The falling foam caused a breach in the re-entry protection system needed to protect the crew as the shuttle came back into Earth's atmosphere.Īssociated with that technical issue was a series of related organizational problems such as a lack of vision, immense schedule pressure for launches, budget constraints and cutbacks to the agency's workforce, CAIB investigations found. 16, striking the leading edge of Columbia's left wing. Those causes are detailed in a six-volume report issued by the independent Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) later in 2003.Īccording to that board, the primary technical cause of the incident was a piece of foam insulation that fell loose from a "bipod" (shuttle attachment) region of the external fuel tank during the flight's launch on Jan. “If his life encouraged someone else to set goals and seek to fulfill them,” she said, “he would be glad to know that.Like all spacecraft accidents, the root causes of Columbia's and its crew's demise were complex. 27 marked seven years since Michael’s father, Bobbie “Andy” Anderson, died of leukemia.Īlthough Michael’s death was a public spectacle, and the story of the Columbia survives in school history books, Barbara Anderson said her son would hate to be called a hero. In October, she and two of her daughters visited Michael’s grave at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, then checked out the exhibit about him at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opened in fall 2016. “He was focused, and when he decided he was going to do something, he didn’t really just talk about it,” his mother said. At the time, they had expected him to come home for an assignment at Fairchild Air Force Base. His parents didn’t know he had applied to join the space program until he landed an interview in 1994. “He wanted to be in the background all the time.” ![]() Barbara Anderson said her son would get embarrassed whenever she told people he’d been to space. While unabashed about his faith in God, Michael was always serious beyond his years, always quiet, always humble. “Even in high school and grade school, he never even thought about taking an exam or a test before he prayed,” his mother said.Īnderson later spent two decades in the Air Force, including a 90-day stint flying a refueling tanker during the Persian Gulf War. “That never even entered his mind.”īy all accounts, Michael was an exceptional student, one who found harmony in science and religion. ![]() “Michael never thought about what color he was,” she said. The son of an Air Force veteran, Michael Anderson lifted his first toy airplane at age 3 and soon became obsessed with campy space shows like “Star Trek.” They were dominated by white actors portraying white heroes, but Barbara Anderson said her son simply “wasn’t interested” in the color of his skin, or the progress his career might have symbolized. “My whole focus was on the girls and how were they going to handle the situation,” Barbara Anderson said. Their mother, Sandy Anderson, still lives in the Houston area. Sydney recently earned a master’s degree in art, and Kaycee is in graduate school studying prosthetics for amputees. On days like this, Barbara Anderson also thinks of her son’s own daughters and how they persevered after the tragedy. Sometimes it isn’t the length that you live, it’s the quality.” “Even though he had just turned 43, he had had a full life,” she said. Instead she will go about her day (she has an appointment at the hair salon) and perhaps call her three daughters to reminisce about their brother. On this somber anniversary, Barbara Anderson said she would waste no time feeling angry or making an event of her son’s death. Michael Anderson, 43, had been the mission’s payload commander, responsible for overseeing dozens of science experiments, from the effects of gravity on harvester ants to research on prostate cancer. Investigators would later point to left-wing damage sustained shortly after takeoff, as well as NASA’s management culture and its refusal to take a closer look at the damage. ![]() Hurtling through the upper atmosphere at 18 times the speed of sound, the Columbia tore apart into fiery pieces just minutes from its planned touchdown, killing the seven-member crew and raining debris across a wide swath of Texas and Louisiana. On the 15th anniversary of the Columbia space shuttle disaster, The Spokesman-Review looks back on the facts and details surrounding the crash and its aftermath, as well as the life of the city’s own astronaut, Michael Phillip Anderson. Further Review: Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster
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