Columbia (OV-102)

Background

Columbia, the oldest orbiter in the Shuttle fleet, is named after the Boston, Massachusetts based sloop captained by American Robert Gray. On May 11, 1792, Gray and his crew maneuvered the Columbia past the dangerous sandbar at the mouth of a river extending more than 1,000 miles through what is today south-eastern British Columbia, Canada, and the Washington-Oregon border. The river was later named after the ship. Gray also led Columbia and its crew on the first American circumnavigation of the globe, carrying a cargo of otter skins to Canton, China, and then returning to Boston.

Other sailing ships have further enhanced the luster of the name Columbia. The first U.S. Navy ship to circle the globe bore that title, as did the command module for Apollo 11, the first lunar landing mission.

On a more directly patriotic note, "Columbia" is considered to be the feminine personification of the United States. The name is derived from that of another famous explorer, Christopher Columbus.

The spaceship Columbia has continued the pioneering legacy of its forebears, becoming the first Space Shuttle to fly into Earth orbit in 1981. Four sister ships joined the fleet over the next 10 years: Challenger, arriving in 1982 but destroyed four years later; Discovery, 1983; Atlantis, 1985; and Endeavour, built as a replacement for Challenger, 1991. A test vehicle, the Enterprise, was used for suborbital approach and landing tests and did not fly in space. The names of Columbia's sister ships each boast their own illustrious pedigree.

In the day-to-day world of Shuttle operations and processing, Space Shuttle orbiters go by a more prosaic designation. Columbia is commonly refered to as OV-102, for Orbiter Vehicle-102. Empty Weight was 158,289 lbs at rollout and 178,000 lbs with main engines installed.

Upgrades and Features

Columbia was the first on-line orbiter to undergo the scheduled inspection and retrofit program. It was transported August 10, 1991, after its completion of mission STS-40, to prime Shuttle contractor Rockwell International's Palmdale, California assembly plant. The oldest orbiter in the fleet underwent approximately 50 modifications, including the addition of carbon brakes, drag chute, improved nose wheel steering, removal of development flight instrumentation and an enhancement of its thermal protection system. The orbiter returned to KSC February 9, 1992 to begin processing for mission STS-50 in June of that year

On October 8, 1994, Columbia was transported to Palmdale California for its first ODMP. This orbiter modification and refurbishment time is expected to take approximately 6 months. (Reference KSC Press Release 113-94 and Shuttle Status Report 10/10/94)

On September 24, 1999, Columbia was transported to Palmdale California for its second ODMP. While in California, workers will perform more than 100 modifications on the vehicle. Columbia will be the second orbiter outfitted with the multi-functional electronic display system (MEDS) or "glass cockpit". Last year, Shuttle Atlantis had the full-color, flat-panel displays installed on its flight deck during an OMDP. The new system improves crew interaction with the orbiter during flight and reduces the high cost of maintaining the outdated electromechanical cockpit displays currently onboard. (Reference KSC Press Release 74-99)

Construction Milestones

July 26, 1972 - Contract Award
March 25, 1975 - Start long lead fabrication aft fuselage
November 17, 1975 - Start long-lead fabrication of crew module
June 28, 1976 - Start assembly of crew module
September 13, 1976 - Start structural assembly of aft-fuselage
December 13, 1976 - Start assembly upper forward fuselage
January 3, 1977 - Start assembly vertical stabilizer
August 26, 1977 - Wings arrive at Palmdale from Grumman
October 28, 1977 - Lower forward fuselage on dock, Palmdale
November 7, 1977 - Start of Final Assembly
February 24, 1978 - Body flap on dock, Palmdale
April 28, 1978 - Forward payload bay doors on dock, Palmdale
May 26,1978 - Upper forward fuselage mate
July 7, 1978 - Complete mate forward and aft payload bay doors
September 11, 1978 - Complete forward RCS
February 3, 1979 - Complete combined systems test, Palmdale
February 16, 1979 - Airlock on dock, Palmdale
March 5, 1979 - Complete postcheckout
March 8, 1979 - Closeout inspection, Final Acceptance Palmdale
March 8, 1979 - Rollout from Palmdale to Dryden (38 miles)
March 12, 1979 - Overland transport from Palmdale to Edwards
March 20, 1979 - SCA Ferry Flight from DFRF to Bigs AFB, Texas
March 22, 1979 - SCA Ferry flight from Bigs AFB to Kelly AFB, Texas
March 24, 1979 - SCA Ferry flight from Kelly AFB to Eglin AFB, Florida
March 24, 1979 - SCA Ferry flight from Eglin, AFB to KSC
November 3, 1979 - Auxiliary Power Unit hot fire tests, OPF KSC
December 16, 1979 - Orbiter integrated test start, KSC
January 14, 1980 - Orbiter integrated test complete, KSC
February 20, 1981 - Flight Readiness Firing
April 12, 1981 - First Flight (STS-1)

Columbia's Flights to date:

STS-1 (04/12/81)
STS-2 (11/12/81)
STS-3 (03/22/82)
STS-4 (06/27/82)
STS-5 (11/11/82)
STS-9 (11/28/83)
61-C (01/12/86)
STS-28 (08/08/89)
STS-32 (01/09/90)
STS-35 (12/02/90)
STS-40 (06/05/91)
STS-50 (06/25/92)
STS-52 (10/22/92)
STS-55 (04/26/93)
STS-58 (10/18/93)
STS-62 (3/4/94)
STS-65 (7/8/94)
STS-73 (10/20/95)
STS-75 (2/22/96)
STS-78 (6/20/96)
STS-80 (11/19/96)
STS-83 (04/04/97)
STS-94 (07/01/97)
STS-87 (11/19/97)
STS-90 (4/13/98)
STS-93 (7/23/99)
STS-107 (e.1/11/01)