The Columbia Disaster

The space mission of Columbia Space Shuttle was coming to an logical end in its return to home base. After accomplishing its 28th space flight campaign Columbia was returning to earth at the blinding speed of 18 times that of sound, approximately 20,000 kms an hour.
The eyes of all the seven astronauts were rivetted on the computer screens as they revealed how the things were going on with their journey. Their eyes were sparkling and hearts were pounding. The very thought of meeting near and dear ones was exciting them. Many of them were thinking of the appropriate words to utter to each dear one. For them it was a proud moment having successfully completed the space mission and they could visualise seeing the beaming faces of the friends and relations.
In the shuttle control room the commander Rick Husband and the pilot William Mackool sat glued to the screens and the instrument penals arrayed infront of them. On the right side of the pilot sat Mission Specialist (2) Mrs. Laurel B. Clark. Behind them sat Kalpana Chawla. And right below the cockpit, in a cabin sat strapped to their seats Elan Raymon and Michael Anderson.
On 1st February, 2003 when Columbia was approaching the earth atmosphere, the control room of Kennedy Space Center, Houston was abuzz with feverish activities. The shuttle controller, guides and monitors had their eyes fixed on the computer screens and radars. Their ears were straining to catch the conversations of the shuttle astronauts in their microphone receivers.
Kennedy Space Center announcer, James Harts was informing the people outside about the latest status of Columbia shuttle, its height and the speed with which it was descending towards the earth. The crowd was mostly made up of the friends, relatives and the aquaintances of the astronauts who were eagerly awaiting the arrival of their dear space travellers. With the safe landing of the space shuttle, S.T.S.-107 Mission would come to an end, the announcer was confidently predicting. The crowd was assembled in the vast reception hall of the Center just outside the main control room.
Now the Space Shuttle Columbia was at the height of 200,000 feet cruising down at speed of 21,240 kms per hour. 16 minutes later it could be taxying on the run way. The shuttle ground controllers noticed an unusual wavering patterns on their monitor screens and radars.
The signals and the data being transmitted from Columbia Space Shuttle abruptly stopped.
The controllers realised that there was sudden shooting up of the temperature on the left side of the shuttle. The shoot up was alarming as if a thermometer had suddenly been hit by a blast from a furnance. The control room people took emergency measures to establish contact with the astronauts.
But all efforts failed. There was no response. The chief flight instructor of the Mission Control, Milt Trafflin transmitted an emergency message to the space shuttle—
‘Columbia, Houston! We see your tyre pressure messages and we did not copy your last…’
It appeared as if the message was received by the Mission commander because Rick Husband’s unfinished reply was received which sounded like—‘Roger…oh…Kaboom!’
No more sound was heard. The data, signals and sounds went dead. The control room screens also went blue blank or just snowing or meaningless lines escalating up or down.
The control room boys panicked but found consolation in the fact that while entering the earth’s atmosphere, inside of a space shuttle often showed sudden drop in temperature resulting in the disruption of communications. They presumed that the same had happened and the shuttle was safe and sound including the crew. They were trying to delude themselves unable to face the terrible possiblity.
From the Mission control room, Capsule Communicator Charlie Hebauge was relentlessly trying to establish radio contact with astronauts. By now the realisation had dawned that Columbia was in serious danger. There was little room for any delusions. Every soul in the control room was trying to get something on the space craft…some flicker of information.
Charlie was crying himself hoarse by repeating again and again desperately into the mike—‘Columbia….communication…Check…Colum- bia…Check…’.
Meanwhile, James Hartfield was telling the waiting crowd in the reception hall—‘Columbia was speeding towards the earth at 21,240 kms an hour…the speed slows down while entering into the earth’s atmosphere…the shuttle was at 200,000 feet height when we lost contact…we are trying our best to re-establish the contact…”.
Since the lift-off on 16th January Columbia Space Shuttle had been ever in touch with the ground control. There was never a breakdown. But the disconnect at the last hour of the successful mission was very disappointing and frustrating.
Charlie was still screaming—‘Columbia use high frequency to communicate…check…check…check… please…Columbia…’.
All the faces in the control room now wore lines of worry and panic. A frantic activity was on. James was still announcing in a straight voice—‘Although we have lost contact with Columbia yet our space craft controllers are trying to collect information data on ‘C’ band from Marity Island tracking station. Columbia is expected to touch down the run way safely…please bear with us and be patient…’
On the other hand, Charlie was still trying to hit upon the radio contact with Columbia without any success.
On the tracking screen of the Kennedy Space Center a scene like that of a falling star flashed which was followed by a terrible crashing or exploding sound….and then there was complete silence and blank screens.
Now it was clear that Columbia could not complete its 28th mission and had perished alongwith it seven member team of astronauts.
The legendary Columbia Space Shuttle had met fiery and tragic end. Along with others the Indian indomitable girl Kalpana Chawla had perished. The flag on Kennedy Space Center was lowered.
The disaster sent the entire world into mourning U.S.A., India and Israel suffered shock waves because they had lost their prized son and daughter. An irreparable damage had been incurred.
In his condolence message the American President, George Bush said—‘The tragedy of Columbia and the demise of seven space scientists has grieved the country but the mission for which they sacrificed their lives will continue on as before.’
The Russian President Vladimir Putin in his message said—‘Our country is with USA in this hour of tragedy. The sacrifice of the seven scientists for peace, civilisation and the expansion of knowledge shall not go in vain.”
Israeli Prime Minister A. Sheron was shocked at the tragedy and said—“The unfortunate death of the seven scientists grieves us. The demise of Elan Raymon is irreparable damage for our nation.’
Chinese Premier in his message to American President wrote—‘The space programme must continue as a befitting tribute to the dead astronants.’
UN General Secretary, Kofi Annan expressed his shock at the tragedy in the words—‘The death of seven scientists in this accident is a very grave blow to the human welfare.’
India had been plunged in a deep grief over the Columbia disaster. The nation had lost its latest icon and inspiration for the youth. The President, Vice-President, Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and several other leaders expressed their profound grief at the tragedy and espicially at the loss of the daughter of the nation, Kalpana Chawla.
The president Dr. Abdul Kalam Azad wrote to the American president George Bush—‘The tragedy of the space shuttle and the death of seven talented scientists has deeply shocked me.’
To Haryana Governor, the President wrote—“We all Indians were proud that our Kalpana Chawla was a member of the space mission but it is a matter of great pain that we lost her…we salute her.’
The Vice-President said—‘The contribution of Kalpana Chawla to the world is unforgettable—the country has host its promising daughter and the world has lost the chance to derive benefit from her space research experience.’
The incumbent Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpeyi talked to Sanjay Chawla on telephone and conveyed his condolenses.
Ex-P.M. I.K. Gujral in condolence resolution remembered Kalpana Chawla as a great daughter of India and wrote—‘Kalpana earned a name for herself and got her name written in golden letters in the history of the Indian women.’
The Indian scientific community paid emotional tributes to late Kalpana Chawla. Actor-M.P. Sunil Dutt was sorry for not being able to honour Kalpana Chawla’s invitation as he would receive no more invitations from her. That was her last wish to him. The same pain hurt professor Malhotra of P.E.C. Chandigarh.
Sunil Dutt however attended the condolence meeting organised by Kalpana’s school Tagore Bal Niketan and paid his tributes—
‘We must produce more Kalpana Chawlas, not just one. We must educate girls and stop the female foetus killings by law. In our society, the girls are assigned only domestic roles and are not expected to take part in adventures…they are considered burdens on the family, we must change this negative mindset and learn from the sacrific of Kalpana Chawla.
Rising from a small town of India she reached the incredible heights of the space. We must realise the importance of this fact seriously. The true tribute to Kalpana Chawla would be to realise her unfinished dream. The flame she kindled in Karnal is the beacon of future and the girls must bow to Kalpana Chawla and take a vow to emulate her example.’
Before her last voyage Kalpana Chawla had said in a press interview—‘The most of the moments of our lives are spent in training. Every time sitting or walking, awaken or asleep, our minds are ever visualising the next mission. We see space crafts even in our dreams and perform death defying acts in dreams. We continue our lives maintaining a fine balance between life and death. An astronaut can never even the far from imagination of the plunges into the space.’
At one other time, she had said—‘For an astronaut a millionth part of a second even is very important. You never know which fateful moment would turn you into dust. Becoming part of a space mission means dedication of every second of one’s life to the mission. We undergo marathon training. I don’t have time to think of anything else but the mission. I am a flight engineer and one of my duties is to keep relentless vigil on the space craft systems and their smooth functioning. A space traveller lives for a mission and dies for the mission because a minor mistake can destroy the mission and all the passengers.’
How fateful her words turned out to be. But in their case it was not the fault of the astronauts. Some external factor led to the disaster as was proved later on.
Kalpana Chawla’s parents whenever remember their incredible daughter can’t help thinking of a shooting star and their faces become as vacant as the deep space. Her memories are buried in the family’s picture albums, the only way to hold her down on the earth.
For the rest of the country, Kalpana Chawla is a sweet memory that makes us proud of some one amongst us who dared to rise above the prejudices of the mundane existence and reach the incredible heights of achievements through hard work and will power. She will continue to inspire the young generation of Indians through her shining example.