Columbia disaster, preparing for launch. Footage of members of the shuttle crew inside the shuttle being prepared by ground crew technicians for mission STS-107, flown by the Space Shuttle Columbia from 16 January to 1 February 2003. This mission launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA. The shuttle broke up on re-entry due to damage sustained during the launch, killing all seven on board. The members of the crew were US astronauts Rick Husband, William McCool, David M. Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Michael P. Anderson and Laurel Clark, and Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon. This footage shows the flight deck area prior to launch, with mission commander Rick Husband at right in the S1 position, and shuttle pilot William McCool at left in the S2 position. Behind them is mission specialist David M. Brown at left in the S3 position, with payload specialist Kalpana Chawla being assisted into the S4 position. On this flight, the flight deck area had seats for four astronauts, with the other three in the mid-deck area, shown at the end of the clip (see clip K006/1660). From 1994 to the end of the space shuttle programme, astronauts wore the Advanced Crew Escape Suit (ACES) during ascent and re-entry. |