Nasa memo warned of damage to shuttle
David Teather in New York
Tuesday February 4, 2003
The Guardian
guardian.co.uk
Nasa officials were warned of a large gash on the heat protection
tiles on the Columbia in an internal memo two days before the
space shuttle broke apart in the skies above Texas.
The memo, which emerged yesterday, raised troubling
questions about whether anything could have been done to
prevent the disaster that claimed the lives of all seven astronauts
on board on Saturday morning.
The warning, first reported on the US news network MSNBC,
was from a Nasa engineer who said there was a 76 x 19cm (30
x 7.5in) area of damaged or missing tiles on the left wing. At
least one tile was totally gone, the memo said. Video footage
appeared to show a substantial dent in the wing.
A key focus of investigations is a piece of insulation foam that
tore off a large external engine and collided with the left wing 80
seconds after launch and may have exposed the metal skin
beneath the tiles. The craft is covered with thousands of tiles to
resist the searing heat of re-entry.
Shortly before the shuttle broke up, Nasa computers had
recorded a 15.5C (60F) spike in temperature on the left-hand
side of the craft and reported a drag on the wing, indicating a
damaged or missing tile.
At a briefing in Washington, Nasa's deputy administrator,
General Michael Kostelnik, said the space agency would
re-examine the memo. But he reiterated comments that Nasa
has made since the disaster three days ago that "the best and
the brightest" in mission control in Houston, Texas, had studied
the incident during launch and decided it had not presented any
danger to the shuttle.
The internal memo, pointing to the gash, said it presented "no
burn through and no safety of flight issues".
Gen Kostelnik said: "This is not a new phenomenon. We have
seen this happen before and in no other case has there been a
major safety issue."
Nasa is still looking at other possible avenues, including
problems with the structure of the craft or navigation controls,
but has conceded that early evidence pointed to a "thermal"
problem as the Columbia faced temperatures of 1,650C
(3,000F).
Bill Readdy, an associate administrator, said: "Everyone has
leaped to the conclusion that was the cause. I'm not ready to
say that." But he added: "That is certainly the leading candidate
right now."
Nasa maintains that little could have been done to repair the
tiles even if they had been felt to be a potential hazard. A space
walk to examine the area underneath the wing could have
caused further damage, the agency said.
The search for clues will include a further 32 seconds of data
from the moments before the Columbia disintegrated. The data
came in a flawed signal but engineers are attempting to
interrogate it to get a better idea of what happened. The head of
Nasa, Sean O'Keafe, briefed President George Bush on
developments in the investigation.
Yesterday there was continued criticism of cuts to Nasa's
budgets that some former astronauts have claimed may have
put missions in jeopardy. |
