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<p>The Columbia Accident Investigation Board report was released on Tuesday.</p> <p>I haven't read it in its entirety, but I've skimmed the whole thing.</p> <p>The Gehman Commission is to be commended. They've pulled few punches and provided a lot of useful guidance to NASA to get the shuttle flying again -- if not completely safely, at least much more so. I also recommend reading the sections on history and space policy to anyone interested in those subjects. They provide very good insight into how we got into the mess we're in, which is to say that they've dealt very well with describing the past.</p>

I haven't read the Gehman Report on the Columbia accident in its entirety, though I've skimmed the whole thing, treading lightly on parts with which I'm already (unfortunately) all too familiar. These included the history of manned space flight in the U.S., and the specific technical description of what went wrong. The latter, in fact, is almost irrelevant to policy formulation per se — it's only of importance to those at NASA who have to implement specific technical fixes. In any event, I've read enough to know that there's little new here, to anyone who's followed the vagaries of...

New fuel tank design linked to shuttle disaster   13:20 16 April 03   NewScientist.com news service   The Columbia shuttle disaster may been triggered by a combination of a new external fuel tank design and ageing of the spacecraft, a Columbia Accident Investigation Board press conference was told on Tuesday. Although some remaining alternatives remain to be ruled out, the CAIB's focus is now on two crucial factors. First, it appears that a new fuel tank design led to foam falling off during liftoff. A one-kilogram block was seen striking Columbia's left wing during launch. Secondly, the damage this impact caused may...

Space Agency and Congress Start Separate Investigations By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 11:18 a.m. ET WASHINGTON (AP) -- NASA on Sunday named a retired Navy admiral who helped investigate the USS Cole terrorist bombing to lead an independent investigation of the space shuttle Columbia accident. All theories about what happened are being explored, officials said. Harold W. Gehmen Jr. will lead a special government commission that will sift through the Columbia wreckage being gathered from across Texas and Louisiana and trucked under tight security to an Air Force base for analysis. ``We're securing all the debris and assuring that...