Hard lessons indeed.
WASHINGTON — When the first of many loud alarms sounded on the space shuttle Columbia, the seven astronauts had about a minute to live, though they didn't know it.
The pilot, William McCool, pushed several buttons trying to right the ship as it tumbled out of control. He didn't know it was futile.
Most of the crew were following NASA procedures, spending more time preparing the shuttle than themselves for the return to Earth.
Some weren't wearing their bulky protective gloves and still had their helmet visors open. Some weren't fully strapped in. One was barely seated.
In seconds, the darkened module holding the crew lost pressure. The astronauts blacked out. If the loss of pressure didn't kill them immediately, they would be dead from violent gyrations that knocked them about the ship.
In short, Columbia's astronauts were quickly doomed.
A new NASA report released Tuesday details the chaotic final minutes of Columbia, which disintegrated over Texas on Feb. 1, 2003.
The point of the 400-page analysis is to figure out how to make NASA's next spaceship more survivable. The report targeted problems with the spacesuits, restraints and helmets of the Columbia crew.
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EDITORS WARNING, the FoxNews article includes graphic details.
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