Summary of Michael D. Leinbach & Jonathan H. Ward's Bringing Columbia Home

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Book Preview:

#1 The launch director of the shuttle Columbia was one of the people who would welcome her home when she landed at 9:16 AM. But instead of hearing the customary booms, he heard silence. Something was terribly wrong.

#2 In the midst of a spaceflight contingency, the administrator of NASA made a difficult decision and declared a spaceflight emergency.

#3 I was the eighth launch director of the Space Shuttle Program, and I was in charge of all shuttle launch operations. I led the final Go for launch.

#4 The crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia was made up of some of the most experienced astronauts in history, with a combined total of over 4,800 hours of training before launch.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Oct 4, 2022
• ISBN: 9798350033151

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

Book preview

Insights on Michael D. Leinbach & Jonathan H. Ward's Bringing Columbia Home

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The landing countdown clock positioned between the runway and us ticked down to zero. Then it began counting up. It always did this after shuttle landings, but we had never really paid attention to it because there had always been a vehicle on the runway.

#2

The crew’s families were taken to a bus to take them to the privacy of the crew quarters. There was no announcement of what had happened, but everyone knew that it must be something dreadful.

#3

I was the eighth launch director of the Space Shuttle Program in 2000. I was now responsible for all shuttle launch operations, including giving the final Go or No-go for launch. The shuttle’s cargo bay carried payloads as large as a school bus.

#4

The crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia was Commander William Willie McCool, the pilot, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Anderson, the payload commander, and Colonel Rick Husband, the commander. They were all veteran astronauts, and this was their second space mission.

#5

The crew of Columbia was the best that NASA had ever had. They were warm, happy, and fun individuals. The ground crews at Kennedy Space Center were extremely close with the orbiter, since they knew its every detail better than anyone.

#6

The astronauts of STS-107 were in Houston training for their mission, while the shuttle was being prepared in an Orbiter Processing Facility. The astronauts spent time with the payload and the orbiter to get a feel for the configuration of their vehicle.

#7

The crew returned for a training session the week of December 16, which culminated in the terminal count demonstration test. I greeted the crew with my traditional, Welcome to TCDT Week! at the Shuttle Landing Facility runway after they flew in from Houston in their T-38 jets.

#8

The TCDT was a dry run of the final phases of countdown, with the crew aboard the shuttle and my launch team and me in the Firing Room at the Launch Control Center. The crew then emerged from the vehicle, confident and ready to fly