[KantianBurke]

did Columbia have an airlock type device?

[Magnum44]

I am not sure if they had an airlock yet, but all the crew would have had pressure suits. At worst case, if a transfer to another vehicle were possible, a rescue vehicle (if available) could have carried suits/bags up and brought them in through the main shuttle hatch (no airlock) in the lower deck of the crew cabin. At that point the cabin could have been repressurized I would think, the crew could have suited up, and then they could ropen the htch and transfer to the rescue ship (shuttle or soyuz?)