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Former Shuttle Commander: 'Never Thought Wed Lose One During Reentry'
By Andrew Chaikin
Special to SPACE.com
posted: 03:00 pm ET
01 February 2003
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Former Shuttle Commander Never Thought Wed Lose One During ReentryFormer shuttle commander Robert "Hoot" Gibson, who piloted the orbiter Columbia on a 1986 mission, says he never expected to see a shuttle destroyed during reentry into the Earths atmosphere. "We are the state of the art in aerospace technology in bringing those things down," said Gibson, now a pilot for Southwest Airlines. "It surprises me that something happened at all during reentry, even though weve known that reentry could be stressful." A five-time space veteran, Gibson commanded Columbia on the last shuttle mission before the Challenger accident in January 1986. In the wake of that disaster, and the intense scrutiny given to the shuttle program, Gibson says, he did not expect a shuttle accident to occur during reentry. Compared to launch, Gibson says, reentry is "less stressful. Theres less [g-forces], less turbo-machinery [involved]." However, Gibson says he never lost sight of the risks involved in bringing a shuttle orbiter through the intense heat and aerodynamic stress of reentry. When he served as chief astronaut during the early 1990s, Gibson says, "I was continually fighting my astronauts who didn't want to wear pressure suits for reentry. I said, No, were going to wear the [pressure] suits. Their argument was that reentry is more stable than launch. And it is but thats relative stability. Its still an extremely difficult task." "Weve made it look easy," Gibson says. "We need to remember it is not easy; weve just made it look easy. Having said that, I never thought we would lose one during reentry." Gibson, who was selected as an astronaut in 1978, was hit hard by todays events. "Ive been praying all morning that we will find the crew alive, even though I know the chances are slim. I knew all those guys. I did not meet the Israeli pilot, but I knew the rest of them. My heart is kind of heavy today."
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