Shuttle Columbia

SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA RECOVERY EFFORT (2003)

On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia and her seven crewmen were lost while reentering the atmosphere. Material from the Shuttle was scattered over a large area of the western United States and became the subject of an intensive recovery effort spearheaded by NASA.

ProMare was contracted by Lockheed Martin, Inc. in support of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Emergency Response Team (EPA/ERT), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the field. Personnel from ProMare served as EPA/FEMA Sonar Data Analysts for the recovery effort, concentrating their search in the lakes and rivers of eastern Texas.

While Phoenix International and the US Navy Supervisor of Salvage eventually assumed responsibility for the underwater recovery efforts, ProMare was asked to remain on-site to continue analyzing data with the SUPSALV/Phoenix team. It was an honor to have been called in to support the EPA, FEMA, Phoenix, SUPSALV, and NASA during this tragic time. Our thoughts continue to be with the families of those who died serving not only their country, but all of mankind’s dreams.