中文名: PBS NOVA 航天飞机灾难
英文名: PBS NOVA Space Shuttle Disaster
资源格式: HDTV
版本: 720P
发行时间: 2008年10月14日
制作发行: PBS
地区: 美国
语言: 英语
简介:
【类型】：天文/科技/记录
【集数】：1集
【片长】：52:26
【内容简介】：
2003年2月1日，哥伦比亚号航天飞机发生事故解体到散落在德克萨斯州只用了16分钟。机上7名宇航员全部遇难，这次事件波及全世界的航天飞机发射计划。什么导致了哥伦比亚号的悲剧？工程缺陷？美国宇航局的 疏忽？缺乏资金？这场灾难本来是可以避免的吗？通过与航天员和他们的家庭，以及与哥伦比亚事故调查委员会，本片给观众一个新的视点审视哥伦比亚号的悲剧---美国宇航局本身。从建立美国航天局到经过几十年的技术和财政的支持，NOVA得到了新的核心问题出错的地方-以及如何确保它永远不会再次发生。
引用
At the end of a nearly flawless 15-day mission in early 2003, the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere, killing the crew of seven. In this documentary, NOVA probes the accident and the decisions stretching back four decades that made the tragedy almost inevitable.
The Columbia disaster, during the 113th shuttle mission, was the beginning of the end for the space plane. NASA responded by announcing the retirement of the shuttle in 2010, to be replaced by the Orion crew exploration vehicle as part of the Constellation program, which is inspired partly by an earlier generation of Apollo-style rocketry and spacecraft. The decision to retire the space shuttle program is currently under intense review, as it would leave the U.S. with a "space gap" until the new Orion vehicle becomes ready around 2015.
Exploring the past and future of the shuttle through the lens of the Columbia accident, NOVA interviews key NASA personnel who witnessed problems with the space shuttle program firsthand, including NASA engineer Rodney Rocha, who tried to sound the alarm about Columbia's potentially damaged condition; and flight director Leroy Cain, who worked with controllers to make sense of a cascade of warning signals from the craft during its ill-fated return to Earth. (Hear Rodney Rocha speak about the disaster.)
Rocha and others worried that a piece of foam that tore from the shuttle's external propellant tank and struck the left wing 81 seconds after liftoff could have damaged the craft, making it vulnerable to the high heat generated during reentry. But Rocha's superiors refused his request to try to confirm possible damage.
Also interviewed are members of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB), NASA administrators, astronauts, journalists, and prominent space-policy experts. (Read an interview with Scott Hubbard, a CAIB member, about the struggles he faced in trying to get to the truth about the accident.)
The Columbia disaster was the second catastrophic failure in the shuttle program. In 1986, the shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds after launch, also killing seven.
NOVA shows that both accidents can be traced to design trade-offs built into the shuttle concept. Apollo-era spacecraft were designed with the cabin that holds the crew positioned on top of the rocket, offering some protection from falling debris and a chance of escape from a malfunctioning vehicle. However, the crew- and cargo-carrying section of the shuttle is so large that it has to be strapped to the side of a huge external propellant tank.
In the case of Challenger, one of the Solid Rocket Boosters developed a leak that ruptured the external tank, immediately destroying the shuttle. For Columbia, a piece of foam insulation covering the external tank fatally damaged the leading edge of Columbia's left wing. (See for yourself in Force of Impact.) Neither scenario is likely with an Apollo-style design, in which the manned spacecraft sits on top.
Both accidents were foreseen by engineers, who were then ignored by NASA managers under pressure to meet launch schedules and cut costs. Renowned during the heady days of Apollo for its clear-eyed evaluation of risk and willingness to do everything possible to reduce it, NASA, some experts felt, had become complacent and bureaucratically rigid. Even while the damaged Columbia was still in orbit, there was a chance the crew could have been rescued by another shuttle if only the true state of her condition had been known (see Rescue Scenarios). But that chance was tragically missed.
"Space Shuttle Disaster" is a penetrating look at the history of the shuttle program and the political pressures that made the shuttle a highly complex engineering compromise, which fell short of its ambitious goal to make space travel routine, cheap, and safe. The film brings to the forefront the uncertain future of human spaceflight after the 2010 scheduled shuttle retirement. Many questions remain, including what are the consequences if the U.S. is out of orbit for five years? (Explore arguments for continuing the shuttle program.
