Michael Leinbach - Bringing Columbia Home - The Untold Story of a Lost Space Shuttle and Her Crew

Holmes, Felix “Bubba” — US Forest Service heavy equipment operator, assisted with recovery of Columbia ’s “nose cone” and the US Forest Service helicopter after the fatal accident

Iles, Don — City Manager, Hemphill

Ippolito, Gay — Public Affairs Officer for US Forest Service at Lufkin during the recovery

Jett, Brent — Astronaut; forward coordinator for crew recovery operations in Hemphill

Keifenheim, Jack — Lead for payload reconstruction

Kelly, Mark — Astronaut; first NASA person on site for a Columbia crew recovery on the day of the accident

Kelly, Scott — Astronaut; assisted with crew search starting Day 2

King, Dave — Deputy director of Marshall Space Flight Center, headed overall NASA efforts for the crew and debris recovery from the Lufkin command center

Kovacs, Greg — Stanford professor of engineering and medical doctor; CAIB support researcher at the reconstruction hangar

Lane, Terry — FBI special field agent in East Texas; led FBI teams in crew recoveries in Sabine County

Leath, Beverly — Widow of Sabine County Judge Jack Leath

Leinbach, Charlotte — Mike’s wife

Leinbach, Mike — KSC launch director; leader of Rapid Response Team to Barksdale on day of accident; leader of reconstruction effort

Maddox, Tom — Sabine County Sheriff; co-incident commander for the Hemphill Incident Command Team during the crew recovery

Mangiacapra, Amy — United Space Alliance staff in reconstruction hangar; helped set up the Columbia room in the VAB and managed it for 10 years

Mango, Ed — Assistant launch director; led the debris recovery effort in the field

McCowan, Hivie — Hemphill resident; volunteer food service worker nicknamed “Sweet Tea” at the VFW Hall

McLellan, Marty — Spacehab executive

Melroy, Pam — Astronaut; led the crew module reconstruction team and co-wrote the official crew survival report

Micklos, Ann — Thermal protection engineer, dated Columbia astronaut Dave Brown; worked in tile system reconstruction

Mills, Steve — High school principal, Hemphill

Millslagle, Jeff — FBI supervisor in Tyler, TX; managed the FBI resources during the recovery

Mott, Cecil Paul — City electrician for Hemphill

Moynihan, Linda — Administrative assistant for United Space Alliance; helped coordinate logistics in Barksdale and Texas for staff arriving from Kennedy Space Center

Nelson, Marie — Sabine County resident; volunteered at the Hemphill VFW

O’Keefe, Sean — NASA Administrator at the time of the accident

Ostarly, Larry — United Space Alliance chief for recovery operations from Barksdale and Lufkin

Raney, “Brother Fred” — Pastor of Hemphill First Baptist Church and head of Hemphill’s Volunteer Fire Department; performed last rites at each crew recovery location

Readdy, Bill — Former astronaut; NASA associate administrator for manned spaceflight at the time of the accident

Rhode, Linda “Agent 99” — KSC security special agent

Riley, Dwight “Grandpa” — Sabine County resident; volunteer searcher

Ross, Jerry — Astronaut; head of Flight Crew Operations support at KSC; set up processes for debris recovery in Texas along with Ed Mango; lead astronaut during the debris recovery effort

Ross, Renée — Crew module reconstruction support for on-board document identification

Sauerwein, Dan — Worked at NASA/Neutral Buoyancy Lab in Houston; spent a week as a volunteer searcher in Hemphill

Scales, Tommy — State trooper with Texas Department of Public Safety

Schumann, Gerald (Gerry) — Director of safety at KSC; on the ground in Hemphill during the debris recovery

Smith, Billy Ted — Emergency management coordinator for East Texas Mutual Aid Association; co-incident commander (with Sheriff Maddox) in Sabine County during the crew search operations

Smith, Pat — Bank officer in Hemphill at the time of the accident

Sowell, Jamie — US Forest Service forestry technician, led a volunteer search team in Sabine County during crew recovery operations

Stanford, Mark — Texas Forest Service overall lead in the recovery operations

Starr, Byron — Hemphill funeral director (Squeaky’s son); also on site for most recoveries; wrote a book about the crew recovery

Starr, John “Squeaky” — Hemphill funeral director; was on site for most of the crew recoveries and transported crew remains

Stilson, Stephanie — NASA debris recovery site manager in Nacogdoches

Thurston, Scott — Columbia processing flow manager; led Columbia preservation team to determine best approach for preserving and learning from the ship’s debris

Walker, Charles “Boo” — Texas Forest Service air operations; air-traffic controller for the helicopter searches

Wells, Scott — FEMA federal coordinating officer; led FEMA’s Columbia recovery operations in Texas

Wetherbee, Jim — Astronaut; directed operations for the search and recovery of Columbia ’s crew

Whittington, Sunny — Hemphill elementary school teacher who had her class make sandwiches for searchers

Whittle, Dave — Director of NASA’s Mishap Investigation Team at Barksdale and Lufkin

Williams, Jeffrey — Geographic Information System (GIS) first responder, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches

Willoughby, Jeremy — Florida wildland firefighter who was on the crew that found the OEX recorder in San Augustine County

All-risk incident (also called “all-hazard incident”)—any incident or event—natural or human-caused—warranting action to protect life, property, environment, and public health and safety, and minimize disruption of governmental, social, and economic activities.

Apollo 1—NASA’s first fatal spacecraft accident. The crew of three astronauts was killed in a fire during a launchpad test on January 27, 1967.

Astronaut—anyone who has flown in outer space, defined as starting at 100 km altitude.

Bipod—a two-legged strut that attached the nose of the space shuttle orbiter to its external fuel tank during the ride to orbit. Explosive bolts severed the bipod’s connection to the orbiter when the vehicle reached orbit.

Bipod ramp—an aerodynamic wedge of foam insulation about 30 inches long, 14 inches wide, and 12 inches tall, which covered the fittings that attached a bipod strut to the external tank. The insulation was intended to keep ice from forming on the fittings, which could have been dangerous to the shuttle if the ice was dislodged during ascent. After the Columbia accident, heaters were added to the bipod fittings, eliminating the need for foam.

CAIB—see Columbia Accident Investigation Board.

Cape Crusader—an astronaut who supports the flight crew and processing activities at Kennedy Space Center during preparation for and at the end of a mission.

Challenger —the second orbiter to fly in space. The vehicle was destroyed during ascent in an accident on January 28, 1986, killing its crew of seven astronauts.

Columbia —the first orbiter to fly in space. Its first mission launched April 12, 1981. Columbia was destroyed during reentry over Texas on February 1, 2003, killing its crew of seven astronauts.

Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB, pronounced “kabe”)—an independent investigation board tasked with determining the cause of the Columbia accident and making recommendations regarding changes to organizations, practices, policies, procedures, and flight hardware to prevent future accidents.

Crew module—the orbiter’s crew compartment, consisting of the flight deck (cockpit), mid-deck, and avionics bays. The crew rode into and back from orbit within the crew module, which also contained their toilet, sleeping berths, galley and food, and storage lockers.