Hemphill's Columbia Museum - August 3, 2018
Stop in Hemphill's museum to the Space Shuttle Columbia
Hemphill was a focal point for the recovery of the broken up space shuttle
25000 people recovered 38% of the Columbia's total weight in East Texas
Debris landed just south of Ft. Worth and into Louisiana
Columbia's final mission, STS-107, was for Earth Observation
Photos & belongings of each astronaut on display: Pilot William McCool
Flight Engineer Kalpana Chawla
Mission Specialist Laurel Clark
STS-107 Commander Rick Husband
Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon
Payload Specialist Michael Anderson
And Mission Specialist David Brown
Two people died in a helicopter crash while helping with the recovery
Pilot Buzz Mier and Charles Krenek in the Texas Forest Service
"They go in peace for all mankind and all mankind is in their debt"
Each of Columbia's 28 missions are detailed in chronological order
Missions STS-23 to STS-55 happened from 1989-1993
Missions STS-33 to STS-73 happened from 1993 to 1995
As the other orbiters became active, Columbia became microgravity lab
From the early missions corner, toward STS-107's astronaut belongings
Photos from the national remembrance & mourning of Columbia's Crew
Leading edges of the Shuttle's Thermal Protection System
In the back room is a shuttle landing simulator
Practice manipulating the robotic arm on the rear deck
And bring the shuttle down for a safe landing, no go arounds!
Museum opened on February 1, 2011, the 10th anniversary of the tragedy
Al & Patricia Smith founded the next door library in 1994 & added the Columbia museum, named for Patricia who died of cancer in 2010