Video shows shuttle may have shed debris over Arizona - check out this video taken by amateurs

The Dallas Morning News ^ | February 3, 2003 | By BYRON HARRIS / WFAA-TV

[MeekOneGOP]

Video shows shuttle may have shed debris over Arizona

02/04/2003

By BYRON HARRIS / WFAA-TV

NEWS 8 EXCLUSIVE

There is now dramatic new evidence that the shuttle Columbia may have been in trouble before it disintegrated over Texas.

The spacecraft's demise may have begun much farther west - captured on tape in Arizona.

The sky over Wupatki National Monument was still dark Saturday morning when Scott and Chris Valentine got up early to shoot pictures of Columbia en route to a landing in Florida.

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	Video: Amateur tape could hold clues

The Valentines were space fans, so they knew where the shuttle was supposed to be at a given time, and when it was supposed to fly overhead. When it was first sighted, they were initially ecstatic.

"That is cool ... it's cool," their voices can be heard saying on the videotape. "There are seven people in that thing!"

For a few grand seconds it was a space buff's dream: a dot of energy moving eastward into the dawn.

WFAA-TV

Amateur tape shows what appears to be an object breaking off Columbia over Arizona.

Then, as the young phtographer zoomed in for a final shot, the excitement turned to shock as a piece appeared to drop off the spacecraft.

"Look at the chunks falling off of it," said a voice on the tape. "What the heck is that?"

Columbia then sped out of view into the sunrise - and to its disintegration.

Minutes earlier, in California, two amateur astronomers took still photos as the shuttle passed over them. Their shots show a thickening of Columbia's contrail in two places, as if something may have dropped off there as well.

NASA said it has talked to witnesses in California about debris there. Now, this exclusive video may be a major piece in a puzzle that now has thousands of pieces.

"If we find any tile or structure upsteram of Fort Worth, New Mexico (or) Arizona - if that exists - that is extremely important to us," said NASA's Ron Dittemore.

In the video, it was dark because the sun rises east to west, and it was not yet fully light in Arizona.

But, visible in the corner of the video was the time of day - corresponding to 7:55 a.m. Dallas time, just a few minutes before the shuttle flew over Dallas.

The tape has now been turned over to NASA investigators.

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/latestnews/stories/wfaa030203_am_azvideo.1d7ff605.html

[djf]

Ive been watching the NASA conferences with MP71. Never had a single "buffering....", not once was there an audio dropout.

[Lion's Cub]

It's interesting that they placed a gag on discussion. Maybe there was something experimental, either on or in the craft, that is a secret--that they think might have contributed to whatever happened.

[LoneGOPinCT]

Thanks for the ping Meek. Interesting stuff, seems like a significant clue. At least to a layman like myself. Hopefully this (and other amateur shots/video) will provide NASA with some real good clues as to what transpired.

[LoneGOPinCT]

Anyone know if it exists anywhere in non-REAL format? I dumped REAL for Windoze Media Player 7.

There was a link in a thread yesterday that was in Media Player format so I couldn't view it. I'll see if I can find it, otherwise try scanning some of the threads (it may have been in the big 3000+ post one). I'm sure someone here will beat me to it anyways.

[MeekOneGOP]

Here is a very good view of the incident of suspected damage to the tiles during liftoff, fyi:

Very close-up, slo-mo of the Columbia launch debris

It's a very friendly htm file, btw.
Sorry I don't have a windows media version of the amateurs video...

[csvset]

...pics of the orbiter that were taken by the AF while it was up

Hmmmm...... the question "couldn't they have taken a photo of Columbia while it was in orbit" came up early in this tragedy. Several posters derided anyone who brought that subject up.

[Cold Heat]

For those that do not have REAL, MSNBC has run the best footage I have seen this morning, and I thought I saw it all. It is real close and shows the details. Even the redish rusty color of the dust as it exits and there was a piece of insulation that was not totally destroyed.

Looks like it hit about the middle of the wing. They ran it about three times so far on IMUS>

[Cold Heat]

News people asked that question. The answer was that the detail would not be helpful to assess the damage.

[djf]

Local tv is reporting they have found debris in Arizona. If they find tiles, they'll have a better idea of the first point of failure.

[Cold Heat]

The debris would have to be tiles or there is a lot more to this breakup.

If it is a access door etc. The insulation likely did not totally cause this.

[djf]

I'd hate to see another multi-year suspension of flights. I think they need to address the tile-fix-in-orbit problem, and do something about the insulation, but I think the remaining shuttles are very spaceworthy now.

Face it, few people drive cars older than Columbia was.

[dtel]

It has been my contention, that the trouble indeed started in CA or earlier and there should be a small debris field across the western states, prior to Dallas and the imminent explosion.
The CA astronomer is no kook and knew what he was seeing.
As far as the damage, what can they do?
If they were indeed damaged, all they could do was attempt to come home.
That was the only option.

[Cold Heat]

I have discovered a few interesting things about Columbia.

It was the oldest f course but was also the most problem ridden. The left wing heating and left side heating problems are mentioned early in the program. Special equipment and cameras were once installed to observe and correct it.

Also, the tile arrangement was different on the trailing edges of the wings.

[Cold Heat]

That was the only option

I agree. Even if they suspected damage by the insulation, they have about three and a half minutes to make the abort call. Re-entry was a certainty and the die was cast.

[djf]

There was a still photo broadcast yesterday that showed damage on a previous flight, where it had lost a number of tiles. Burned about an 8-12 inch hole into the infrastructure. Don't know if it was Columbia or not.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

The video at that link seems to have been removed. There are no links or pics on that page. Odd.

[lodwick]

Great link - thanks.

[csvset]

I have to wonder what the quality of any pics the AF took was? Why were they taking pics and what in particular where they photgraphing? Do they take pics of all space shuttle flights? If so, who requires them or requested them to? Can the public see these pics?

For some reason, I wouldn't think the AF would take low quality pics, what would the purpose of that be ?

These are questions I'd like someone to ask the folks at NASA.

[Cold Heat]

I believe that was ST86. It had about 108 damaged tiles but still landed. This is when they discovered the insulation problem. They have had the crew photograph the tank on separation ever since.

They changed the tank design shorty after to the light tanke. This tank that they flew the other day was one of two remaining heavy tanks in inventory.

It seems to me that many things may have contributed to the shuttles demise. Not just the insulation drop.

[dtel]

I would also like to know what efforts are being made out west to identify and retrieve debris.
It seems anything found out west would shed greater light on what failed first.
By the time it got in my neck of the woods it had already exploded and was in pieces.