|
[an error occurred while processing this directive][an error occurred while processing this directive][an error occurred while processing this directive] |
  
|
|
Shuttle probe says breakup began early
By Marcia Dunn, Associated Press, 2/19/2003
He said the conclusion that the space shuttle was shedding pieces a full six minutes before it came apart over Texas was based on images of the doomed flight. Professional and amateur astronomers photographed and videotaped the shuttle's final minutes. ''Obviously, it would be very important to understand what those pieces are, particularly the ones that started falling off at the very beginning,'' because they would shed light on the earliest stages of the breakup, he said. However, Hallock said that the pieces that came off early did not seem to be very big, judging from the light reflected off them. ''For us to find something that far back along the path, I think it's going to have to be a pretty substantial piece of the shuttle itself,'' he said.
''That's a lot of area to be looking,'' Hallock said. ''We have the Grand Canyon area and all of the areas of Southern California, the mountainous area and stuff like this.'' In their second press conference in as many weeks, the board members also said that they are not persuaded that the debris that hit the left wing shortly after liftoff on Jan. 16 was insulating foam from the external fuel tank. It is possible that the debris was ice or a much heavier coating material beneath the foam, they said. Hallock said the suspected breach in Columbia's left wing had to have been bigger than a pinhole, in order to allow the superheated gases surrounding the ship to penetrate the hull. The board said it will hold its first public hearing next week to listen to specialists from outside the US government who have theories about what destroyed the shuttle. The hearing will be Feb. 27, but the location has not yet been decided. The board has been criticized by some US lawmakers as being too closely tied to NASA. ''We will invite experts who are not associated with any US government program who have theories or hypotheses, who have written to us or provided research documents, to express to us their opinions,'' said board chairman Harold Gehman Jr., a retired Navy admiral. ''That way we get input . . . not by any government agency.''
This story ran on page A7 of the Boston Globe on 2/19/2003.
|
|
|
|
|
|
© Copyright 2003 New York Times Company |
|||||||
OUSTON -- Space shuttle Columbia began losing pieces over the California coast well before it disintegrated over Texas, the accident investigation board reported yesterday, confirming what astronomers and amateur skywatchers have been saying. But board member James Hallock, a physicist and chief of the US Transportation Department's aviation safety division, said the fragments were probably so small they burned up before reaching the ground.
