According to a poll by CNN and Time magazine, published at the end of the week, 71% of respondents said that the risk of human life involved in the shuttle program was worthwhile. According to a survey by CBS News, 75% of the respondents said that the ferry program should be continued * Nine cases of looting of the ruins of the Columbia * The investigative committee will also consist of citizens
More than 7 out of 10 Americans think that the risk of human life involved in the space shuttle program is worthwhile, and that it should continue. This, according to surveys done after the Columbia ferry broke up.
According to a poll by CNN and Time magazine, published at the end of the week, 71% of respondents said that the risk of human life involved in the shuttle program was worthwhile. According to a CBS News poll, 75% of respondents said the shuttle program should continue.
According to the CBS poll, most respondents said the shuttle program contributes greatly to the nation's sense of honor and patriotism, and about a third think it contributes greatly to science. Most of the respondents also expressed relative satisfaction with the resources the government invests in the space program.
9 cases of suspected looting of Columbia relics
NASA announced at the end of the week that it is close to determining whether the fragment of the large wing found near Fort Worth, Texas, belongs to the left wing, which, according to one explanation, heated up at the beginning of the shuttle's landing process and led to its disintegration. The fragment, which includes many insulation tiles, may hold the key to the question of which of the tiles fell or did not withstand the heat load. In the meantime, many possibilities are being examined - starting with one of the insulation foam tiles on the left wing being hit seconds after takeoff, ice hitting the wing, the shuttle entering the atmosphere at a wrong angle, the shuttle being hit by "space debris", to an electrical event similar to a lightning strike.
In Nacdoches County in Texas, where most of the remains of the ferry were scattered, the number of reports of additional parts found has decreased since the end of the "amnesty" period on Friday, during which it was possible to hand over found remains without fear of investigation. In recent days, nine cases of suspected looting of Columbian relics were discovered in the province, cases that will be handed over to the federal authorities.
The "New York Times" reported yesterday that the committee to investigate the shuttle disaster decided to also contact external laboratories and experts to check the technical work carried out by NASA and the contracting companies it employed. This, after several members of Congress and scientists outside of NASA argued that the space agency should not be allowed to investigate itself, and demanded that the review committee include experts not affiliated with NASA or the military
