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Sheffield Wednesday F.C.

Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system.

Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of The Wednesday Cricket Club (itself formed in 1820), they were known as The Wednesday Football Club until 1929. Wednesday is one of the oldest surviving football clubs in the world of any code, and the second-oldest professional association football club in England. In 1868 its team won the Cromwell Cup, only the second tournament of its kind. They were founding members and inaugural champions of the Football Alliance in 1889, before joining The Football League three years later. In 1992, they became founder members of the Premier League. The team has spent most of its league history in English football's top two flights, though they have not played in the top tier since being relegated in 2000.

The Owls, as they are nicknamed, are the 16th most successful teams in English football by major honours, having won four league titles, three FA Cups, one League Cup and one FA Community Shield. Wednesday have also competed in UEFA cup competitions on four occasions, reaching the quarter-finals of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1963. In 1991, they defeated Manchester United 1–0 in the Football League Cup final as a second-tier team. they remain the last team to win one of English football's major trophies while outside the top flight.

In the 19th century, they played their matches at several stadiums around central Sheffield, including Olive Grove and Bramall Lane. Since 1899, the club has played all its home matches at Hillsborough stadium, a near-40,000 capacity stadium in the north-west Sheffield suburb of Owlerton. Wednesday's biggest rivals are Sheffield United, with whom they contest the Steel City derby.

Early years (1867–1889)

Although no contemporary evidence has been found to support the claim, it is commonly believed that "The Wednesday Cricket Club" was formed in 1820. Nevertheless, an 1842 article in Bell's Life magazine states the club was founded as far back as 1816.

The club was so named because it was on Wednesdays that the founding members had a half-day off work. They were initially based at the New Ground in Darnall, and often went by the name of Darnall Wednesday, but also played at Hyde Park. In 1855 they were one of six clubs that helped build Bramall Lane, and held a wicket there for many years.

Famous players to have represented the cricket club include Harry Sampson, who scored 162 on ice in 1841, Tom Marsden, who scored 227 for Sheffield & Leicester vs Nottingham in 1826, and George Ulyett, who represented the club in the first ever international test match before becoming one of only a select band of players who played for both sections of The Wednesday Club.

On the evening of Wednesday 4 September 1867, a meeting was held at the Adelphi Hotel to establish whether there was interest among the club's members to form a football club to keep the team together and fit during the winter months. The proposal proved very popular, with over 60 members signing up for the new team on the first night. They played their first match against The Mechanics on 19 October the same year, winning by three goals and four 'rouges' to nil.

It soon became apparent that football would come to eclipse the cricketing side of the club in terms of popularity—the two sections went their separate ways in 1882 after a dispute over finances and the cricket club ceased to exist in 1925. On 1 February 1868, Wednesday played their first competitive football match as they entered the Cromwell Cup, a one-off four-team competition for newly formed clubs. A week after their semi-final, they went on to win the cup, beating the Garrick club in the final after extra time, the only goal being scored in diminishing light at Bramall Lane. This was one of the first recorded instances of a match being settled by a "golden goal" although the term was not in use at the time.

A key figure during the formative years of the football club was Charles Clegg, who joined the Wednesday in 1867. His relationship with the club lasted for the rest of his life and eventually led to his becoming the club's chairman. He also became president and chairman of the Football Association, and was known as the "Napoleon of Football". Clegg played for England in the first-ever international match, against Scotland in November 1872. This completed a unique double for the club, who could lay claim to having a player in the first international games of both cricket and football.

In 1876 Wednesday acquired Scot James Lang. Although he was not employed by the club, he was given a job by a member of the Sheffield Wednesday board that had no formal duties. He is now acknowledged as the first professional football player in England. With Lang in their team the football club became one of the strongest in the region, a reputation that was cemented when they won the inaugural Sheffield FA Challenge Cup in 1877.

In 1880 the club entered the FA Cup for the first time, and they soon became one of the most respected sides in the country. But although they had had Lang on their books a decade earlier, the club officially remained staunchly amateur, and this stance almost cost the club its very existence. By the middle of the decade, Wednesday's best players were leaving in their droves to join clubs who would pay them, and in January 1887 they lost 0–16 against Halliwell with just 10 players in their team. An emergency meeting was held, and the board members finally agreed to pay its players.

Professional football, English Champions and FA Cup winners (1889–1939)
The move to professionalism took the club from Bramall Lane, which had taken a share of the ticket revenue, to the new Olive Grove. In 1889 the club became founder members of the Football Alliance, of which they were the first champions in a season where they also reached the 1890 FA Cup final, losing 6–1 to Blackburn Rovers at Kennington Oval, London. Despite finishing the following season bottom of the Alliance, they were eventually elected to the expanded Football League in 1892. They won the FA Cup for the first time in 1896, beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 2–1 at Crystal Palace.

Owing to an expansion of the local railway lines, the club was told that they would have to find a new ground for the 1899–1900 season. After a difficult search the club finally bought some land in the village of Owlerton, which at the time was several miles outside the Sheffield city boundaries. Construction of a new stadium (now known as Hillsborough Stadium) was completed within months and the club was secured for the next century. In a strong decade, Wednesday won the League in the 1902–03 and 1903–04 seasons and the FA Cup again in 1907, beating Everton 2–1, again at Crystal Palace. When competitive football was suspended in 1915 because of the outbreak of World War I, the club participated in several regionalised war leagues, until 1919, when competitive football resumed.

They were relegated from the top flight for the first time in 1920, and did not return until 1926, and in the 1927–28 season they looked like going down again before securing a haul of 17 points from their last 10 matches to secure safety. Wednesday went on to win the League title the following season (1928–29), which started a run that saw the team finishing lower than third only once until 1936. The period was topped off with the team winning the FA Cup for the third time in the club's history in 1935. When World War II began, the club entered non-competitive war leagues, returning to competitive football in 1946.

The yo-yo years (1945–1959)
The 1950s saw Wednesday unable to consistently hold on to a position in the top flight and this period became known as the yo-yo years. After being promoted in 1950 they were relegated three times, although each time they returned to the top flight by winning the Second Division the following season. The decade ended on a high note with the team finishing in the top half of the First Division for the first time since World War II.

Back in the top flight and title contenders (1959–1970)
In 1961, the club ran toe-to-toe with Tottenham Hotspur at the top of the table for the majority of the season – Wednesday became the first team to beat Spurs all season – before finally finishing in second place, which still (as of 2023) remains the club's highest post-war league finish. In 1966 the club reached its fifth FA Cup final, but they were beaten 3–2 by Everton, having led 2–0.

Off the field the club was embroiled in the British betting scandal of 1964 in which three of its players, Peter Swan, David Layne and Tony Kay, were accused of match fixing and betting against their own team in an away game at Ipswich Town. The three were subsequently convicted and, on release from prison, banned from football for life. The three were reprieved in the early 1970s, with Swan and Layne returning to Hillsborough, and, though their careers were virtually over, Swan at least played some league games for The Owls.

Darkest days and the fight back to the top (1970–1984)
Wednesday were relegated at the end of the 1969–70 season; this began the darkest period in the club's history, eventually culminating in the club dropping to the Third Division for the first time in its history, and in 1976 it almost fell into the Fourth Division. It was not until the appointment of Jack Charlton as manager in 1977 that the club started to climb back up the league pyramid. Charlton led the Owls back to the Second Division in 1980 before handing the reins to Howard Wilkinson, who took the club back into the top flight in 1984, after an absence of 14 years.

Life at the top of the Premier League and European Football (1984–2000)
Wednesday enjoyed success in its return to the top flight, finishing 8th in their first season back and then 5th the season later, qualifying for European football only to be disqualified due to England's ban in Europe due to the Heysel Stadium disaster.

On 15 April 1989 the club's stadium was the scene of one of the worst sporting tragedies ever, at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, at which 97 Liverpool fans were fatally crushed in the Leppings Lane end of the stadium. The tragedy resulted in many changes at Hillsborough and all other leading stadiums in England; it was required that terracing would be replaced with seats in stands, and that perimeter fencing should be removed.

In Ron Atkinson's first full season as manager, 1989–90, Sheffield Wednesday finished 18th in the First Division and were relegated on goal difference, despite the acquisition of the talented John Sheridan and the fact they had pulled towards mid-table at one stage of the season. They regained promotion at the first attempt but the real highlight of the season was a League Cup final victory over Atkinson's old club Manchester United. Midfielder Sheridan scored the only goal of the game, which delivered the club's first major trophy since their FA Cup success in 1935. As of 2022 they remain the last team to win one of English football's major trophies while outside the top flight. Atkinson moved to Aston Villa shortly after promotion was achieved, and handed over the reins to 37-year-old striker Trevor Francis.

Wednesday finished third in the First Division at the end of the 1991–92 season, booking their place in the following season's UEFA Cup and becoming a founding member of the new FA Premier League.

1992–93 was one of the most eventful seasons in the history of Sheffield Wednesday football club. They finished seventh in the Premier League and reached the finals of both the FA Cup and the League Cup, but were on the losing side to Arsenal in both games, the FA Cup final going to a replay and only settled in the last minute of extra time. This prevented the Owls from making another appearance in European competition. Still, the 1992–93 season established Sheffield Wednesday as a top club. Midfielder Chris Waddle was voted Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year, and the strike partnership of David Hirst and Mark Bright was one of the most feared in the country. Francis was unable to achieve any more success at the club, and two seasons later he was sacked. His successor was former Luton, Leicester and Tottenham manager David Pleat.

David Pleat's first season as Sheffield Wednesday manager was frustrating, as they finished 15th in the Premiership despite an expensively-assembled line-up which included the likes of Marc Degryse, Dejan Stefanovic and Darko Kovacevic – who all had disappointing and short-lived tenures at the club. An excellent start to the 1996–97 season saw the Owls top the Premiership after winning their first four games, and David Pleat was credited Manager of the Month for August 1996. But the club failed to mount a serious title challenge and they faded away to finish seventh in the final table. Pleat was sacked the following November with the club struggling at the wrong end of the Premiership, and Ron Atkinson briefly returned to steer the Owls clear of relegation.

At the end of the 1997–98 season, Ron Atkinson's short-term contract was not renewed and Sheffield Wednesday turned to the Barnsley boss Danny Wilson as their new manager, after being rejected by both Gerard Houllier and Walter Smith who joined Liverpool and Everton respectively. Wilson's first season at the helm brought a slight improvement as they finished 12th in the Premiership.

Modern highs and lows (2000–2014)
An expensively assembled squad including Paolo Di Canio, Benito Carbone and Wim Jonk failed to live up to the massive wage bill the club was paying and things eventually came to a head when Italian firebrand Di Canio was sent off in a match against Arsenal and proceeded to push the referee on his way off. Danny Wilson was sacked the following March with relegation looking a certainty for the Hillsborough club, following a disastrous 1999–2000 season where they had been hammered 8–0 by Newcastle United as early as September. His assistant Peter Shreeves took temporary charge but was unable to stave off relegation, with a 3–3 draw at Arsenal in May 2000 being enough to see the Owls tumble into the First Division.

Having spent large sums building squads that were ultimately ineffective, the club's finances took a turn for the worse, and in 2003 they were relegated for a second time in four years, to the Second Division.

The club spent two years in the third tier before returning the Championship, Paul Sturrock's side won the 2005 play-off final by defeating Hartlepool United 4–2 after extra time at the Millennium Stadium. Ultimately however, the club's perilous financial position ensured another drop to League One was not too far away – five years after the play-off win of 2005, the Owls were again relegated to League One.

Between July and November 2010, Sheffield Wednesday faced a series of winding up orders for unpaid tax and VAT bills, with the club's existence under severe threat. It was not until 29 November 2010, when businessman Milan Mandarić agreed to buy out the old owners, that the club could move forward.

Mandarić appointed former Wednesday player Gary Megson as manager partway through the 2010–11 season, and while Megson only stayed in the job for a year, what was mostly his side won promotion back to the Championship in May 2012, under the stewardship of new manager Dave Jones.

The Chansiri era (2014–present)
In 2014 the club was again taken over by a new owner, Thai businessman Dejphon Chansiri, purchasing the club from Milan Mandarić for £37.5m. Chansiri stated his intention to win Premier League promotion for the 2017–18 season – the football club's 150th anniversary – and came close to achieving that goal a year head of schedule, with new coach Carlos Carvalhal leading the club into the end of season play-offs at the end of the 2015–16 season. Wednesday were beaten in the final by Hull City at Wembley. They made the play-offs again the following season, but lost on penalties to the eventually promoted Huddersfield Town in the semi-final.

The club were favourites to be promoted in the 2017–18 season, but injuries and poor results saw them drop to the lower half of the table. Carvalhal left by mutual consent in December 2017, and was replaced by Dutch manager Jos Luhukay a month later. The team finished in an uneventful 15th place at the end of the season. Luhukay was sacked in December 2018 after a run of only one win in 10, which left the team 18th in the table. He was replaced by former Aston Villa boss Steve Bruce who saw an upturn in form to finish 12th. However, Bruce controversially resigned in July 2019 to manage Newcastle United.

On 6 September 2019, the club appointed former Birmingham City manager Garry Monk as the new manager, who achieved a 16th-place finish in a season that was interrupted from March to June by the COVID-19 pandemic. On 31 July 2020, Sheffield Wednesday were found guilty of breaking EFL spending rules and began the 2020–21 season on -12 points, though the deficit was later reduced to -6 upon appeal. On 9 November 2020, Monk was sacked after a poor start to the season and was replaced by Tony Pulis. However, Pulis was also dismissed after only 45 days in charge on 28 December 2020. After a few months with Neil Thompson as caretaker manager, Darren Moore was appointed as the club's third permanent manager of the season in March 2021. Despite taking the fight to the final day, Moore could not prevent relegation to League One come the end of the season, bringing Wednesday's nine-year spell in the Championship to an end.

After failing to win promotion in their first season back in League One, Wednesday finished third in the 2022–23 season. In the play-off semi-finals, Wednesday lost 4–0 in the first leg against Peterborough United but won the second leg 5–1 before prevailing on penalties. Wednesday then won promotion back to the Championship by defeating Barnsley in the 2023 play-off final. Moore departed from the club on 19 June by mutual consent.

Moore was replaced by Xisco Muñoz, however, he was sacked after 12 games with the club winless during his tenure. Early in the season, following fan protests, owner Chansiri said he would put no more money into the club, unhappy with fans' treatment towards him and his family. On 31 October 2023, Chansiri, citing cashflow problems, asked Wednesday fans to raise £2m by 10 November 2023 to help the club pay an outstanding HMRC debt and cover wages. Danny Röhl was announed as Munoz's successor and oversaw a revival on form, eventually confirming safety from relegation on the final day of the season.

Nickname
In their early years, the club was nicknamed The Blades, a term used for any sporting team from the city of Sheffield, famous the world over for its cutlery and knives. That nickname has been retained by Wednesday's crosstown rivals, Sheffield United.

Although it is widely assumed that the club's nickname changed to The Owls in 1899 after the club's move to Owlerton, it was not until 1912, when Wednesday player George Robertson presented the club with an owl mascot, that the name took hold. A monkey mascot introduced some years earlier had not brought much luck.

Kits
Since its founding the club has played their home games in blue and white shirts, traditionally in vertical stripes. However, this has not always been the case and there have been variations upon the theme. A monochrome photograph from 1874 to 1875 shows the Wednesday team in plain dark shirts, while the 1871 "Rules of the Sheffield Football Association" listed the Wednesday club colours as blue and white hoops. A quartered blue and white design was used in 1887 and a blue shirt with white sleeves between 1965 and 1973. Wednesday's socks have been predominantly black, blue or white throughout their history.

The club's away strip has changed regularly over the years. Traditionally, white was the second choice for many teams, including Wednesday, although the club has used a multitude of colours for its change strip over the years, including yellow, black, silver, green and orange.

Crest
Since 1912, the owl has become a theme that has run throughout the club. The original club crest was introduced in 1956 and consisted of a shield showing a traditionally drawn owl perched on a branch. The White Rose of York was depicted below the branch alluding to the home county of Yorkshire and the sheaves of Sheffield (Sheaf field) were shown at either side of the owl's head. The club's Latin motto, Consilio et Animis, was displayed beneath the shield. This translates into English as "By Wisdom and Courage".

The crest was changed in 1970 to a minimalist version designed by a local art student, and this logo was used by the club, with variations, until 1995, when it was replaced by a similar design to the original crest. It again featured a traditionally drawn owl perched on a branch although the design of both had changed. The sheaves were replaced by a stylised SWFC logo that had been in use on club merchandise for several years prior to the introduction of the new crest. The Yorkshire Rose was moved to above the owl's head to make way for the words Sheffield Wednesday. The word Hillsborough was also curved around the top of the design. The club motto was absent on the new design. The crest was encased in a new shape of shield. This crest remained in use for only a few years, during which several versions were used with different colours, including a white crest with blue stripes down either side and the colouring of the detail inverted.

In 1999, the minimalist version was brought back, albeit inside a crest, and with the addition of a copyright symbol in 2002. In 2016, new owner Dejphon Chansiri again changed the club crest, opting for a similar design to the 1956 badge.

Mascots
Over the years Sheffield Wednesday have had several Owl-themed matchday mascots. Originally it was Ozzie the Owl and later two further Owls, Baz & Ollie, were added. All three were replaced in 2006 by Barney Owl, a similar looking owl but with more defined eyes to make it look cuter. Ozzie Owl was reintroduced as Wednesday's main mascot during the home game with Charlton Athletic on 17 January 2009. The current mascots are Ozzie and Barney Owl. In 2012, Ollie Owl also made his return to the scene, as the club announced him Mascot for the Owls work with children in the local community.

Past stadiums
Originally, Wednesday played matches at Highfield, but moved several times before adopting a permanent ground. Other locations included Myrtle Road, Heeley and Hunter's Bar. Major matches were played at Sheaf House or Bramall Lane, before Sheffield United made it their home ground. Sheffield Wednesday's first permanent home ground was at Olive Grove, a site near Queen's Road originally leased from the Duke of Norfolk. The first game at Olive Grove was a 4–4 draw with Blackburn Rovers on 12 September 1887. Extensions to the adjacent railway forced the club to move to their current ground in 1899.

Hillsborough Stadium
Since 1899 Wednesday have played their home games at Hillsborough Stadium in the Owlerton district of Sheffield. The stadium was originally named Owlerton Stadium but in 1914 Owlerton became part of the parliamentary constituency of Hillsborough and the ground took on its current name. With 39,732 seats, Hillsborough has the 12th highest capacity in England. The club had intended to increase Hillsborough's capacity to 44,825 by 2012 and 50,000 by 2016 and make several other improvements in the process, but due to England's failed World Cup bid, this is now not the case.

The stadium has hosted World Cup football in 1966, the 1996 European Championships and 27 FA Cup semi-finals. The Kop at Hillsborough was re-opened in 1986 by Queen Elizabeth II and was once the largest covered stand of any football stadium in Europe.

On 15 April 1989, at an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, 94 Liverpool fans (later increasing to 97) were crushed to death after the terraces at the Leppings Lane end of the ground became overcrowded, in what became known as the Hillsborough disaster. The following report concluded that the root cause of the disaster was the failure of local police to adequately manage the crowds. A memorial to the victims of the disaster stands outside Hillsborough's South Stand, near the main entrance on Parkside Road. After many years of dispute about the facts, in June 2017 six men responsible for safety were charged with criminal offences including manslaughter and misconduct in public office.

Supporters
The club's move to Owlerton in 1899 was a risky one, as it moved the club several miles away from the city centre, but its loyal followers continued to make the journey to the new ground, and the club has been one of the best supported in England ever since. However, official attendances were not taken at Football League games until the 1920s.

The club's highest average attendance over the course of a season was 42,530 in 1952–53, when gates across the country were at their highest. The lowest average attendance in the Owls' history came in 1978–79, when an average of just 10,643 fans turned out to watch their side.

In 1992, Wednesday were the fourth best supported team in the country, but although that ranking has come down since relegation from the Premier League in 2000, the club still has still enjoyed crowds of well over 20,000 since then, and was the best supported club outside the top flight in 2006.

At the 2005 play-off final, Wednesday took over 39,000 fans to the Millennium Stadium. In 2016, Sheffield Wednesday took over 38,000 fans to Wembley for a play-off final defeat by Hull City. The Owls have managed to average 30,000 at home in the last 60 years. The FA Cup final seasons in 1965–66 30000 and 1966–67 31,000 plus 32,000 when coming League Championship runners-up in 1960–61.

Sheffield Wednesday have had a large variety of fanzines over the years; examples include Just Another Wednesday, Out of the Blue, Spitting Feathers, Boddle, A View From The East Bank, Cheat! and War of the Monster Trucks, which acquired its name from the programme that Yorkshire Television elected to show instead of the celebrations after the 1991 League Cup victory over Manchester United.

There are several online message boards dedicated to discussions on the club, including Owlstalk, OwlsOnline and OwlsMad.

Rivalry
Sheffield Wednesday's main rivals are city neighbours Sheffield United. Matches between these two clubs are nicknamed Steel City derbies, so called because of the steel industry for which the city of Sheffield is famous.

United were formed in 1889 by the committee at Bramall Lane, who had lost their biggest source of income – Wednesday – two years earlier over a dispute concerning pitch rent. As well as playing at Wednesday's former ground, United also took Wednesday's former nickname, the Blades, as their own. The first derby game took place on 15 December 1890, with Wednesday winning 2–1 at Olive Grove.

The 1993 FA Cup semi-final match which took place at Wembley on 3 April 1993. Initially, it was announced that the match was scheduled to take place at Elland Road but this was met with dismay by both sets of fans. After a re-think, the Football Association decided to switch venue to Wembley. A crowd of 75,365 supporters made the trip to London to watch Wednesday beat United 2–1 after extra time.

A survey conducted in 2019 revealed that, as well as Sheffield United, Wednesday fans consider fellow-Yorkshire sides Leeds United, Barnsley, Rotherham United and Doncaster Rovers as rivals.

Former players
A list of former players can be found at List of Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players.

Notable managers
Only managers with over 200 games in charge are included. For the complete list see List of Sheffield Wednesday F.C. managers.

Dickinson, who was in charge for 29 years, is Wednesday's longest-serving manager, and helped establish the club during the first two decades of the 20th century.

Brown succeeded Dickinson and remained in charge for 13 years; in 1930 he secured their most recent top division league title to date.

Taylor took over during the Second World War and remained in charge until 1958, but failed to win a major trophy, even though Wednesday were in the top flight for most of his reign.

Charlton took Wednesday out of the Third Division in 1980 and in his final season (1982–83) he took them to the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

Wilkinson succeeded Charlton in the summer of 1983 and was in charge for more than five years before he moved to Leeds United. His first season saw Wednesday gain promotion to the First Division after a 14-year exile. He guided them to a fifth-place finish in 1986, but Wednesday were unable to compete in the 1986–87 UEFA Cup due to the ban on English teams in European competitions due to the Heysel Disaster of 1985.

Under Ron Atkinson, Wednesday won the League Cup and promotion to the First Division before departing for Aston Villa in July 1991. Trevor Francis was appointed as player-manager and guided them to third place in the league in 1992, and earned them a UEFA Cup place. They finished seventh in the inaugural Premier League season and were runners-up of the FA Cup and League Cup that year. He was sacked in 1995 after Wednesday finished 13th – their lowest standing in four years since winning promotion.

Records and statistics

Wednesday's biggest recorded win was a 12–0 home victory over Halliwell in the first round of the FA Cup on 18 January 1891. The biggest league win was a 9–1 victory at home to Birmingham in the First Division on 13 December 1930. Wednesday's heaviest defeat was a 10–0 defeat at Aston Villa in a First Division match on 5 October 1912.

The most goals scored by the club in a season was the 106 scored in the 1958–59 season. The club accumulated their highest league points total in the 2022–23 season when they racked up 96 points. The highest home attendance was in the FA Cup fifth round on 17 February 1934. A total of 72,841 turned up to see a 2–2 draw with Manchester City. The most-capped Englishman to play for the club was goalkeeper Ron Springett, who won 33 caps while at Sheffield Wednesday. Springett also held the overall record for most-capped Sheffield Wednesday player until Nigel Worthington broke the record, eventually gaining a total of 50 caps for Northern Ireland whilst at the club.

The fastest sending off in British league football is held by Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Kevin Pressman – who was sent off after just 13 seconds for handling a shot from Wolverhampton Wanderers's Temuri Ketsbaia outside the area during the opening weekend of 2000. The fastest shot ever recorded in the Premier League was hit by David Hirst against Arsenal at Highbury in September 1996 – Hirst hit the bar with a shot clocked at 114 mph.

Honours
Source:

League
 * First Division (level 1)
 * Champions: 1902–03, 1903–04, 1928–29, 1929–30
 * Second Division (level 2)
 * Champions: 1899–1900, 1925–26, 1951–52, 1955–56, 1958–59
 * Runners-up: 1949–50, 1983–84
 * Promoted: 1990–91
 * Third Division / League One (level 3)
 * Runners-up: 2011–12
 * Promoted: 1979–80
 * Play-off winners: 2005, 2023
 * Football Alliance
 * Champions: 1889–90

Cup
 * FA Cup
 * Winners: 1895–96, 1906–07, 1934–35
 * Runners-up: 1889–90, 1965–66, 1992–93
 * Football League Cup
 * Winners: 1990–91
 * Runners-up: 1992–93
 * FA Charity Shield
 * Winners: 1935
 * Runners-up: 1930

title: Sheffield Wednesday F.C.


text:
Talk:Ilan Ramon

Second (?)
My hearts go out to all involved in the tragedy.

Wasnt this the third tragedy, after Apollo and Challenger?

AntonioMartin

 * Apollo was not a *space shuttle* mission. Dze27

Payload specialist (?)
Wasn't he the payload specialist

 * No, he was not. See http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/ and other wiki articles B

From that page...

The STS-107 crew: Seated in front are Commander Rick D. Husband, Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla and Pilot William C. McCool. Standing are Mission Specialists David M. Brown, Laurel B. Clark and Michael P. Anderson, and Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon Vera Cruz
 * Yes you're right Vera...some one screwed up my original posting from that website on the disaster page. B

'Internment'

 * Not a bad article, but I must admit that my skin crawls a bit when I see 'internment' and Auschwitz in the same sentence. I'm unsure it's the right word; One doesn't usually think of interners (uh, there has to be a better word here) intending internees for death, which was fairly clearly the intent. Could we think of a better word? (Imprisonment? Captivity? I'm unsure if there's a non-POV word that would work, but internment seems rather...happy-sounding. Like you got locked in a resort somewhere.) -134.198.241.50 23:48, 1 Feb 2004 (UTC)
 * Imprisonment seems to imply criminal captivity (whether or not that is the textbook definition). I prefer "captivity".  Objections to an edit to "captivity", or some other word?  (i.e. would like to rule out "internment" for the previous poster and "imprisonment" when describing being "in" Auschwitz) jewbacca 00:36, May 23, 2004 (UTC)

Photo
Adding NASA's press photo of Ramon jewbacca 00:36, May 23, 2004 (UTC)

Other Jews in Space?
Has the question of observing Jewish religious practices while in space never come up before? (I'm assuming that there have been Jews in space before Ramon, most likely Jewish-Americans.) --ThorstenNY 19:55, 12 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Your question is answered at the bottom of the Telegraph article Jerusalem We Have a Problem. BTW this article also shows that the phrase was coined much before it was used by the rabbi at the commemoration, so I'm not sure why his use of it is mentioned in the article. 70.21.2.147 (talk) 02:33, 21 April 2009 (UTC)

 * U.S. Astronaut Judith Resnick was Jewish. source link AFAIK, she was the first Jew in space.  However, as far as I know, she did not request kosher food.  Not all Jews keep kosher.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rooster613 (talk • contribs) 00:23, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

 * So was David Wolf and Jeff Hoffman. and either way neither was Ramon religious - he just felt that he represented world Jewry User:Mkonikov —Preceding undated comment added 13:37, 18 June 2010 (UTC).

Conspiracy Theory
Given that there are no citations offered, nor any links to anywhere supporting this so-called conspiracy, does this tye of rubbish really belong on the Ilan Ramon page?

Status: Dead
That seems a bit blunt to me.

Yeah, I'm changing it to deceased. SirParagon 03:58, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

Tu Bishvat
I am removing this:

 * and his Yartzeit is exactly 2 weeks after Tu Bishvat, the Jewish holiday celebrating trees (and new fruits), also called Rosh HaShanah La'ILANot.

This is pointless. If his Yahrtzeit was at least on the same it may have had some shadow of relevance, but "two weeks" is arbitrary. --Amir E. Aharoni (talk) 18:20, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

Place of death
What the source says is "The pages [of his diary] were found in a field just outside of Palestine, Texas", not that he died there. I'm restoring this to be consistent with the infoboxes of ALL the other astronauts who perished in this accident. Eat memory (talk) 08:31, 22 June 2012 (UTC)

I'm agreeing with you here. I changed it back to "Over Texas." The article cited only mentioned the diary being found in Palestine, TX, and makes no mention of his death location. Considering the debris field stretched a couple hundred miles, basing his place of death on a specific piece a debris is rather arbitrary. MrStoneman (talk) 06:29, 27 November 2012 (UTC)

A Crater on the Moon
It should be added that there's a crater named after Ramon on the moon, inside the Apollo crater, as there are for the rest of his friends. Details here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_%28crater%29 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.229.157.12 (talk) 15:32, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

Merger proposal
Assaf Ramon, who also tragically died in an aircraft accident, should have all the content merged into this page (though much of it already exists here). For better or worse, every Israeli pilot, regardless of their parentage, does not deserve their own page. Bangabandhu (talk)
 * I agree. No case has even been proposed, let alone substantiated, for the notability of this person. RolandR (talk) 12:54, 6 October 2015 (UTC)

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Spelling of son's name: Asaf or Assaf?
I have seen it spelled both ways in reliable publications. I am not sure what to use, but would like to be consistent.

Spanish ancestry
Could somebody, please, investigate the ancient Spanish ancestors of Ilan Ramon? (Perhaps creating a new article for the surname). It would help to avoid mistakes like the one Mr. Ramon made when considered this surname "more Israeli". The name Ramón is Spanish. It's used more as a given name and it became also a surname because until the 15th century Spanish people used the name of the father as surname, sometimes without any alteration, like this one. You can check this at this application at the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE). You only have to push the "Total" icon, fill in the Surname and push "Submit" to get a list and a map showing the distribution of frequencies of the surname through the Spanish provinces. 81.61.3.80 (talk) 17:58, 14 October 2021 (UTC)

 * His name has nothing to do with anything Spanish. He took the name from Makhtesh Ramon in the Negev,which was called Wadi Ruman in Arabic. Israel's founders Hebraicized it to "Ramon". If you read Hebrew, see a linguistic explanation here: https://hebrew-academy.org.il/2019/03/26/%d7%a8%d7%9e%d7%95%d7%9f/. Yitz711 (talk) 16:44, 16 August 2023 (UTC)

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license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Talk:Ilan Ramon


text:
Karl Schwarz

Karl Schwarz (19 November 1812 – 25 March 1885) was a German Protestant theologian.

Birth and early life
He was born at Wiek, Rügen. His father, Theodor Schwarz, pastor at Wiek, was well known as a preacher, and as the writer of a number of popular works (parables, romances, etc.) under the pseudonym "Theodor Melas".

University studies
Karl Schwarz studied theology and philosophy at Halle, and afterwards at Bonn (1831) and Berlin (1832–1834). At Berlin he came under the influence of Schleiermacher and G. W. F. Hegel, whose influences are seen in his work Das Wesen der Religion (1847). In 1837 he was imprisoned for six months on account of his advanced political opinions. After his release he helped (from 1838) with the Hallische Jahrbücher.

Later life and distinctions
From 1843 to 1845, he lectured at Halle, and was then suspended by the government. In 1849, however, he was appointed professor extraordinarius, and later received a number of distinctions (in 1858 chief court preacher, etc.). Schwarz took an important part in the founding and directing of the German Protestantenverein and became an eminent exponent of liberal theology. His work Zur Geschichte der neuesten Theologie (1856, 4th ed. 1869) is a valuable source for the history of theology in Germany. His other works include Lessing als Theologe (1854) and Grundriss der christlichen Lehre (1873, 5th ed. 1876). In his memory, a Karl-Schwarz-Stiftung was founded in connection with the theological faculty at the University of Jena.

1911 Britannica references

 * G. Rudloff, Karl Schwarz (1887);
 * F. Hummel, Zur Bedeutung der Schrift von Karl Schwarz: Uber das Wesen der Religion (1890);
 * Herzog-Hauck, Realencyklopädie.

title: Karl Schwarz


text:
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster

On Saturday, February 1, 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it reentered the atmosphere over Texas and Louisiana, killing all seven astronauts on board. It was the second Space Shuttle mission to end in disaster, after the loss of Challenger and crew in 1986.

The mission, designated STS-107, was the twenty-eighth flight for the orbiter, the 113th flight of the Space Shuttle fleet and the 88th after the Challenger disaster. It was dedicated to research in various fields, mainly on board the SpaceHab module inside the shuttle's payload bay. During launch, a piece of the insulating foam broke off from the Space Shuttle external tank and struck the thermal protection system tiles on the orbiter's left wing. Similar foam shedding had occurred during previous Space Shuttle launches, causing damage that ranged from minor to near-catastrophic, but some engineers suspected that the damage to Columbia was more serious. Before reentry, NASA managers had limited the investigation, reasoning that the crew could not have fixed the problem if it had been confirmed. When Columbia reentered the atmosphere of Earth, the damage allowed hot atmospheric gases to penetrate the heat shield and destroy the internal wing structure, which caused the orbiter to become unstable and break apart.

After the disaster, Space Shuttle flight operations were suspended for more than two years, as they had been after the Challenger disaster. Construction of the International Space Station (ISS) was paused until flights resumed in July2005 with STS-114. NASA made several technical and organizational changes to subsequent missions, including adding an on-orbit inspection to determine how well the orbiter's thermal protection system (TPS) had endured the ascent, and keeping designated rescue missions ready in case irreparable damage was found. Except for one mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, subsequent Space Shuttle missions were flown only to the ISS to allow the crew to use it as a haven if damage to the orbiter prevented safe reentry; the remaining orbiters were retired after the ISS was finished.

Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle was a partially reusable spacecraft operated by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). It flew in space for the first time in April1981, and was used to conduct in-orbit research, and deploy commercial, military, and scientific payloads. At launch, it consisted of the orbiter, which contained the crew and payload, the external tank (ET), and the two solid rocket boosters (SRBs). The orbiter was a reusable, winged vehicle that launched vertically and landed as a glider. Five operational orbiters were built during the Space Shuttle program. was the first space-rated orbiter constructed, following the atmospheric test vehicle. The orbiter contained the crew compartment, where the crew predominantly lived and worked throughout a mission. Three Space Shuttle main engines (SSMEs) were mounted at the aft end of the orbiter and provided thrust during launch. Once in space, the crew maneuvered using the two smaller, aft-mounted Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engines.

The orbiter was protected from heat during reentry by the thermal protection system (TPS), a thermal soaking protective layer around the orbiter. In contrast with previous US spacecraft, which had used ablative heat shields, the reusability of the orbiter required a multi-use heat shield. During reentry, the TPS experienced temperatures up to 3000 F, but had to keep the orbiter vehicle's aluminum skin temperature below 350 F. The TPS primarily consisted of four sub-systems. The nose cone and leading edges of the wings experienced temperatures above 2300 F, and were protected by the composite material reinforced carbon–carbon (RCC). Thicker RCC was developed and installed in 1998 to prevent damage from micrometeoroid and orbital debris. The entire underside of the orbiter vehicle, as well as the other hottest surfaces, were protected with black high-temperature reusable surface insulation. Areas on the upper parts of the orbiter vehicle were covered with white low-temperature reusable surface insulation, which provided protection at temperatures below 1200 F. The payload bay doors and parts of the upper wing surfaces were covered with reusable felt surface insulation, as the temperature there remained below 700 F.

Two solid rocket boosters (SRBs) were connected to the ET, and burned for the first two minutes of flight. The SRBs separated from the ET once they had expended their fuel and fell into the Atlantic Ocean under a parachute. NASA retrieval teams recovered the SRBs and returned them to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), where they were disassembled and their components were reused on future flights.

When the Space Shuttle launched, the orbiter and SRBs were connected to the ET, which held the fuel for the SSMEs. The ET consisted of a tank for liquid hydrogen (LH2), stored at -423 F and a smaller tank for liquid oxygen (LOX), stored at -297 F. It was covered in insulating foam to keep the liquids cold and prevent ice forming on the tank's exterior. The orbiter connected to the ET via two umbilicals near its bottom and a bipod near its top section. After its fuel had been expended, the ET separated from the orbiter and reentered the atmosphere, where it would break apart during reentry and its pieces would land in the Indian or Pacific Ocean.

Debris strike concerns

During the design process of the Space Shuttle, a requirement of the ET was that it would not release any debris that could potentially damage the orbiter and its TPS. The integrity of the TPS components was necessary for the survival of the crew during reentry, and the tiles and panels were only built to withstand relatively minor impacts. On STS-1, the first flight of the Space Shuttle, the orbiter Columbia was damaged during its launch from a foam strike. Foam strikes occurred regularly during Space Shuttle launches; of the 79 missions with available imagery during launch, foam strikes occurred on 65 of them.

The bipod connected the ET near the top to the front underside of the orbiter via two struts with a ramp at the tank end of each strut; the ramps were covered in foam to prevent ice from forming that could damage the orbiter. The foam on each bipod ramp was approximately 30 by, and was carved by hand from the original foam application. Bipod ramp foam from the left strut had been observed falling off the ET on six flights prior to STS-107, and had created some of the largest foam strikes that the orbiter experienced. The first bipod ramp foam strike occurred during STS-7; the orbiter's TPS was repaired after the mission but no changes were made to address the cause of the bipod foam loss. After bipod foam loss on STS-32, NASA engineers, under the assumption that the foam loss was due to pressure buildup within the insulation, added vent holes to the foam to allow gas to escape. After a bipod foam strike damaged the TPS on STS-50, internal NASA investigations concluded it was an "accepted flight risk" and that it should not be treated as a flight safety issue. Bipod foam loss occurred on STS-52 and STS-62, but neither event was noticed until the investigation following Columbia's destruction.

During STS-112, which flew in October 2002, a 4 by chunk of bipod ramp foam broke away from the ET bipod ramp and hit the SRB-ET attachment ring near the bottom of the left SRB, creating a dent 4 in wide and 3 in deep. Following the mission, the Program Requirements Control Board declined to categorize the bipod ramp foam loss as an in-flight anomaly. The foam loss was briefed at the STS-113 Flight Readiness Brief, but the Program Requirements Control Board decided that the ET was safe to fly.

A debris strike from the ablative material on the right SRB caused significant damage to during the STS-27 launch on December 2, 1988. On the second day of the flight the crew inspected the damage using a camera on the remote manipulator system. The debris strike removed a tile; the exposed orbiter skin was a reinforced section, and a burn-through might have occurred had the damage been in a different location. After the mission, the NASA Program Requirements Control Board designated the issue as an in-flight anomaly that was corrected with the planned improvement for the SRB ablator.

Space Shuttle mission
For STS-107, Columbia carried the SpaceHab Research Double Module, the Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment, and an Extended Duration Orbiter pallet. The mission passed its pre-launch certifications and reviews, and began with the launch. The mission was originally scheduled to launch on January 11, 2001, but it was delayed thirteen times, until its launch on January 16, 2003.

The seven-member crew of STS-107 were selected in July 2000. The mission was commanded by Rick Husband, who was a colonel in the U.S. Air Force and a test pilot. He had previously flown on STS-96. The mission's pilot was William McCool, a U.S. Navy commander who was on his first spaceflight. The payload commander was Michael Anderson, a U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel who had previously flown on STS-89. Kalpana Chawla served as the flight engineer; she had previously flown on STS-87. David Brown and Laurel Clark, both Navy captains, flew as the mission specialists on their first spaceflights. Ilan Ramon, a colonel in the Israeli Air Force and the first Israeli astronaut, flew as a payload specialist on his first spaceflight.

Launch and debris strike

Columbia launched from the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at 10:39:00   am. At T+81.7   seconds, a piece of foam approximately 21 to 27 in long and 12 to 18 in wide broke off from the left bipod on the ET. At T+81.9   seconds, the foam struck the reinforced carbon–carbon (RCC) panels on Columbia's left wing at relative velocity of 625 to 840 ft/s. The foam's low ballistic coefficient caused it to lose speed immediately after separating from the ET, and the orbiter ran into the slower foam. Neither the mission nor ground crew noticed the debris strike at the time. The SRBs separated from the ET at T+2   minutes and 7    seconds, followed by the ET's separation from the orbiter at T+8    minutes 30    seconds. The ET separation was photographed by Anderson and recorded by Brown, but they did not record the bipod with missing foam. At T+43   minutes, Columbia completed its orbital insertion as planned.

Flight risk management

After Columbia entered orbit, the NASA Intercenter Photo Working Group conducted a routine review of videos of the launch. The group's analysts did not notice the debris strike until the second day of the mission. None of the cameras that recorded the launch had a clear view of the debris striking the wing, leaving the group unable to determine the level of damage sustained by the orbiter. The group's chair contacted Wayne Hale, the Shuttle Program Manager for Launch Integration, to request on-orbit pictures of Columbia's wing to assess its damage. After receiving notification of the debris strike, engineers at NASA, United Space Alliance, and Boeing created the Debris Assessment Team and began working to determine the damage to the orbiter. Intercenter Photo Working Group believed that the orbiter's RCC tiles were possibly damaged; NASA program managers were less concerned over the danger caused by the debris strike.

Boeing analysts attempted to model the damage caused to the orbiter's TPS from the foam strike. The software models predicted damage that was deeper than the thickness of the TPS tiles, indicating that the orbiter's aluminum skin would be unprotected in that area. The Debris Assessment Team dismissed this conclusion as inaccurate, because of previous instances of predictions of damage greater than the actual damage. Further modeling specific to the RCC panels used software calibrated to predict damage caused by falling ice. The software predicted only one of 15 scenarios that ice would cause damage, leading the Debris Assessment Team to conclude there was minimal damage due to the lower density of foam to ice.

To assess the possible damage to Columbia's wing, members of the Debris Assessment Team made multiple requests to get imagery of the orbiter from the Department of Defense (DoD). Imagery requests were channeled through both the DoD Manned Space Flight Support Office and the Johnson Space Center Engineering Directorate. Hale coordinated the request through a DoD representative at KSC. The request was relayed to the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), which began identifying imaging assets that could observe the orbiter. The imagery request was soon rescinded by NASA Mission Management Team Chair Linda Ham after she investigated the origin of it. She had consulted with Flight Director Phil Engelauf and members of the Mission Management Team, who stated that they did not have a requirement for imagery of Columbia. Ham did not consult with the Debris Assessment Team, and cancelled the imagery request on the basis that it had not been made through official channels. Maneuvering the orbiter to allow its left wing to be imaged would have interrupted ongoing science operations, and Ham dismissed the DoD imaging capabilities as insufficient to assess damage to the orbiter. Following the rejection of their imagery request, the Debris Assessment Team did not make further requests for the orbiter to be imaged.

Throughout the flight, members of the Mission Management Team were less concerned than the Debris Assessment Team about the potential risk of a debris strike. The loss of bipod foam on STS-107 was compared to previous foam strike events, none of which caused the loss of an orbiter or crew. Ham, scheduled to work as an integration manager for STS-114, was concerned with the potential delays from a foam loss event. Mission management also downplayed the risk of the debris strike in communications with the crew. On January 23, flight director Steve Stich sent an e-mail to Husband and McCool to tell them about the foam strike and inform them there was no cause for concern about damage to the TPS, as foam strikes had occurred on previous flights. "During ascent at approximately 80 seconds, photo analysis shows that some debris from the area of the -Y ET Bipod Attach Point came loose and subsequently impacted the orbiter left wing, in the area of transition from Chine to Main Wing, creating a shower of smaller particles. The impact appears to be totally on the lower surface and no particles are seen to traverse over the upper surface of the wing. Experts have reviewed the high speed photography and there is no concern for RCC or tile damage. We have seen this same phenomenon on several other flights and there is absolutely no concern for entry." The crew were also sent a fifteen-second video of the debris strike in preparation for a press conference, but were reassured that there were no safety concerns.

On January 26, the Debris Assessment Team concluded that there were no safety concerns from the debris strike. The team's report was critical of the Mission Management Team for asserting that there were no safety concerns before the Debris Assessment Team's investigation had been completed. On January 29, William Readdy, the Associate Administrator for Space Flight, agreed to DoD imaging of the orbiter, but on the condition that it would not interfere with flight operations; ultimately, the orbiter was not imaged by the DoD during the flight. At a Mission Management Team on January 31, the day before Columbia reentered the atmosphere, the Launch Integration Office voiced Ham's intention to review on-board footage to view the missing foam, but concerns of crew safety were not discussed.

Reentry
Columbia was scheduled to reenter the atmosphere and land on February 1, 2003. At 3:30   am EST the Entry Flight Control Team started its shift at the Mission Control Center. On board the orbiter, the crew stowed loose items and prepared their equipment for reentry.

At 45 minutes before the deorbit burn, Husband and McCool began working through the entry checklist. At 8:10   am the Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM), Charlie Hobaugh, informed the crew that they were approved to conduct the deorbit burn. At 8:15:30   the crew successfully executed the deorbit burn, which lasted 2    minutes and 38    seconds. At 8:44:09   Columbia reentered the atmosphere at an altitude of 400000 ft, a point named entry interface. The damage to the TPS on the orbiter's left wing allowed for hot air to enter and begin melting the aluminum structure. Four and a half minutes after entry interface, a sensor began recording greater-than-normal amounts of strain on the left wing; the sensor's data was recorded to internal storage and not transmitted to the crew or ground controllers. The orbiter began to turn (yaw) to the left as a result of the increased drag on the left wing, but this was not noticed by the crew or mission control because of corrections from the orbiter's flight control system. This was followed by sensors in the left wheel well reporting a rise in temperature.

At 8:53:46 am, Columbia crossed over the California coast; it was traveling at Mach   23 at an altitude of 231600 ft, and the temperature of its wings' leading edges was estimated to be 2800 F. Soon after it entered California airspace, the orbiter shed several pieces of debris, events observed on the ground as sudden increases in brightness of the air around the orbiter. The MMACS officer reported that the hydraulic sensors in the left wing had readings below the sensors' minimum detection thresholds at 8:54:24   am. Columbia continued its reentry and traveled over Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, where observers would report seeing signs of debris being shed.

At 8:58:03, the orbiter's aileron trim changed from the predicted values because of the increasing drag caused by the damage to the left wing. At 8:58:21, the orbiter shed a TPS tile that would later land in Littlefield, Texas; it would become the westernmost piece of recovered debris. The crew first received an indication of a problem at 8:58:39, when the Backup Flight Software monitor began displaying fault messages for a loss of pressure in the tires of the left landing gear. The pilot and commander then received indications that the status of the left landing gear was unknown, as different sensors reported the gear was down and locked or in the stowed position. The drag of the left wing continued to yaw the orbiter to the left until it could no longer be corrected using aileron trim. The orbiter's Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters began firing continuously to correct its orientation.

The loss of signal (LOS) from Columbia occurred at 8:59:32. Mission control stopped receiving information from the orbiter at this time, and Husband's last radio call of "Roger, uh   ..." was cut off mid-transmission. One of the channels in the flight control system was bypassed as the result of a failed wire, and a Master Alarm began sounding on the flight deck. Loss of control of the orbiter is estimated to have begun several seconds later with a loss of hydraulic pressure and an uncontrolled pitch-up maneuver. The orbiter began flying along a ballistic trajectory, which was significantly steeper and had more drag than the previous gliding trajectory. The orbiter, while still traveling faster than Mach 15, entered into a flat spin of 30° to 40° per second. The acceleration that the crew was experiencing increased from approximately 0.8 g to 3   g, which would have likely caused dizziness and disorientation, but not incapacitation. The autopilot was switched to manual control and reset to automatic mode at 9:00:03; this would have required the input of either Husband or McCool, indicating that they were still conscious and able to perform functions at the time. All hydraulic pressure was lost, and McCool's final switch configurations indicate that he had tried to restore the hydraulic systems at some time after 9:00:05.

At 9:00:18, the orbiter began a catastrophic breakup, and all on-board data recording soon ceased. Ground observers noted a sudden increase in debris being shed, and all on-board systems lost power. By 9:00:25, the orbiter's fore and aft sections had separated from one another. The sudden jerk caused the crew compartment to collide with the interior wall of the fuselage, resulting in a depressurization of the crew compartment by 9:00:35. The pieces of the orbiter continued to break apart into smaller pieces, and within a minute after breakup were too small to be detected by ground-based videos. By 9:35, all debris and crew remains were estimated to have hit the ground.

The loss of signal occurred at a time when the Flight Control Team expected brief communication outages as the orbiter stopped communication via the west tracking and data relay satellite (TDRS). Personnel in Mission Control were unaware of the in-flight break-up, and continued to try to reestablish contact with the orbiter. At approximately 9:06, when Columbia would have been conducting its final maneuvers to land, a Mission Control member received a phone call concerning news coverage of the orbiter breaking up. This information was passed on to the Entry Flight Director, LeRoy Cain, who initiated contingency procedures. At KSC, where Columbia had been expected to land at 9:16, NASA Associate Administrator and former astronaut William Readdy also began contingency procedures after the orbiter did not land as scheduled.

Crew survivability
During reentry, all seven of the STS-107 crew members were killed, but the exact time of their deaths could not be determined. The level of acceleration that they experienced during crew module breakup was not lethal. The first lethal event the crew experienced was the depressurization of the crew module. The rate and exact time of depressurization could not be determined, but occurred no later than 9:00:59. The remains of the crew members indicated they all experienced depressurization. The astronauts' helmets have a visor that, when closed, can temporarily protect the crew member from depressurization. Some of the crew members had not closed their visors, and one was not wearing a helmet; this would indicate that depressurization occurred quickly before they could take protective measures.

During and after the breakup of the crew module, the crew, either unconscious or dead, experienced rotation on all three axes. The astronauts' shoulder harnesses were unable to prevent trauma to their upper bodies, as the inertia reel system failed to retract sufficiently to secure them, leaving them only restrained by their lap belts. The helmets were not conformal to the crew members' heads, allowing head injuries to occur inside of the helmet. The neck ring of the helmet may have also acted as a fulcrum that caused spine and neck injuries. The physical trauma to the astronauts, who could not brace to prevent such injuries, also could have resulted in their deaths.

The astronauts also likely suffered from significant thermal trauma. Hot gas entered the disintegrating crew module, burning the crew members, whose bodies were still somewhat protected by their ACES suits. Once the crew module fell apart, the astronauts were violently exposed to windblast and a possible shock wave, which stripped their suits from their bodies. The crews' remains were exposed to hot gas and molten metal as they fell away from the orbiter.

After separation from the crew module, the bodies of the crew members entered an environment with almost no oxygen, very low atmospheric pressure, and both high temperatures caused by deceleration, and extremely low ambient temperatures. Their bodies hit the ground with lethal force.

Presidential response
At 14:04 EST (19:04 UTC), President George W. Bush said in a televised address to the nation, "My fellow Americans, this day has brought terrible news, and great sadness to our country. At 9:00 a.m. this morning, Mission Control in Houston lost contact with our Space Shuttle Columbia. A short time later, debris was seen falling from the skies above Texas. The Columbia is lost; there are no survivors."

Recovery of debris

After the orbiter broke up, reports came in to eastern Texas law enforcement agencies of an explosion and falling debris. Astronauts Mark Kelly and Gregory Johnson traveled on a US Coast Guard helicopter from Houston to Nacogdoches, and Jim Wetherbee drove a team of astronauts to Lufkin to assist with recovery efforts. Debris was reported from east Texas through southern Louisiana. Recovery crews and local volunteers worked to locate and identify debris.

On the first day of the disaster searchers began finding remains of the astronauts. Within three days of the crash, some remains from every crew member had been recovered. These recoveries occurred along a line south of Hemphill, Texas, and west of the Toledo Bend Reservoir. The final body of a crew member was recovered on February 11. The crew remains were transported to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology at Dover Air Force Base.

Immediately after the disaster, the Texas Army National Guard deployed 300 members to assist with security and recovery, and the Coast Guard Gulf Strike Team was assigned to help recover hazardous debris. Over the following days, the search grew to include hundreds of individuals from the Environmental Protection Agency, US Forest Service, and Texas and Louisiana public safety organizations, as well as local volunteers. In the months after the disaster, the largest-ever organized ground search took place. NASA officials warned of the dangers of handling debris, as it could have been contaminated by propellants.

Soon after the accident some individuals attempted to sell Columbia debris on the internet, including on the online auction website eBay. Officials at NASA were critical of these efforts, as the debris was NASA property and was needed for the investigation. A three-day amnesty period was offered for recovered orbiter debris. During this time, about 20 individuals contacted NASA to return debris, which included debris from the Challenger disaster. After the end of the amnesty period, several individuals were arrested for illegal looting and possession of debris.

Columbia's flight data recorder was found near Hemphill, Texas, 75 mi southeast of Nacogdoches, on March 19, 2003. Columbia was the first orbiter, and it had a unique flight data OEX (Orbiter EXperiments) recorder to record vehicle performance data during the test flights. The recorder was left in Columbia after the initial Shuttle test-flights were completed, and began recording information 15 minutes prior to reentry. The tape it recorded to was broken at the time of the crash, but information from the orbiter's sensors could have been recorded beforehand. Several days later, the tape was sent to the Imation Corporation for it to be inspected and cleaned. On March 25 the OEX's tape was sent to KSC, where it was copied and analyzed.

On March 27 a Bell 407 helicopter that was being used in the debris search crashed due to mechanical failure in the Angelina National Forest. The crash killed the pilot, Jules F. Mier Jr., and a Texas Forest Service aviation specialist, Charles Krenek, and injured three other crew members.

A group of Caenorhabditis elegans worms, enclosed in aluminum canisters, survived reentry and impact with the ground and were recovered weeks after the disaster. The culture, which was part of an experiment to research their growth while consuming synthetic nutrients, was found to be alive on April 28, 2003.

NASA management selected the Reusable Launch Vehicle hangar at KSC to reconstruct recovered Columbia debris. NASA Launch Director Michael Leinbach led the reconstruction team, which was staffed by Columbia engineers and technicians. Debris was laid out on the floor of the hangar in the shape of the orbiter to allow investigators to look for patterns in the damage that indicated the cause of the disaster. Astronaut Pamela Melroy was assigned to oversee the six-person team reconstructing the crew compartment, which included fellow astronaut Marsha Ivins.

Recovered debris was shipped from the field to KSC, where it was unloaded and checked to see if it was contaminated by toxic hypergolic propellants. Each piece of debris had an identifying number and a tag indicating the coordinates where it was found. Staff attached photographs and catalogued each piece of debris. Recovered debris from inside the orbiter was placed in a separate area, as it was not considered to be a contributor to the accident. NASA conducted a fault tree analysis to determine the probable causes of the accident, and focused its investigations on the parts of the orbiter most likely to have been responsible for the in-flight breakup. Engineers in the hangar analyzed the debris to determine how the orbiter came apart. Even though the crew compartment was not considered as a likely cause of the accident, Melroy successfully argued for its analysis to learn more about how its safety systems helped, or failed to help, the crew survive. The tiles on the left wing were studied to determine the nature of the burning and melting that occurred. The damage to the debris indicated that the breach began at the wing's leading edge, allowing hot gas to get past the orbiter's thermal protection system.

The search for Columbia debris ended in May. Approximately 83,900 pieces of debris were recovered, weighing 84900 lbs, which was about 38 per cent of the orbiter's overall weight. When the CAIB report was released, about 40,000 recovered pieces of debris had not been identified. All recovered non-human Columbia debris was stored in unused office space at the Vehicle Assembly Building, except for parts of the crew compartment, which were kept separate. By the end of reconstruction efforts only 720 items remained classified as unknown.

In July 2011, lower water levels caused by a drought revealed a 4 ft piece of debris in Lake Nacogdoches. NASA identified the piece as a power reactant storage and distribution tank.

Columbia Accident Investigation Board
About ninety minutes after the disaster, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe called to convene the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) to determine the cause. It was chaired by retired U.S. Navy Admiral Harold W. Gehman, Jr. and included military and civilian analysts. It initially consisted of eight members, including Gehman, but expanded to 13 members by March. The CAIB members were notified by noon on the day of the accident, and participated in a teleconference that evening. The following day, they traveled to Barksdale AFB to begin the investigation. The CAIB members first toured the debris fields, and then established their operations at JSC. The CAIB established four teams to investigate NASA management and program safety, NASA training and crew operations, the technical aspects of the disaster, and how NASA culture affected the Space Shuttle program. These groups collaborated, and hired other support staff to investigate. The CAIB worked alongside the reconstruction efforts to determine the cause of the accident, and interviewed members of the Space Shuttle program, including those who had been involved with STS-107. The CAIB conducted public hearings from March until June, and released its final report in August 2003.

Cause of the accident
After looking at sensor data, the CAIB considered damage to the left wing as a likely culprit for Columbia's destruction. It investigated that recovered debris and noted the difference in heat damage between the two wings. RCC panels from the left wing were found in the western portion of the debris field, indicating that it was shed first before the rest of the orbiter disintegrated. X-ray and chemical analysis was conducted on the RCC panels, revealing the highest levels of slag deposits to be in the left wing tiles. Impact testing was conducted at the Southwest Research Institute, using a nitrogen-powered gun to fire a projectile made of the same material as the ET bipod foam. Panels taken from Enterprise,, and Atlantis were used to determine the projectiles' effect on RCC panels. A test on RCC panel   8, taken from Atlantis, was the most consistent with the damage observed on Columbia, indicating it was the damaged panel that led to the in-flight breakup.

Organizational culture
The CAIB was critical of NASA organizational culture, and compared its current state to that of NASA leading up to the Challenger disaster. It concluded that NASA was experiencing budget constraints while still expecting to keep a high level of launches and operations. Program operating costs were lowered by 21% from 1991 to 1994, despite a planned increase in the yearly flight rate for assembly of the International Space Station. Despite a history of foam strike events, NASA management did not consider the potential risk to the astronauts as a safety-of-flight issue. The CAIB found that a lack of a safety program led to the lack of concern over foam strikes. The board determined that NASA lacked the appropriate communication and integration channels to allow problems to be discussed and effectively routed and addressed. This risk was further compounded by pressure to adhere to a launch schedule for construction of the ISS.

Possible emergency procedures
In its report, the CAIB discussed potential options that could have saved Columbia's crew. They determined that the mission could have originally been extended for up to 30 days, after which the lithium hydroxide canisters that were used to remove carbon dioxide would have run out. On STS-107, Columbia was carrying the Extended Duration Orbiter, which increased its supply of oxygen and hydrogen. To maximize the mission duration, non-essential systems would have been powered down, and animals in the Spacehab module would have been euthanized.

When STS-107 launched, Atlantis was undergoing preparation for the STS-114 launch on March 1, 2003. Had NASA management decided to launch a rescue mission, an expedited process could have begun to launch it as a rescue vehicle. Some pre-launch tests would have been eliminated to allow it to launch on time. Atlantis would have launched with additional equipment for EVAs, and launched with a minimum required crew. It would have rendezvoused with Columbia, and the STS-107 crew would have conducted EVAs to transfer to Atlantis. Columbia would have been remotely deorbited; as Mission Control would have been unable to remotely land it, it would have been disposed of in the Pacific Ocean.

The CAIB also investigated the possibility of on-orbit repair of the left wing. Although there were no materials or adhesives onboard Columbia that could have survived reentry, the board researched the effectiveness of stuffing materials from the orbiter, crew cabin, or water into the RCC hole. They determined that the best option would have been to harvest tiles from other places on the orbiter, shape them, and then stuff them into the RCC hole. Given the difficulty of on-orbit repair and the risk of further damaging the RCC tiles, the CAIB determined that the likelihood of a successful on-orbit repair would have been low.

Space Shuttle updates
The Space Shuttle program was suspended after the loss of Columbia. The further construction of the International Space Station (ISS) was delayed, as the Space Shuttle had been scheduled for seven missions to the ISS in 2003 and 2004 to complete its construction. To prevent future foam strikes, the ET was redesigned to remove foam from the bipod. Instead, electric heaters were installed to prevent ice building up in the bipod due to the cold liquid oxygen in its feedlines. Additional heaters were also installed along the liquid oxygen line, which ran from the base of the tank to its interstage section. NASA also improved its ground imaging capabilities at Kennedy Space Center to better observe and monitor potential issues that occur during launch. The existing cameras at LC-39A, LC-39B, and along the coast were upgraded, and nine new camera sites were added. Cameras were added to the bellies of Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour (only Columbia and Challenger had them prior) to allow digital images of the ET to be viewed on the ground soon after launch. The prior system on Columbia used film and could only be downlinked after the orbiter returned to Earth. The Orbiter Boom Sensor System, a camera on the end of the Canadarm, was added to allow the crew to inspect the orbiter for any tile damage once they reached orbit. Each of the orbiter's wings was equipped with 22 temperature sensors to detect any breaches during reentry and with 66 accelerometers to detect an impact. Post-landing inspection procedures were updated to include technicians examining the RCC panels using flash thermography.

As well as the updates to the orbiter, NASA prepared contingency plans in the event that a mission would be unable to safely land. The plan involved the stranded mission docking with the ISS, on which the crew would inspect and attempt to repair the damaged orbiter. If they were unsuccessful, they would remain aboard the ISS and wait for a rescue. The rescue mission, designated STS-3xx, would be activated, and would use the next-in-line hardware for the orbiter, ET, and SRBs. The expected time to launch would be 35 days, as that was the requirement to prepare launch facilities. Before the arrival of the rescue mission, the stranded crew would power up the damaged orbiter, which would be remotely controlled as it was undocked and deorbited, and its debris would land in the Pacific Ocean. The minimal crew would launch, dock with the ISS, where it would spend a day transferring astronauts and equipment before undocking and landing.

First Return to Flight mission (STS-114)

The first Return to Flight mission, STS-114, began with the launch of Discovery on July 26, 2005, at 10:39   am (EDT). Sixteen pieces of foam from the ET were dislodged during the launch that were large enough to be considered significant by NASA investigators, including one piece that was approximately 36 by. Post-launch investigations did not find any indications of damage from the foam loss, but ET video did reveal that a small piece of TPS tile from the nose landing gear fell off during launch. Upon reaching orbit the crew inspected Discovery with the Orbiter Boom Sensor System. On July 29 Discovery rendezvoused with the ISS and, before docking, performed the first rendezvous pitch maneuver to allow the crew aboard the ISS to observe and photograph the orbiter's belly. The next day, astronauts Soichi Noguchi and Stephen Robinson performed the first of three spacewalks. They tested a tile repair tool, the Emittance Wash Applicator, on intentionally damaged TPS tiles that had been brought in the payload bay. On August 3 the same astronauts performed the third EVA of the mission, during which Robinson stood on the ISS's Canadarm2 and went to Discovery's belly to remove two gap fillers between tiles that had begun to protrude. After a delay due to bad weather at KSC, the decision was made to land at Edwards AFB. Discovery successfully landed at 8:11   am (EDT) on August 9. Had Discovery been unable to safely land, the crew would have remained on the ISS until Atlantis was flown to rescue them. As a result of the foam loss, NASA grounded the Space Shuttle fleet again.

Second Return to Flight mission (STS-121)
To address the problem of foam loss for the second Return to Flight mission (STS-121), NASA engineers removed the foam ramp from the protuberance air load (PAL) on the ET, which was the source of the largest piece of debris on STS-114. The launch was postponed from its scheduled launch of July 1, 2006, and again on July 2 due to inclement weather at KSC. On July 3 a piece of foam approximately 3 by and weighing 0.0057 lbs broke off from the ET. The mission still launched as scheduled at 2:38   pm (EDT) on July 4. After reaching orbit, Discovery performed post-launch inspections of its TPS and docked with the ISS on July 6. The orbiter carried a 28 ft remote control orbiter in-flight maintenance cable that could connect the flight deck systems to the avionics system in the mid-deck; it would allow the spacecraft to be landed remotely, to include controlling the landing gear and deploying the parachute. On July 12 astronauts Piers Sellers and Michael Fossum performed an EVA to test the NonOxide Adhesive eXperiment (NOAX), which applied protective sealant to samples of damaged TPS tiles. Discovery undocked from the ISS on July 14 and safely landed at 9:14   am on July 17 at KSC. Had the crew been stranded in orbit, NASA planned to launch Atlantis to rescue them from the ISS.

Program cancellation
In January 2004 President Bush announced the Vision for Space Exploration, calling for the Space Shuttle fleet to complete the ISS and be retired by 2010, to be replaced by a newly developed Crew Exploration Vehicle for travel to the Moon and Mars. In 2004, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe canceled a planned servicing of the Hubble Space Telescope and decided that future missions would all rendezvous with the ISS to ensure the safety of the crew. In 2006, his successor, Michael Griffin, decided to have one more servicing mission to the telescope, STS-125, which flew in May 2009. The retirement of the Space Shuttle was delayed until 2011, after which no further crewed spacecraft were launched from the United States until 2020 when SpaceX's Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission successfully carried NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Robert Behnken to the ISS.

Legacy

On February 4, 2003, President Bush and his wife Laura led a memorial service for the astronauts' families at the Johnson Space Center. Two days later, Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne led a similar service at Washington National Cathedral. Patti LaBelle sang "Way Up There" as part of the service. A memorial service was held at KSC on February 7; Robert Crippen, the first pilot of Columbia, gave a eulogy for the crew and a tribute for Columbia herself, acknowledging her achievements as the first orbiter and NASA's flagship, her role in trying desperately to save the crew on STS-107, and her many missions dedicated to scientific research. On October 28, 2003, the names of the crew were added to the Space Mirror Memorial at the KSC Visitor Complex in Merritt Island, Florida, alongside the names of 17 other astronauts and cosmonauts who have died in the line of duty. On February 2, 2004, NASA Administrator O'Keefe unveiled a memorial for the STS-107 crew at Arlington National Cemetery, and it is located near the Challenger memorial. A tree for each astronaut was planted in NASA's Astronaut Memorial Grove at the Johnson Space Center, along with trees for each astronaut from the Apollo 1 and Challenger disasters. The exhibit Forever Remembered at KSC Visitor Complex features the cockpit window frames from Columbia. In 2004, Bush conferred posthumous Congressional Space Medals of Honor to all 14 crew members killed in the Challenger and Columbia accidents.

NASA named several places in honor of Columbia and the crew. Seven asteroids discovered in July 2001 were named after astronauts: 51823 Rickhusband, 51824 Mikeanderson, 51825 Davidbrown, 51826 Kalpanachawla, 51827 Laurelclark, 51828 Ilanramon, 51829 Williemccool. On Mars, the landing site of the rover Spirit was named Columbia Memorial Station, and included a memorial plaque to the Columbia crew mounted on the back of the high gain antenna. A complex of seven hills east of the Spirit landing site was dubbed the Columbia Hills; each of the seven hills was individually named for a member of the crew, and the rover explored the summit of Husband Hill in 2005. In 2006, the IAU approved naming seven lunar craters after the astronauts.

In February 2006, NASA's National Scientific Balloon Facility was renamed the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility. A supercomputer built in 2004 at the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Division was named "Columbia". The first part of the system, named "Kalpana", was dedicated to Chawla, who had worked at the Ames Research Center before joining the Space Shuttle program. The first dedicated meteorological satellite launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Metsat-1, was renamed to Kalpana-1 on February 5, 2003, after Chawla.

In 2003, the airport in Amarillo, Texas, where Husband was from, was renamed to the Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport. A mountain peak in the Sangre de Cristo Range in the Colorado Rockies was renamed Columbia Point in 2003. In October 2004, both houses of Congress passed a resolution to change the name of Downey, California's Space Science Learning Center to the Columbia Memorial Space Center, which is located at the former manufacturing site of the Space Shuttle orbiters.

On April 1, 2003, the Opening Day of baseball season, the Houston Astros honored the Columbia crew by having seven simultaneous first pitches thrown by family and friends of the crew. During the singing of the national anthem, 107 NASA personnel carried a U.S. flag onto the field. The Astros wore the mission patch on their sleeves the entire season. On February 1, 2004, the first anniversary of the Columbia disaster, Super Bowl XXXVIII held in Houston's Reliant Stadium began with a pregame tribute to the crew of the Columbia by singer Josh Groban performing "You Raise Me Up", with the crew of STS-114 in attendance.

In 2004, two space journalists, Michael Cabbage and William Harwood, released their book, Comm Check: The Final Flight of Shuttle Columbia. It discusses the history of the Space Shuttle program, and documents the post-disaster recovery and investigation efforts. Michael Leinbach, a retired Launch Director at KSC who was working on the day of the disaster, released Bringing Columbia Home: The Untold Story of a Lost Space Shuttle and Her Crew in 2018. It documents his personal experience during the disaster, and the debris and remains recovery efforts.

In 2004, the documentary Columbia: The Tragic Loss was released; it told of the life of Ilan Ramon and focused on the issues in NASA management that led to the disaster. PBS released a Nova documentary, Space Shuttle Disaster, in 2008. It featured commentary from NASA officials and space experts, and discussed historical issues with the spacecraft and NASA.

The Scottish Celtic-Rock band Runrig included a song titled "Somewhere" on their album The Story that ends with a recording of a radio communication from Laurel Clark. Clark, who had become a fan of the band when she lived in Scotland, had a Runrig song "Running to the Light" play as her wakeup music on January 27; her CD of Runrig music was recovered in the debris and presented to the band by Clark's husband and son.

title: Space Shuttle Columbia disaster