Posted: Fri, Feb 28, 2003, 9:09 PM ET (0209 GMT)
NASA released Friday a 13-minute segment of videotape shot on the flight deck of the shuttle Columbia during the initial stages of reentry, before any problems were noticed. The video, recovered in the debris from the orbiter, covers the early part of reentry, from 8:35 to 8:48 am EST. The video camera was initially mounted in the right front corner of the flight deck, facing pilot Willie McCool; it was later detached and handed to Laurel Clark, who held the camera and filmed both activities within the cabin as well as the view outside the orbiter as it encountered the upper regions of the atmosphere. The video showed no evidence of concern among the four astronauts on the flight deck. The video ends four minutes before telemetry showed the first evidence of any problems with Columbia; filming likely continued after the video ends, but the tape was damaged and no further data could be salvaged from it. NASA revealed the existence of the video earlier this week and released it after first showing it to the families of the astronauts.

Related Links:

•  Spaceflight Now article
•  Reuters article
•  AP article
•  CNN article