Experimental Data Recovered From Columbia Hard Drive
When the space shuttle Columbia broke up during reentry on February 1, 2003, one of the experiments it was carrying was called CVX-2 (Critical Viscosity of Xenon). It was designed to study the way xenon gas flows in microgravity. The experiment ran for 370 hours and the CVX team was able to download about 85% of the data while the Columbia was in orbit, confirming that it was working as expected. The complete dataset was stored on a 400MB hard drive that was part of the test apparatus carried on the shuttle.
It was initially thought that the hard drive did not survive the reentry, but when it was discovered to be largely intact albeit severely damaged, the project team sent it to a data recovery service. The contents of the drive came back about 99% complete, but it still took several years to analyze the data. The results were published just last month and confirmed that xenon experiences a sudden change in viscosity known as shear thinning when it is stirred vigorously. This effect is what allows whipped cream and ketchup to from flowing smoothly like a liquid to holding their shape like a solid.
While this wasn’t necessarily an earth-shattering experiment, it was fortunate that it could be completed as the lead investigator, Robert Berg, expressed in this Scientific American article:
He notes that the experiment could have only worked in microgravity, to prevent the xenon from settling under its feather-light weight. With NASA’s priorities shifting away from basic research, he says, “this is the sort of experiment that won’t be duplicated for a long time, if ever.”
Computer World has a more technical explanation of the data recovery process.
