spacetoday.net: space news from around the webin association with SpaceNews


Hunt for debris shifts west
Posted: Wed, Feb 5, 2003, 8:23 AM ET (1323 GMT)
STS-107 patch (NASA) NASA said late Tuesday that is checking out reports of possible shuttle debris as far west as California and Arizona in the hopes of determining what led to the destruction of Columbia. Investigators have been dispatched to several locations in those two western states to check out reports of possible tiles or other debris that may have fallen from the shuttle. If true, that debris could give investigators new insights into the earliest stages of the problems Columbia encountered during reentry. Searchers in eastern Texas and western Louisiana continue to find debris from the orbiter, including portions of the crew cabin in Texas and possible main engine debris in Louisiana. Forensics experts have identified the remains of at least one crew member, Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon. NASA is continuing to work under the assumption that a chunk of insulation and/or ice that fell from the external tank during launch is the root cause of the problem. However, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that NASA is also considering the possibility that the shuttle was struck in orbit by a piece of orbital debris, an event that is considered relatively unlikely but cannot yet be ruled out. Several publications reported Tuesday that NASA was warned as early as 1990 and 1994 that relatively small areas of tiles on the underside of the orbiter posed the greatest risk to the shuttle if damaged.
<<previous article   next article>>
news in brief
Space Force adds Rocket Lab and Stoke Space to NSSL contract
Posted: Sun, Mar 30 9:19 AM ET (1319 GMT)

Cygnus departs from ISS
Posted: Sun, Mar 30 9:14 AM ET (1314 GMT)

Vulcan Centaur certified for national security launches
Posted: Sun, Mar 30 9:10 AM ET (1310 GMT)

news links
Tuesday, April 1
Man who flew drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base sentenced
KSBY-TV San Luis Obispo, CA — 6:08 am ET (1008 GMT)


about spacetoday.net   ·   info@spacetoday.net   ·   mailing list