Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Laboratory Drop Towers for the Experimental Simulation of Dust-aggregate Collisions in the Early Solar System
Published on: June 5, 2014
Surviving atmospheric spacecraft breakup
Nathaniel J Szewczyk1, William McLamb
1Space Life Research and Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000, USA. nate@alumni.cmu.edu
Abstract:
Spacecraft travel higher and faster than aircraft, making breakup potentially less survivable. As with aircraft breakup, the dissipation of lethal forces via spacecraft breakup around an organism is likely to greatly increase the odds of survival. By employing a knowledge of space and aviation physiology, comparative physiology, and search-and-rescue techniques, we were able to correctly predict and execute the recovery of live animals following the breakup of the space shuttle Columbia. In this study, we make what is, to our knowledge, the first report of an animal, Caenorhabditis elegans, surviving the atmospheric breakup of the spacecraft that was supporting it and discuss both the lethal events these animals had to escape and the implications for search and rescue following spacecraft breakup.
Related Concept Videos
Escape Velocities of Gases
Rocket Propulsion in Empty Space - I
Rocket Propulsion In Empty Space - II
Escape Velocity
To calculate the escape velocity, it is assumed that no energy is lost to any frictional forces. In practice, a satellite launched from...
Rocket Propulsion in Gravitational Field - II
A rocket's acceleration depends on three major factors, consistent with the equation for the...
Free-falling Bodies: Example
The...

