Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
Digg
Tell us what you think!Send a letter to the editor about this or any other article in The Maine Campus.
In an effort to remember lost lives while also learn from past mistakes, Lt. Col. Larry Butkus of the United States Air Force Academy came to the University of Maine last week to speak on his involvement with the Columbia Space Shuttle accident investigation.
The College of Engineering sponsored the event that was held at 3:30 p.m., Monday, March 29, in DPC 100.
The lecture began with an introduction by an engineering professor, followed by a presentation of gifts from the sponsor of the event, the College of Engineering, to Butkus.
Butkus began his 1 1/2 – hour lecture outlining the investigation and suspected cause of explosion following the Columbia space shuttle tragedy roughly a year ago. He opened by showing a picture of the crew with the words “In Memoriam” written above it.
“It was only with the tragedy of this crew that I did get the chance to serve NASA,” Butkus said. “It really is for these nine people that I do this presentation.”
He then described the way the actual investigation worked and how the teams were split up. The investigation was led by Al Gehman, a man who described his role as “the traffic cop rather than chairman of the board,” according to Butkus.
The staff consisted of 195 people from a variety of specialty areas and were led by a 13-member board and split into five major categories: materials; operations; engineering and technical analysis; organization and policy; and an independent analysis team. In addition, there were 40 outside consultants brought in at various points throughout the investigation.
To test theories, the groups had to rely on something dubbed “the Gehman Tests,” a list of aspects that had to be verified before any theory was allowed to be brought forward.
Butkus then went on to describe the theory that has been accepted as the most likely explanation for the accident. He showed an animation of what the launch looked like from different angles, showing foam debris breaking off and causing a hole to be formed in part of the shuttle. This created excess heat during re-entry that led to the explosion, Butkus said.
“We think,” Butkus added at the end of each statement.
He passed around various pieces of material to allow the scattered crowd to see the materials that make up a typical space shuttle’s wing, as well as an example of the foam that likely caused the accident.
Following his lecture, Butkus answered questions and met with various professors and students within the College of Engineering.
