Cause And Effect: The Colombia Disaster
The Columbia shuttle crashed on February 1, 2003. Tragically, seven astronauts were killed including the first Israeli astronaut. What caused this catastrophe Several theories are known; however, none have been proven with un-circumstantial evidence. Two of the most popular theories are the foam theory and the paint thinner theory. The Columbia disaster, a tragedy that took seven lives, has several theories for the cause.
The first theory is the foam theory. When the space shuttle took off, a two foot, two pound piece of foam broke off the rocket and struck the wing. Traveling at 438 miles per hour, the foam exerted much force on the wing. This great amount of force could have caused great structural damages on the wing.
Through most of the mission, the wing gave normal readings and worked up to NASA?s expectations; however, as the shuttle was making its re-entry, the first signs of wing damage were experienced. Temperatures rose greatly in the left wing and left tire. This was due to the great amount of friction that is present when a shuttle passes into the earth?s atmosphere. However, temperatures on the right side of the shuttle weren?t as high as on the left. This may have
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