{"id":56016,"date":"2024-05-28T21:07:42","date_gmt":"2024-05-28T19:07:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=56016"},"modified":"2026-05-28T00:11:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T22:11:46","slug":"the-two-isolated-errors-that-saved-the-columbia-shuttle-from-a-disaster-in-1999","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2024\/05\/28\/the-two-isolated-errors-that-saved-the-columbia-shuttle-from-a-disaster-in-1999\/","title":{"rendered":"The two isolated errors that saved the Columbia shuttle from a disaster in 1999"},"content":{"rendered":"

The space race has been one of the greatest technological and scientific challenges that humanity has faced since its beginnings.<\/p>\n

SpaceX's Crew Dragon: this is how the first private manned spacecraft works<\/a><\/rel>
\nThe furthest car park: the three wheeled vehicles that were abandoned on the Moon<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

The most brilliant minds have made very valuable contributions<\/strong> to build rockets and spacecraft with the necessary characteristics to provide a safe trip to astronauts who faced great dangers with each of their missions<\/strong >. Let us keep in mind that space is an area incompatible with life, so many precautions must be taken before sending people on a space trip. Despite this, there have been mistakes that have ended catastrophically, but there have also been amazing coincidences<\/strong> that have avoided terrible endings.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
The launch of NASA's space shuttle Columbia from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on July 27, 1999 (Photo: NASA<\/a>).<\/div>\n

One of those miraculous coincidences occurred on July 27, 1999<\/strong>, during the launch of the space shuttle Columbia on its STS-93 mission, in charge of taking the Chandra X-ray Observatory into space, a especially heavy load<\/strong>, which is why the weight of the ship had to be reduced in other aspects: its usual crew of seven astronauts was reduced to five and the engines were changed for lighter ones<\/strong>. The launch appeared to be apparently normal, but it was later discovered that this mission almost ended in disaster<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
The crew of the Columbia ship on the STS-93 mission. From left to right, Commander Eileen M. Collins, Pilot Jeffrey S. Ashby and Mission Specialists Steven A. Hawley, Catherine G. Coleman and Michel Tognini (Photo: NASA<\/a>).<\/div>\n

An object detached from the right engine caused a hydrogen leak<\/strong> that could have had a catastrophic end to the mission if the damage caused by that object had been slightly greater. That leak consumed more fuel than expected<\/strong>, so the ship could have run out of the fuel necessary to reach orbit, and returning to earth with such a heavy load would have been very risky. However, another unrelated error nullified the effects of that first failure: a short circuit caused by a screw rubbing on a cable. Primal Space<\/a> has explained it in great detail in this excellent video:<\/strong><\/p>\n