NASA Flight Director Braces for Return to Space

July 7, 2005 — -- When LeRoy Cain realized the space shuttle Columbia and its crew would not be coming home, a single tear slipped down his cheek as he paused, straightened his shoulders and issued one command: "Lock the doors." That started the process to preserve evidence for the investigation into what destroyed Columbia during its return to Earth 2½ years ago.

Cain was the "ascent and entry" flight director for STS 107, Columbia's tragic last mission. He and his team were puzzled when sensors started failing during the shuttles descent to Earth. They had never seen anything like that before, and as astronaut Charlie Hobaugh repeatedly tried to regain communications with the crew of Columbia, the extent of the puzzle became tragically clear when an off-duty flight controller phoned the control room to describe Columbia's breakup over Texas.

Cain has grieved for the loss of his friends on Columbia and wrestled with his conscience over his team's missed opportunities to discover if Columbia was damaged.

He will be the launch and landing flight director for NASA's "Return to Flight" mission, STS 114, scheduled to launch as early as next week. He had accepted the assignment for STS 114 before Columbia's accident. But the loss of Columbia made him question his desire to continue his work with the shuttle program.

"For me there was a point in the past two years when I had to establish whether or not I was still going to be a part of this business or not," said Cain. "I never doubted that I wanted to be, but it was necessary for me to think about my own motivations."

His faith helped him through the painful process of grieving for his friends and trying to understand how NASA had failed to detect what would lead to the tragic Columbia accident. A lengthy investigation found that a piece of insulating foam broke off during Columbia's launch and punctured the craft's wing. Superhot gas entered the gap and melted the wing from the inside, causing Columbia to break apart high above Texas.

"I don't know how you get through certain things in life? Is Columbia one of those things? For a lot of people, sure, it would be," said Cain. "My faith was extremely important for me and my family in terms of getting to the point where we are now and being able to reconcile with the accident."