This identification badge identified the wearer as contributing to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB), convened in 2003 to determine the direct and indirect causes of the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia during reentry on February 1, 2003. It belonged to Dennis Jenkins, a consulting aerospace engineer for the Space Shuttle Program, and author of Space Shuttle: The History of the National Space Transportation System, a definitive book detailing the development and first 100 flights of the space shuttles. Jenkins served as an investigator, researcher, and support staff for the CAIB.
The investigation into the causes of the disintegration of Columbia, OV-102, during the reentry of STS-107 determined that a piece of foam insulation from the external tank broke loose during launch, punching a hole in the leading edge of the orbiter's left wing, leading to the loss of the crew and vehicle.
This identification badge was donated to the National Air and Space Museum by Dennis Jenkins in September 2011.
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.