Читать книгу Disaster Response and Recovery - David A. McEntire - Страница 48

The Space Shuttle Columbia

Although the break‐up of the Space Shuttle Columbia is not considered a disaster, it was definitely a crisis situation that required the involvement of many personnel including emergency managers. During the launch, a piece or pieces of the foam insulation broke off the external tank and hit the left wing of the space shuttle. Upon re‐entry into the earth’s atmosphere on February 1, 2003, hot gasses damaged the heat shield further and caused the shuttle to become unstable. Due to extreme forces, the space craft broke apart and debris was scattered from Fort Worth, Texas, to the western portions of Louisiana. As the recovery operation began, information about what had occurred was shared with the public. The 2,000+ debris fields had to be protected from people who might have been curious about the pieces from space shuttle. The debris and bodies of the astronauts had to be collected for investigation. These and other activities required the involvement of NASA, state officials, fire fighters, police officers, amateur radio operators, and many other volunteers. Emergency managers helped to coordinate many of the recovery efforts.