STS-107 MCC Status Report #20; Sunday, February 2, 2003 - 8:30 p.m. CST

Aided by federal and local agencies, NASA stepped up its inquiry into the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia and its seven astronauts. Multiple investigative teams continue to pore over engineering data in an effort to uncover the cause of the breakup of the orbiter over Texas on Saturday 16 minutes from landing.

Space Shuttle Program Manager Ron Dittemore (right) told an afternoon briefing that a Mishap Response Team is gathering data from numerous engineering teams in the early stages of the investigation and is receiving assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and local law enforcement agencies, among others.

Dittemore said that as Commander Rick Husband, Pilot William McCool, Mission Specialists Dave Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Mike Anderson, Laurel Clark and Israeli Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon are mourned, the recovery of debris from Columbia and human remains is being coordinated at Barksdale Air Force Base, La.

Dittemore thanked residents in the areas where debris fell after Columbia’s breakup for cooperating in the recovery effort but cautioned them not to handle debris that could contain toxic substances.

Dittemore reconstructed the final minutes of Columbia’s flight before communications was lost. He reiterated the failure of four temperature sensors associated with the shuttle’s left hand elevons at 7:53 a.m. CST Saturday amidst a 20-30 degree rise in left hand bondline and strut temperatures over a five-minute period near the left wheel well of the orbiter. Columbia was flying over California at the time at an altitude of about 220,000 feet traveling 21 times the speed of sound.

One minute later, over the region of eastern California and western Nevada, Columbia’s mid-fuselage bondline temperatures above the left wing experienced an unusual temperature increase. It rose 60 degrees over a five-minute period. No such temperature increase was noted on the right side of Columbia or in the Shuttle’s cargo bay. Columbia was about 212,000 feet above the Earth, flying at Mach 20.

At 7:58 a.m. over New Mexico, telemetry showed a larger than normal drag on the left side of the shuttle, and an indication of an increase in pressure in the left main landing gear tires. Dittemore said the data suggests the tires remained intact. Columbia’s altitude was 209,000 feet.

At 7:59 a.m. over west Texas, the data showed Columbia continuing to react to an increased drag on its left side, trying to correct the movement by rolling back to the right. Dittemore said the response of the orbiter was well within its capability to handle such maneuvers.

At that time, seconds before 8 a.m. CST, all communications was lost with Columbia as it flew at an altitude of 207,000 feet, 18 times the speed of sound.

Dittemore indicated that ground computers may contain an additional 32 seconds of data which could provide additional information in the analysis of Columbia’s breakup.

He added that the loss of some foam insulation from Columbia’s external fuel tank, which struck the shuttle’s left wing about 80 seconds after launch was “inconsequential” based on video imagery review conducted by engineering specialists. However, he said nothing has been ruled out as a possible cause for the accident.

Robert Cabana, the Director of Flight Crew Operations at the Johnson Space Center, relayed thanks from the families of the astronauts for the outpouring of support received from around the nation and the world.

Cabana said that the Expedition 6 crewmembers aboard the International Space Station are “grieving” for the loss of Columbia’s crew, but are in good spirits as they continue human spaceflight and scientific research aboard the orbital outpost. Cabana said Commander Ken Bowersox, Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin and NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit are preparing for Tuesday’s arrival of a Russian Progress cargo ship. Progress 10 was launched this morning from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

On Tuesday, Feb. 4, President and Mrs. Bush will join NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe at the Johnson Space Center to pay tribute to Columbia’s astronauts during a special memorial service. The ceremony to honor Columbia’s seven crewmembers is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on NASA Television. The service is not open to the public.

STS-107 Report #21 Monday, Feb. 3, 2003 - 7:00 p.m. CST 

NASA engineers continued to review data and recover debris from the Space Shuttle Columbia today as the analysis of what caused the orbiter to break up Saturday en route to landing continued.

Space Shuttle Program Manager Ron Dittemore told an afternoon briefing that several teams of engineers are making progress in their study of data and video from Columbia's launch and entry, but cautioned that it is a "massive job" requiring round-the-clock efforts to piece together the events that led to a loss of communications with the Shuttle over north central Texas 16 minutes prior to touchdown.

Still, Dittemore said NASA would pause Tuesday for a memorial ceremony at the Johnson Space Center at 1:00 p.m. EST to honor the lives and the memory of Columbia's astronauts, Rick Husband, William McCool, Dave Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Mike Anderson, Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon. President and Mrs. Bush will join NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe at JSC for the memorial which is closed to the public, but which will be broadcast on NASA Television.

Dittemore said the memorial represents an opportunity to take time to remember the sacrifice of the astronauts, to mourn them and to "remember our friends."

Dittemore offered additional and refined information regarding the timeline of events that led to Columbia's breakup on Saturday (all times CST):

• At 7:52 a.m. CST, three-left main gear brake line temperature sensors showed an unusual rise in the left wheel well area.
• At 7:53 a.m., a fourth left brake line strut actuator temperature sensor showed a 30-40 degree rise in temperature over a five-minute period, slightly higher than reported yesterday.
• At 7:55 a.m., A fifth left brake line main gear sensor showed a sharp rise in temperature.
• At 7:57 a.m., left wing temperature sensors failed "off-scale low", meaning no further data was being received on the ground.
• And at 7:59 a.m., just before communications was lost with Columbia, there was evidence of drag on the aerosurfaces of the left wing, causing two out of four yaw steering jets in that area of the Shuttle to fire for 1.5 seconds to counteract the increased drag.

Dittemore said more time will be needed to retrieve an additional 32 seconds of data acquired by ground computers after communications was lost with Columbia to see if it is useful to the inquiry. He said engineers would go directly to the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System ground station hub in White Sands, New Mexico to collect and analyze that data in its pristine form.

Although the investigative teams have a "high interest" in the left hand wheel well area of Columbia, Dittemore cautioned that a temperature increase there does not indicate that a structural problem occurred as a factor in the vehicle's breakup. In fact, Dittemore said the data suggests that "something else" may have been happening at the time, not indicative of a structural breach.

Responding to inquiries regarding a piece of foam insulation which fell off Columbia's external fuel tank about 80 seconds after launch that struck the left wing of the Shuttle, Dittemore said imagery analysis showed that the foam measured about 20 inches by 16 inches by 6 inches and weighed about 2.67 pounds. He reiterated that engineering analysis conducted during the flight concluded for NASA managers that although the foam might have caused some structural damage to the wing area, it would not have been sufficient to cause a catastrophic event.

"There is some other missing link contributing to this event," Dittemore said. We are extremely interested in seeing any debris that may have fallen upstream of the main impact area," referring to any additional debris which might be recovered in an area to the west of Texas.

Earlier today, former President George H.W. Bush and Mrs. Barbara Bush visited the International Space Station flight control room at the Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX to pay their respects to the flight controllers and to the Expedition 6 crew aboard the orbital complex.

The former president told Expedition 6 Commander Ken Bowersox, Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin and NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit that President Bush relayed his "full confidence in the space program" in a conversation with the elder Bush Sunday. The former president told the crew the men and women of NASA were showing "great courage" in the wake of the accident.

Bowersox, Budarin and Pettit spent the day preparing for the docking of a Russian Progress resupply vehicle to the ISS Tuesday at 9:50 a.m. EST. The new cargo ship, which contains a ton of food, fuel and supplies for the crew, was successfully launched Sunday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. NASA TV coverage of the Progress docking to the ISS begins at 9 a.m. CST Tuesday.

FMI: www.spaceflight.nasa.gov