Air Force imagery confirms Columbia wing damaged

Spaceflightnow.com ^ | 02/07/03 | CRAIG COVAULT

[Truth29]

Is there a NASA press conference today?

[Brookhaven]

We wouldn't be having this controversy over the foam had NASA notified the shuttle of the incident. They could have inspected the wing while they were in orbit to determine if there was any damage.

I don't buy the theory that they didn't notify them because there isn't anything they could have done about it. Even if they couldn't have affected repairs, they could have waited until another shuttle was sent to bring them down (they were scheduled for 18 days, they could have stretched that quite a bit if they were careful.) I find it hard to believe that NASA (working night and day on an emergency basis) couldn't get another shuttle up there in 3 weeks.

At the very least, if you are going to fly a crippled ship home, you at least have the right to know that so you have some time to wrap things up should things go for the worse (as they did here.)

[Ditto]

From reading this article, I came to exactly the opposite conclusion.

Put on your heat resistant tiles -- you will be flamed. The "experts" here have already concluded that the insulation caused it and NASA is in total cover-up mode.

[Cold Heat]

Excellent report...

The data base is growing, however the cause has yet to be determined.

One think that comes directly to mind. The wing, if damaged initially after launch on the leading edge located near the body of the fuselage, is dang near directly under the opening of the shuttle bay and should have been visable to anyone looking at the wing.

Someone correct me if I am wrong.

[hopespringseternal]

We wouldn't be having this controversy over the foam had NASA notified the shuttle of the incident. They could have inspected the wing while they were in orbit to determine if there was any damage.

NASA apparently did notify them because they did what they could to inspect the wing, but the underside was inaccessible. There were no MMUs on board, and no way to get under the wing without one.

[leadpenny]

Is there a NASA press conference today?

Yes, both live on C-SPAN. 11:30 for the Washington Press Conference and 4:30 for Houston. Eastern Time

[mewzilla]

Is this the only AF photography out there? Was there any done while the shuttle was still in orbit?

[aristeides]

FYI. I heard on the radio this morning that the investigation is being taken away from NASA.

[mewzilla]

Gee, I wonder why.

[Chad Fairbanks]

I suppose the question I should ask is, who the hell ever thought that the Russians never had any losses? I'm still not convinced that Yuri Gagarin made it back alive... course, I never did trust teh old Soviet Union to ever be truthful, so call me a skeptic... ;0)

[dtel]

I'm with you.
From the video, it also seems the foams strikes the underside of the wing, not the junction at the wing and fuselage.

[Mr. Bird]

Even if they couldn't have affected repairs, they could have waited until another shuttle was sent to bring them down (they were scheduled for 18 days, they could have stretched that quite a bit if they were careful.) I find it hard to believe that NASA (working night and day on an emergency basis) couldn't get another shuttle up there in 3 weeks.

I heard a NASA rep explain the reasons they couldn't. I believe the crux of the rescue issue was that, unlike castaways on an island, rationing in space is not as easy. There's no effective means (on the shuttle I guess) to maintain adequate air supply for too long. If it were just a matter of food and water, yes, they could string it out.

In addition, they would be running the risk of compounding the problem with another accident. Remember, the incident during launch had not been even close to resolution. They would be scrambling to launch another shuttle without necessarily knowing what happened to Columbia. High risk.

[TheJollyRoger]

All your series hugh blunders ARE belong to us!

[Trust but Verify]

I understand the crew DID know about the foam impact and accepted the analysts opinion that there was no significant structural damage. I'm sure someone will tell me if I'm wrong.

[Cold Heat]

But the photos of the foam striking the wing during lift-off show the foam striking farther out on the wing. This makes me tend to agree with NASA's decision to keep looking rather than settle for the foam damage explanation.

Well worth repeating, over and over again.

I concur and have viewed and studied the loop. It looks like it hit the back side at a narrow angle(maybe 2 or 3 degrees.)

It definitely hit toward the center of the wing span, and at a relatively low speed, contrary to many. (maybe 100MPH)

If this is correct, the new pics indicate that the foam did not damage the craft.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Is ground based photog normal ops ?

I thnk it was a photo of opportunity, based on the Shuttle's flight path. The facility at White Sands has one of the best CCD (digital camera) telescopes in the world which the Air Force uses to look at sattelites as well as track asteroids, they've almost tripled (I think) the number of asteroids identified.

[leadpenny]

Darn! I can't even get that right.

[csvset]

Columbia USAF photo discussion ping

[mewzilla]

FOX reported this morning that one of the astronauts was concerned about the damage and mentioned it to a family member.

[dtel]

Dittemore plainly stated, they brought in the Astronaut reps and talked over the situation with them.
The crew obviously knew what was going on.