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Glenn Mahone/Doc Mirelson                       Feb. 19, 2003
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600

Eileen M. Hawley
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111

RELEASE: 03-076

SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA SEARCH AND RECOVERY ENTERS NEW PHASE

     The search for materials from the Space Shuttle Columbia accident 
is entering a new phase. NASA is consolidating two of the primary 
search coordination field offices and establishing four incident 
command posts and base camps.

The search is intensifying based on initial success with grid-search 
techniques, and because spring vegetation growth is expected to make 
recovery efforts more difficult. 

Immediately after the accident, NASA established several different 
local command and coordination field offices at Barksdale Air Force 
Base at Shreveport, La., the Lufkin Emergency Operations Center in 
Lufkin, Texas, and Naval Air Station, Joint Reserve Base (Carswell 
Field), Fort Worth, Texas. The Lufkin, Barksdale and Carswell 
operations will be consolidated at Lufkin this week.

The consolidation at Lufkin is designed for better coordination of 
search and recovery operations. Barksdale will continue to be the 
receiving and shipping point for Columbia materials being sent to 
NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for final identification.

Four interagency command posts and base camps are being established in 
Corsicana, Hemphill, Nacogdoches and Palestine, Texas, to direct 
intensified ground searches. Inter-agency management teams are being 
deployed to the camps to conduct searches. Up to 3,500 searchers, made 
up of personnel from a variety of federal and state land management 
agencies, and fire departments, will operate out of the camps under a 
management structure typically used in support of wildfires. Teams of 
approximately 20 trained wilderness firefighters will operate out of 
the camps, and each team will conduct grid searches.

In addition, air search assets are being increased to 35 helicopters. 
The helicopters, provided by land management agencies and the 3,500 
searchers will be working in an area that is 240 miles long. The area 
runs from Ellis County, south of Dallas, to Toledo Bend Reservoir on 
the Texas- Louisiana border.  Air searches will concentrate on a 10-
mile-wide corridor five miles on either side of that line. Ground 
searches will concentrate on a four-mile-wide corridor two miles on 
either side of that line. Air searches will be conducted from Lufkin 
and Palestine, Texas.

The U.S. Navy is continuing to manage water recovery operations in 
East Texas reservoirs, including Lake Nacogdoches and Toledo Bend 
Reservoir. The underwater search is using side-scanning sonar and dive 
teams from the Navy and other organizations.

NASA continues to encourage citizens to report finding any materials 
suspected to be materials from the Columbia accident. Citizens are 
reminded Shuttle materials may not look like typical aircraft 
components. Pictures of examples of Shuttle debris may be viewed at 
the following website:

www.nasa.gov/columbia/COL_debris_pix.html

Anyone who discovers material suspected to be from the accident is 
urged to avoid contact, because it may be hazardous as a result of 
toxic propellants aboard the Shuttle.

Telephone debris reports should be made by calling, toll- free:

1-866-446-6603

Text reports and images should be e-mailed to: 

columbiaimages{at}nasa.gov

All debris is U.S. Government property and is critical to the 
investigation of the mishap. All debris from the accident should be 
left in place and reported to Government authorities. Unauthorized 
persons found in possession of accident debris will be prosecuted to 
the full extent of the law.

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