NASA again reporting as simplistically naive, and/or politically correct as possible, maybe those 4(?) astronauts took their gloves or helmet off because they were still alive and slowly burning to death in the long-intact crew compartment. That also would leave evidence that they had suffocated and not burned to death.
from FLORIDA TODAY By John Kelly
... "The report did not provide specific details about how the crew died or how long the seven might have survived, only that the compartment was intact for almost a minute longer than the rest of the ship.
In general, the report said the astronauts did not burn to death. They died from suffocation when the cabin did finally rip apart and from the force of colliding with other objects at incredibly high speeds as the wreckage fell to the ground.
The report also recommended future crews be carefully trained to wear all of their protective gear. The forensic review showed three of the seven astronauts were not wearing their gloves and one was not wearing a helmet. The report said, however, that none of that would have increased the astronauts' chances of surviving the Columbia break-up."
I have been researching the Columbia disaster since soon after it happened. Although my conclusions disagree with the official investigation I am not now nor ever have been a conspiracty theorist. I believe that I am simply someone who has stumbled on to something.
I have not posted anything I could not prove through engineering methods or by sound reasoning. I do not expect anyone to accept all or any of what I have posted and I present it only as an alternative to the official conclusions.
http://www.columbiassacrifice.com
I sometimes forget to wear my seatbelt in the car but I refuse to believe, with all of the checklists on the shuttle, that one of the astronauts did not have their helmet on.