The mission of the space shuttle Columbia
The space shuttle Columbia is one of five space shuttles of NASA. Its main task is to conduct scientific research and space exploration. June 65438+10/October 65438+June 2003, the space shuttle Columbia was successfully launched, and scientific research and experiments were carried out for 16 days, including various experiments in biology, physics and astronomy.
The disaster of the space shuttle Columbia
After the mission of 16 days ended, the space shuttle Columbia began the process of returning to Earth. On the morning of February 1, when the space shuttle Columbia entered the atmosphere and began to slow down, the ground control center of NASA received an abnormal message. This information shows that the thermal shield under the left wing of the space shuttle Columbia has been damaged, causing hot air to enter the interior of the aircraft structure.
This issue should have attracted the attention of NASA, but the management of NASA did not regard this issue as a serious security risk. They think this is just a small problem and will not affect the safety of the space shuttle.
However, this problem eventually led to the disaster of the space shuttle Columbia. When the space shuttle Columbia entered the atmosphere, hot air entered the interior of the aircraft structure, which caused the aircraft structure to be unstable. In the end, the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated in the air, killing all seven astronauts.
The cause of the crash of the space shuttle Columbia
There are many reasons why the space shuttle Columbia crashed. The main reason is that the management of NASA ignored the safety issue. They didn't regard the damage of heat insulation board as a serious safety hazard, nor did they take effective measures to solve this problem.
In addition, the culture of NASA is also one of the reasons for the disaster. The culture of NASA emphasizes success and achievement rather than safety and risk management. This culture led NASA management to ignore safety issues and focus on mission success.
Lessons from the space shuttle Columbia disaster
The disaster of the space shuttle Columbia brought a great blow to NASA, which made people realize the importance of safety and risk management. The lesson of this disaster is profound, which reminds us to attach great importance to safety in any task.
After the Columbia space shuttle crash, NASA took a series of measures to improve safety and risk management. They have established a stricter safety and risk management system, strengthened the supervision and management of safety issues, and improved employees' awareness of safety and risk management.