Posted on 02/20/2003 9:25:44 PM PST by TLBSHOW
NASA Searches Nev. for Columbia Debris
NASA Says Radar Tracked Columbia Debris Falling Into Eastern Nevada Near Utah Border
LAS VEGAS Feb. 20 — NASA said late Thursday that what is believed to be debris from space shuttle Columbia was tracked falling into eastern Nevada by air traffic control radar.
The sheriff in Lincoln County, Nev., said NASA officials requested his department begin searching the rural county near the Utah border.
"They just said they had tracked it by radar and gave us a projected point of impact," Sheriff Dahl Bradfield said.
Imagery, trajectory and ballistics experts have been analyzing video of the shuttle as it streaked across the West on Feb. 1. National Transportation Safety Board officials are using those findings to hunt for any unusual radar trackings in an attempt to pinpoint wreckage.
So far, no shuttle debris has been found farther west than about 20 miles west of Fort Worth, Texas.
Bradfield said a search team would start Friday combing an area about five miles northeast of Panaca, about 170 miles northeast of Las Vegas. He said his department hadn't received much information about the debris, only that it could be as small as 6-inches.
Col. Matt Wallace, commander of the Nevada Wing Civil Air Patrol, said his unit was also asked to help in the search. He said the patrol could provide three to 10 airplanes and possibly ground teams to aid the search.
"We were told to stand by and be ready to go," he said.
The space shuttle Columbia broke apart Feb. 1, minutes before it was scheduled to land in Florida. All seven astronauts on board were killed
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