Space Shuttle Columbia Recovery Operation

David King and Scott Horowitz, the officials who led NASA’s recovery effort after the Space Shuttle Columbia explosion talked about their operation at an event marking the tenth anniversary of the disaster. Mr. King, who was the Marshall Space Flight Center Director at the time, said the agency had expected to recover only about 10% of the Shuttle, but ended up recovering 45%. The debris was spread out over a 250 mile area around rural parts of Texas and Louisiana. The Shuttle exploded while re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere on February 1, 2003. It was later discovered that a piece of foam had damaged the Shuttle’s underside during takeoff when it became dislodged from the main fuel tank. All seven crew members died in the explosion.

This event was part of a conference hosted by George Washington University’s Elliot School of International Affairs on the 10th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. close