When the Columbia ignited in orbit in 2003, all seven of its crew members died during the remainder of their descent to Earth: David M. Brown, Rick D. Husband, Laurel B. Clark, Kalpana Chawla, Michael P. Anderson, William C. “Willie” McCool, and Ilan Ramon. The bit of foam that tore off the shuttle during liftoff had damaged the left wing just enough that the extreme temperatures experienced when reentering Earth’s atmosphere tore the ship apart.
In 2008 NASA released a full, 400-page public report about the Columbia disaster. Amongst many other things, the document describes the horrific confluence of “five events with lethal potential” that killed the crew members: cabin depressurization; a “dynamic rotating load environment;” physically traumatic injuries; exposure to a near vacuum, aerodynamic acceleration, and cold atmospheric temperatures; and collision with the ground. Tragically and absurdly enough, the crew’s gloves might have contributed to their deaths by making it more cumbersome to react to events.
As the National Wildlife Coordinating Group describes, a search team identified and recovered the remains of the crew in the first two weeks after the crash. To this end, members of the U.S. Forest Service and Texas Forest Service combed a 20-mile radius in southeastern Texas. Every time search parties discovered remains, an “Evidence Response Team” was summoned, consisting of members of the FBI, clergymen, local law enforcement, and other NASA astronauts. Local residents from Hemphill, Texas got involved in the search, as well. Ultimately, all seven crew members’ remains were successfully recovered.
