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Campus Life A Rolling Reminder
Campus Life A Rolling Reminder | A Rolling Reminder |
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| Written by Bryan Bastible | ||||
| Monday, 29 September 2008 08:56 PM | ||||
  Biology sophomore Marcus Holmes examines one of the Columbia space shuttle tires loaned to UTA by NASA for the next 3 years. The Columbia disaster happened on Feb. 1, 2003, and killed UTA alumna Kalpana Chawla along with six other astronauts when the shuttle broke up during re-entry. (The Shorthorn: Stephanie Goddard) When walking through the Chemistry and Physics Building atrium, students might notice a large black tire that wasn’t there before. On Feb. 1, 2003, the Columbia space shuttle that carried alumna Kalpana Chawla disintegrated on its returning descent to Kennedy Space Center. On a mission before the tragedy, a tire was pulled off the space shuttle landing gear. That shuttle tire is on loan from NASA and being displayed with a brief description of the event outside the entrance to the planetarium. “If it’s in the planetarium, only the people in the planetarium can see,” planetarium program coordinator Amy Barraclough said. “This way it’s available to everybody.” Planetarium director Levent Gurdemir said the tire has been at the university for about two weeks and will be displayed for three years. The loan could be extended to six years, he said. Gurdemir said the NASA artifact program aims to loan shuttle tires and related museum items to institutions connected to space and astronomy. The university was selected because of its involvement with research and its planetarium show productions with NASA, he said. NASA also collaborated with the university in its 2007 original show “Cosmic CSI.” Physics associate professor Manfred Cuntz is producing “SOFIA — the Unseen Universe” and “Magnificent Sun,” both funded by NASA. Gurdemir said the tire is on loan for free and took about three months to get to Arlington. He said NASA sells some space shuttle models and wing models, but the tire is the first item from space he’s seen NASA loan. “It looks like the people like it, and it is an interesting story,” he said. “If it was me, and I heard there was a tire displayed, I would go take a look.” Biology sophomore Marcus Holmes was passing by the planetarium when he came upon the artifact. “It’s important that people realize where the tire actually came from,” Holmes said. Views: 876 | E-mail
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 02 December 2008 02:22 PM ) | ||||
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