At one point in time, we were constantly sending people to space. We would send them in Space Transportation Systems (STS), better known as space shuttles. STS was run by NASA from 1981 – 2011. There were 5 total shuttles built over that 30-year time: Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavour, Columbia, and Challenger. During a launch the shuttles had, the shuttle orbiter itself, the external tanks, and the two solid rocket boosters. However, in 2004, after the Columbia disaster, President Bush announced that all shuttles would be retired by 2010. 

There were 135 missions flown, two of which were the Columbia disaster and Challenger disaster. The Challenger disaster happened around noon on January 28, 1986, and the Columbia disaster happened in the morning on February 1, 2003. Both disasters could have easily been avoided had NASA put a little more care in.

Challenger was a completely avoidable issue. On the solid rocket boosters are O-ring seals. The morning of January 28 was very cold, and NASA knew that the O-rings struggled to do their job and seal the joint in cold temperatures. However, they made the decision to launch. On board was the commander Dick Scobee, pilot Michael Smith, mission specialists Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, and Ronald McNair, Gregory Jarvis, a researcher for Hughes Aircraft Company, and finally Christa McAuliffe, a teacher selected as part of the Teacher in Space Project.

Thousands watched, children and adults alike, on the morning of January 28 as Challenger took off at 11:38 am. During the flight, the O-ring allowed hot gas to leak out and burn through parts of the rocket. This burning made the ship unstable, and the pressure ripped the Challenger apart 73 seconds into its flight on live television.

Columbia is also very avoidable. Unlike Challenger, Columbia occurred on reentry. But issues started during launch. A piece of insulating foam had broken off from the external tank and had damaged thermal protection system tiles on the shuttle’s left wing.

NASA didn’t even know about the debris strike until 2 days after launch, and didn’t even get a good recording of the strike. Columbia began its reentry at 8:44 am on February 1st, 2003. As they entered the atmosphere, hot air began to get into the internal structure of the left wing and began to melt it, which made the shuttle begin to lean left. As it continued its entry over California, New Mexico, and Texas, the shuttle was shedding more and more debris according to eyewitnesses.

Eventually, the drag got so bad that the Reaction Control System thrusters began to fire to correct its orientation. At 8:59 am, mission control lost contact with Columbia. Shortly after the shuttle began to roll over until 9:00 am, the Columbia began its catastrophic breakup. 35 minutes later, what was left of the Columbia was grounded. 

The 7 astronauts on the flight were the commander Rick Husband, pilot William McCool, payload commander Michael Anderson, flight engineer Kalpana Chawla, mission specialists David Brown and Laurel Clark, and payload specialist Ilan Ramon. None of the 7 astronauts survived. It is estimated that the astronauts died no later than 9:00 am.

Both of these could have been avoided. If NASA had just postponed the Challenger mission until it was warmer, and if they had just learned from the past mistakes of insulation foam coming off and damaging the heat shields. There had been many more space disasters before Challenger and Columbia; most of those occurred before or around the same time as we went to the moon, 20 years before Challenger and 40 years before Columbia. If only NASA had put in a little more effort, we might still have space shuttles, and 14 people would still be standing on this earth.