spacetoday.net: NASA considering possibility of orbital debris impact on Columbia

Posted: Sun, Feb 9, 2003, 11:44 AM ET (1644 GMT)
STS-107 patch (NASA)

NASA investigators said Saturday that they are checking radar data which indicates a piece of orbital debris may struck the shuttle Columbia while in orbit last month. According to published reports, Defense Department radar data shows that a small object separated from the shuttle on January 17, one day after launch, at a relative velocity of five meters per second. Officials said they don't know if this object is ice from a scheduled water dump from the orbiter, a piece of hardware that inadvertently separated from the shuttle, or if it is debris from an impact by a piece of space junk. Last week NASA left open the possibility that an orbital debris impact could have damaged the shuttle's left wing in such a way to cause the reentry accident, but at that time the focus of the investigation was on a chunk of foam that fell from the shuttle's external tank during launch and struck the left wing.