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STS-107 Mishap Response Status Report #11 
Tuesday, March 4, 2003 - 6 p.m. CST 
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas 

The past week was a good one for the Columbia Accident Investigation
Board, retired Adm. Harold W. "Hal" Gehman Jr., CAIB chairman, said
today.

Gehman told a press briefing in Houston that a number of independent
investigations into elements of Space Shuttle Columbia's destruction
are "offering tidbits of information."  But in response to questions,
he refused to characterize how advanced the investigation is.  "We
don't know how far along we are because we don't know where we're
going," he said. 

The board continues to work seven-day weeks.  "Our energy and
seriousness have not flagged," Gehman said, adding that the board is
confident it will find the primary and contributing causes of the
accident. 

Three other board members, representing each of the board's three
groups, participated in the briefing, held at Houston's Lunar and
Planetary Institute. Roger Tetrault of the material analysis group;
Steven Wallace of the group looking at operations, training and flight 
readiness certification; and Rear Adm. Stephen Turcotte of the
maintenance, materials and management group outlined progress. 

Tetrault, former chairman and CEO of McDermott International, outlined 
debris finds, including tiles that had black, aluminum-containing 
deposits on them.  "I think it would be fair to say we have more 
questions than answers now, but we're getting smarter fast."  He said 
22,563 pieces of debris have been found, of which 16,063 have been 
identified.  Debris collected so far weighs 32,100 pounds, about 13.7 
percent of Columbia's original weight, he said.

The search for debris continued in Texas Tuesday, though clouds kept
search aircraft from flying.  Ground crews found more than 1,000
pieces of material believed to be from the Shuttle, including thermal
protection tiles and a 26-inch-diameter helium tank found near San
Augustine, Texas, and a right-hand main landing gear actuator near
Hemphill. 

Today, 39 crews from the Nacogdoches command post, 35 crews from
Hemphill, 34 from Palestine and 50 from Corsicana participated in the
search. Due to heavy rains Monday, some crews worked only half days.

Navy-led dive teams continued their search in Toledo Bend reservoir
and Lake Nacogdoches. 

California volunteer posses completed a low-intensity search effort
along the California coast without finding any Shuttle materials.
They were looking for debris that might have fallen into the ocean and 
drifted to shore in Mendocino, Sonoma and Marin Counties 30 miles
north and south of Columbia's re-entry track. Weather continued to
postpone search activities in Nevada and New Mexico. 

The CAIB will hold the first in a series of public hearing Thursday at 
the University of Houston - Clear Lake.

For more information about board activities on the Internet visit the
CAIB's website: 

www.caib.us

For more information on NASA on the Internet, see: www.nasa.gov

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