Remains of insulation tiles were discovered on the fragment of the left wing. The discovery may help NASA in the investigation
NASA researchers announced tonight (Tuesday) that on the fragment of the left wing, found yesterday in Texas, remains of insulation tiles, designed to protect the shuttle from overheating, were discovered. The discovery may help significantly in the investigation which focuses on this wing as the main cause of the crash. In addition, NASA said that one of the 300 boxes monitoring the spacecraft's systems was discovered.
Natan Gutman, Haaretz's envoy to Washington, adds: NASA researchers are now investigating the possibility that the space shuttle "Columbia" was damaged on the second day of its flight, a crisis of "space junk" (remnants of satellites and spacecraft) and that it was this damage that led to the damage to the left wing's function.
This investigation began after it became clear that photographs taken by the military agency, which is responsible for tracking satellites and debris moving in space, revealed that a day after the launch of the shuttle, that is on January 17, some part was seen to detach from the shuttle and fly into space. This part may be a piece of "space junk", but it may also be a detachment of an insulation tile or another part of the shuttle, as a result of the damage suffered by the space vehicle during launch. Another possibility is that what we see in the photo is nothing but a piece of ice falling from the shuttle. The body that detached from the shuttle moves at a speed of 5 meters per second.
NASA experts are checking the data that was transmitted from the shuttle at the time it was detected falling, to see if there is any evidence that the entire shuttle was shaken or moving at that moment. If evidence of such a shock is found, it could be a sign that some object did hit the shuttle.
From the tests conducted by NASA in the last four years, it appears that an impact of any object, whether it is a meteorite or "space junk" in the leading edge area ("attack edge" in the professional parlance) of the wing, may cause the loss of the entire shuttle. The tests, the existence of which was revealed yesterday in the "New York Times", found that the leading edge area, which is made of lightweight material, is particularly sensitive to impact.
The NASA investigation did not deal with the possibility of a low-speed debris impact, such as the impact of the piece of insulation foam 80 seconds after liftoff, and therefore the impact report was not taken into account when NASA engineers tried to assess the significance of the impact for the future of the shuttle mission.
An alien body hit Columbia on the second day of its spaceflight
A new hypothesis in the investigation of the Columbia shuttle crash: the Pentagon's radar detected a foreign body moving towards the shuttle, already on its second day in space.
According to a new direction, it is possible that the same foreign object hit the shuttle - it is not yet clear if it is a satellite fragment, a missile from "space junk", or a small meteorite.
The object seen in the images could be many things, from fragments, a small meteorite, a piece of the shuttle or simply the sewage and garbage that the astronauts usually throw from the shuttle - NASA personnel said.
"The simplest answer is we don't know what it was, but we're looking into it thoroughly," NASA spokesman John Ira Petty told reporters at the Johnson Space Center. NASA scientists are investigating whether Columbia was shaken while the object was seen moving away from it. Something that may indicate damage to the shuttle's body, which could explain the explosion that occurred upon entering the atmosphere.
The photos were taken by the North American Aerospace Defense Command, based at Patterson Air Force Base in Colorado. The command monitors satellites and objects in space that may collide with the shuttle while they are on mission in space, and warns the crews about dangerous objects. The information released today is a new direction in the investigation into the crash of NASA's oldest space shuttle. The first direction investigated is the impact that the shuttle's left wing received 80 seconds after takeoff, from insulating material that was detached from one of its fuel tanks. The agency's scientists are unable to decide whether the vulnerability was severe enough to explain the shuttle's flaring up upon entering the atmosphere.
It is possible that the impact of the foreign body was so "soft" that it was not felt by the shuttle's crew or computer. But such an impact may be strong enough to injure the shuttle's hull. The groove caused by the impact could have expanded and introduced the enormous heat caused by the friction in the layers of the atmosphere - about 2800 degrees - into the shuttle.
NASA will hand over the collected findings to external laboratories and will also employ independent experts in the investigation of the disaster. Also, all preparatory actions for the flight into space and the work done on the shuttle in preparation for it will be carefully examined. This is because there is a growing demand in the US that NASA not investigate itself about what happened.
However, at this stage the space agency researchers do not have enough data to determine the meaning of the radar image that came into their hands. The estimate given yesterday was that one of the 9000 pieces of satellites and missiles left in space at the end of their activity, the size of a baseball or tennis ball, is the one that "jumped" near the shuttle, passed through it - and was picked up by the radar.
The direction of the investigation on this subject did not definitively rule out other possibilities that are still being examined and researched.
A box that monitored the "Columbia" systems and insulation tiles from the left wing were discovered
Remains of insulation tiles were discovered on the fragment of the left wing. The discovery may help NASA in the investigation
11.2.2003
By: Avi Blizovsky
Shuttle wing structure
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NASA researchers announced tonight (Tuesday) that on the fragment of the left wing, found yesterday in Texas, remains of insulation tiles, designed to protect the shuttle from overheating, were discovered. The discovery may help significantly in the investigation which focuses on this wing as the main cause of the crash. In addition, NASA said that one of the 300 boxes monitoring the spacecraft's systems was discovered.
Natan Gutman, Haaretz's envoy to Washington, adds: NASA researchers are now investigating the possibility that the space shuttle "Columbia" was damaged on the second day of its flight, a crisis of "space junk" (remnants of satellites and spacecraft) and that it was this damage that led to the damage to the left wing's function.
This investigation began after it became clear that photographs taken by the military agency, which is responsible for tracking satellites and debris moving in space, revealed that a day after the launch of the shuttle, that is on January 17, some part was seen to detach from the shuttle and fly into space. This part may be a piece of "space junk", but it may also be a detachment of an insulation tile or another part of the shuttle, as a result of the damage suffered by the space vehicle during launch. Another possibility is that what we see in the photo is nothing but a piece of ice falling from the shuttle. The body that detached from the shuttle moves at a speed of 5 meters per second.
NASA experts are checking the data that was transmitted from the shuttle at the time it was detected falling, to see if there is any evidence that the entire shuttle was shaken or moving at that moment. If evidence of such a shock is found, it could be a sign that some object did hit the shuttle.
From the tests conducted by NASA in the last four years, it appears that an impact of any object, whether it is a meteorite or "space junk" in the leading edge area ("attack edge" in the professional parlance) of the wing, may cause the loss of the entire shuttle. The tests, the existence of which was revealed yesterday in the "New York Times", found that the leading edge area, which is made of lightweight material, is particularly sensitive to impact.
The NASA investigation did not deal with the possibility of a low-speed debris impact, such as the impact of the piece of insulation foam 80 seconds after liftoff, and therefore the impact report was not taken into account when NASA engineers tried to assess the significance of the impact for the future of the shuttle mission.
An alien body hit Columbia on the second day of its spaceflight
A new hypothesis in the investigation of the Columbia shuttle crash: the Pentagon's radar detected a foreign body moving towards the shuttle, already on its second day in space.
According to a new direction, it is possible that the same foreign object hit the shuttle - it is not yet clear if it is a satellite fragment, a missile from "space junk", or a small meteorite.
The object seen in the images could be many things, from fragments, a small meteorite, a piece of the shuttle or simply the sewage and garbage that the astronauts usually throw from the shuttle - NASA personnel said.
"The simplest answer is we don't know what it was, but we're looking into it thoroughly," NASA spokesman John Ira Petty told reporters at the Johnson Space Center. NASA scientists are investigating whether Columbia was shaken while the object was seen moving away from it. Something that may indicate damage to the shuttle's body, which could explain the explosion that occurred upon entering the atmosphere.
The photos were taken by the North American Aerospace Defense Command, based at Patterson Air Force Base in Colorado. The command monitors satellites and objects in space that may collide with the shuttle while they are on mission in space, and warns the crews about dangerous objects. The information released today is a new direction in the investigation into the crash of NASA's oldest space shuttle. The first direction investigated is the impact that the shuttle's left wing received 80 seconds after takeoff, from insulating material that was detached from one of its fuel tanks. The agency's scientists are unable to decide whether the vulnerability was severe enough to explain the shuttle's flaring up upon entering the atmosphere.
It is possible that the impact of the foreign body was so "soft" that it was not felt by the shuttle's crew or computer. But such an impact may be strong enough to injure the shuttle's hull. The groove caused by the impact could have expanded and introduced the enormous heat caused by the friction in the layers of the atmosphere - about 2800 degrees - into the shuttle.
NASA will hand over the collected findings to external laboratories and will also employ independent experts in the investigation of the disaster. Also, all preparatory actions for the flight into space and the work done on the shuttle in preparation for it will be carefully examined. This is because there is a growing demand in the US that NASA not investigate itself about what happened.
However, at this stage the space agency researchers do not have enough data to determine the meaning of the radar image that came into their hands. The estimate given yesterday was that one of the 9000 pieces of satellites and missiles left in space at the end of their activity, the size of a baseball or tennis ball, is the one that "jumped" near the shuttle, passed through it - and was picked up by the radar.
The direction of the investigation on this subject did not definitively rule out other possibilities that are still being examined and researched.
Yesterday, the American magazine "Aviation Week" published a new discovery in the ferry crash case. According to the report, the shuttle was photographed from the ground a minute before it crashed. The photographs show that there was serious damage to the left wing near the body of the shuttle.
A control camera of the US Air Force took the picture from the ground at the last moment. A spokeswoman for the US Air Force base in New Mexico confirmed that telescopes at the base took several pictures of the shuttle, and they were handed over to NASA. According to her, the space agency ordered the officers at the base not to give any more details.
The magazine, which specializes in space and flight technology, reported that the shuttle was photographed in very high quality. The American base has telescopes capable of taking very sharp pictures of satellites orbiting the Earth, and even a satellite, which is about 30 centimeters in size, can be spotted from a distance of about a thousand kilometers.
Shuttle wing structure
