Knowledge Category: Case Studies

This course provides a brief overview of the Apollo 13 mishap which occurred in 1970.

This course provides a brief overview of the Apollo 1 mishap which occurred at NASA KSC in 1967.

Ten years after the inflight breakup of Space Shuttle Columbia Space Transportation System Mission (STS-107), the memory of those astronauts — and of Apollo 204 in 1967, and Challenger in 1986 — who died in the line of service continues to serve as a reminder to the agency.

The Space Shuttle had been in development since the early 1970s, and its initial test flight, STS-1, was over two years behind schedule. As ground crews worked diligently to prepare for the launch, a group of technicians collapsed inside Columbia’s nitrogen-filled aft compartment after a countdown demonstration test on March 19.

Case study- “Flawless” was one description of the May 31, 2008, launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-124. So when the NASA safety team at Kennedy Space Center set out to inspect Launch Pad 39A following that launch, they were surprised to find the area littered with debris. Powerful exhaust from Discovery’s liftoff breached the flame trench wall at the base of the pad.

Case study- During the Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) recovery for the Space Shuttle mission STS-116, an injury occurred on the retrieval ship MV Freedom Star. On Dec. 12, 2006, the ship was towing a booster into port when the tow wire jumped from its tow chute and struck a nearby crewman.

Case study- U.S. Air Force Major Mike Adams was piloting the number three aircraft when a drift in heading caused the X-15 to reenter the atmosphere perpendicular to its ballistic flight path.

The NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) is a unique analog that merges elements to develop leadership abilities and build team cohesion with the execution of genuine mission objectives required for human space flight missions, all in an extreme environment.

A collection of articles and publications, case studies, and videos on the Apollo program to assist researchers, facilitators, and the technical workforce.