![]() ![]() The Columbia Safety Exhibit is not the first time NASAemployees have had an opportunity to see the debris. By studying the orbiter's debris, investigators concluded that a holein Columbia's left wing was caused by its own fuel tank's insulation fallingoff and striking the vehicle during launch, leading to its later break-upduring reentry. 1, 2003 as they returned from space after a 16-day sciencemission. Space shuttle Columbia and its STS-107 flight crew of seven astronautswere lost on Feb. There, the Columbia hardware will be added back tothe controlled storage facility on the 16th floor ofthe Vehicle Assembly Building, where all 84,000 recovered parts are catalogedand preserved for posterity and research. The exhibit, which pays tribute to Columbia, the crew ofSTS-107, and the recovery effort following their loss, will ultimately returnto Kennedy Space Center. Intended only for the space agency's employees, the displayareas are not accessible by the general public. It will remain in Houston for a few weeks,before continuing to 11 other NASA locations.Īdditional stops planned for the exhibit include centers inMississippi, Alabama, Ohio, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Maryland, New Mexicoand California. 26, it has been on display in the lobby of Johnson SpaceCenter's headquarters building. The Columbia Safety Exhibit first went on display at theKennedy Space Center in Florida, in the lobby of one of its operation supportbuildings. The sides and back of the exhibit show photographs of therecovery and reconstruction of Columbia as a cause for the accident was soughtand found, along with the inscription, "Everyone that touches a mission onevery level, is responsible for what it represents and the lives that areinvolved." The word "Everyone" appears in several places alone,stressing the roll of all employees. Heatshield tiles and wing leading edge material are alsodisplayed, as is one of the thrusters recovered from the nose of the orbiter. ![]() Nearby panels put each artifact intothe context of position and use within the shuttle, including a controller usedby Commander Rick Husband, a window that once overlooked the payload bay and apyro initiator T-handle from the crew's access hatch. ![]() The glass-encased, self-standing safety exhibit featuresnine components from Columbia, including four pieces recovered from thecompartment where the STS-107 crew rode. ![]()
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