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Research At UTEP Working To Reduce Risk In Space Flight

Anthony Moreno

In 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart on reentry killing all seven onboard.  Shuttle debris was recovered in West Texas, and now research is underway in El Paso using pieces of Columbia that may help make future space travel safer.

El Paso native and former astronaut John "Danny" Olivas is Director of Space Initiatives at UTEP, and he’s also leading a research endeavor at the university doing what he calls “forensic engineering” at the Center for the Advancement of Space Safety and Mission Assurance Research or CASSMAR.

To show us more he leads us into a secure room, then he enters a code into a keypad which opens a door where he walks in and begins to unwrap recovered pieces of the Space Shuttle Columbia. He holds a piece of what’s left of a charred three-layered window number seven.

“Just close your eyes and picture yourself…prior to 2003, February 3rd, there was a crew that was on the inside of this vehicle looking out and the external surface that was exposed to space, and now it’s a piece of history, but also a piece of science. History because of what happened to her. Science…because of the stories that are left to be told,” said Olivas.

Olivas says these stories from the pieces of Columbia have helped researchers better understand what happened in the 14 seconds during Columbia’s failure…Like the window Olivas is holding.

“In that very thin layer of charred blackness is where we found a very, very thin layer of titanium, it was on the order of microns thick that led us to the story of the behavior of titanium in the entry environment,” said Olivas.

Olivas says these are the type of stories Columbia is trying to tell them, but the research and questions still remain…so the CASSMAR center has some work to do.

Darren Cone is Executive Director at CASSMAR.  He says the center basically works to identify the greatest potential risks to successful missions like launch, assent, reentry, and existing in orbital conditions.

“What are the biggest risks that keep engineers and scientists up at night, and we try to functionalize focused research to better characterize those risk and identify ways to reduce their impact to mission planning, architecture, and execution,” said Cone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEoG-Kn_4Ow&feature=youtu.be

The center also provides students with research opportunities to study challenges facing space travel.

Jacqueline Reyes, a doctoral student working at CASSMAR completed an Internship at NASA during her undergraduate studies and worked in the orbital debris department. Today, she continues her work in orbital debris.

“Columbia, it underwent the ultimate failure, so we have unique information that can be obtained from the Columbia materials and that is something that I look forward to investigating further and see what it can do to help benefit the orbital debris community and the rest of the space industry as a whole,” said Reyes.

Another PhD student working with CASSMAR is Arlene Smith, who as an undergraduate already was familiar with researching Columbia, and that intrigued her to continue the studies in her graduate work.

“When I got in touch with my mentor, He had told me about the Columbia remnants that are available and the research that is going on with Columbia here at UTEP.

I was able as an undergraduate student to take some pieces, and some exemplar pieces that mimic what Columbia had gone through and I was able to take those pieces and characterize them,” said Smith.

Danny Olivas says the center has these pieces from the Kennedy Space Center, which houses the Columbia Research and Preservation area. He says there is still much to be known about the area where the Shuttle Columbia failed on reentry.

“This is the same path that we’re all coming home on if you go into space. There’s a part between the earth and space that we just don’t know a whole heck of a lot, but she was there, she saw it all.”

And today, researchers at CASSMAR continue their work to better understand that path so future space travel can be understood and potentially become safer for those who venture to leave the earth for exploration and research. 

Anthony Moreno serves as the Director of Content at KRWG Public Media. He also is host and executive producer for "Fronteras-A Changing America" and "Your Legislators" on KRWG-TV.