More on the CAIB release. NASA reports:

  Investigation Board Releases Final Report
  The Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) released its final report Tuesday on its probe into the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia and the STS-107 crew. The report can be found on the Human Space Flight Web's STS-107 Investigation Reference page, the CAIB Web site and the NASA Columbia Page.

  The CAIB began its investigation shortly after Columbia and its crew were lost Feb. 1. Columbia broke up during re-entry over Texas en route to landing 16 minutes later at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The STS-107 crewmembers -- Commander Rick Husband, Pilot Willie McCool, Mission Specialists Michael Anderson, Dave Brown, Laurel Clark and Kalpana Chawla and Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon of Israel -- were returning home after a successful 16-day scientific research mission.

  Retired Admiral Harold W. "Hal" Gehman Jr. has served as CAIB’s chairman throughout the inquiry. He and other CAIB members discussed their findings during a briefing earlier today in Washington, D.C.

  NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe accepted the report from Gehman Tuesday morning.

  - View foam testing videos and read the CAIB Foam Impact Explanation (607 Kb PDF).
  - Visit the STS-107 Investigation Reference page.
  - A Statement From The Family Of Columbia Astronaut Dave Brown
  - Statement From JSC Director On Release Of The CAIB Report
  NASA TV Schedule

  Stay Tuned...

• 26 August 2003 - Columbia board releases final report - NASA culture slammed - foam hit was the fatal blow - investigation milestones - read the report here or here.  NASA reports:

  CAIB Releases Final Report
  The Columbia Accident Investigation Board, or CAIB, released its final report today on its probe into the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia and the STS-107 crew. The report can be found on the Board’s Web site - www.caib.us.

  The Board began its investigation shortly after Columbia and its crew were lost Feb. 1. Columbia broke up during re-entry over Texas en route to landing 16 minutes later at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The STS-107 crewmembers -- Commander Rick Husband, Pilot Willie McCool, Mission Specialists Michael Anderson, Dave Brown, Laurel Clark and Kalpana Chawla and Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon of Israel -- were returning home after a successful 16-day scientific research mission.

  Retired Admiral Harold W. "Hal" Gehman Jr. has served as CAIB’s chairman throughout the inquiry. He and other Board members will discuss Their findings during a briefing at 10 a.m. CDT (1500 GMT) today. The briefing will be aired live on NASA TV and on the CAIB's Web site.

  NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe will discuss initial CAIB findings during a briefing Wednesday at 10 a.m. CDT (1500 GMT). NASA TV will air O’Keefe’s briefing live.

  As part of its efforts to return the Space Shuttle back to service, NASA has set up a task group chaired by former Astronauts Thomas P. Stafford and Richard O. Covey. NASA chartered the group to perform an independent assessment of the Agency’s implementation of the CAIB's final recommendations. NASA TV Schedule

  Return-To-Flight Briefing live on NASA TV on Monday (Sep 8) at 1PM EDT - Check NASA TV for upcoming briefings.

For earlier reports, see Part 5 of our Investigation Journal.

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