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STS-107
Report #20 
Sunday, February 2, 2003 - 8:30 p.m. CST 
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas 

Aided by federal and local agencies, NASA stepped up its inquiry into 
the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia and its seven astronauts. 
Multiple investigative teams continue to pore over engineering data in 
an effort to uncover the cause of the breakup of the orbiter over 
Texas on Saturday 16 minutes from landing.

Space Shuttle Program Manager Ron Dittemore told an afternoon briefing 
that a Mishap Response Team is gathering data from numerous 
engineering teams in the early stages of the investigation and is 
receiving assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the 
National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation and local law enforcement agencies, among others.

Dittemore said that as Commander Rick Husband, Pilot William McCool, 
Mission Specialists Dave Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Mike Anderson, Laurel 
Clark and Israeli Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon are mourned, the 
recovery of debris from Columbia and human remains is being 
coordinated at Barksdale Air Force Base, La. 

Dittemore thanked residents in the areas where debris fell after 
Columbia's breakup for cooperating in the recovery effort but 
cautioned them not to handle debris that could contain toxic 
substances.

Dittemore reconstructed the final minutes of Columbia's flight before
communications was lost. He reiterated the failure of four temperature
sensors associated with the shuttle's left hand elevons at 7:53 a.m. 
CST Saturday amidst a 20-30 degree rise in left hand bondline and 
strut temperatures over a five-minute period near the left wheel well 
of the orbiter. Columbia was flying over California at the time at an 
altitude of about 220,000 feet traveling 21 times the speed of sound.

One minute later, over the region of eastern California and western 
Nevada, Columbia's mid-fuselage bondline temperatures above the left 
wing experienced an unusual temperature increase. It rose 60 degrees 
over a five-minute period. No such temperature increase was noted on 
the right side of Columbia or in the Shuttle's cargo bay. Columbia was 
about 212,000 feet above the Earth, flying at Mach 20.

At 7:58 a.m. over New Mexico, telemetry showed a larger than normal 
drag on the left side of the shuttle, and an indication of an increase 
in pressure in the left main landing gear tires. Dittemore said the 
data suggests the tires remained intact. Columbia's altitude was 
209,000 feet.

At 7:59 a.m. over west Texas, the data showed Columbia continuing to 
react to an increased drag on its left side, trying to correct the 
movement by rolling back to the right. Dittemore said the response of 
the orbiter was well within its capability to handle such maneuvers.

At that time, seconds before 8 a.m. CST, all communications was lost 
with Columbia as it flew at an altitude of 207,000 feet, 18 times the 
speed of sound.

Dittemore indicated that ground computers may contain an additional 32
seconds of data which could provide additional information in the 
analysis of Columbia's breakup.

He added that the loss of some foam insulation from Columbia's 
external fuel tank, which struck the shuttle's left wing about 80 
seconds after launch was "inconsequential" based on video imagery 
review conducted by engineering specialists. However, he said nothing 
has been ruled out as a possible cause for the accident. 

Robert Cabana, the Director of Flight Crew Operations at the Johnson 
Space Center, relayed thanks from the families of the astronauts for 
the outpouring of support received from around the nation and the 
world. 

Cabana said that the Expedition 6 crewmembers aboard the International 
Space Station are "grieving" for the loss of Columbia's crew, but are 
in good spirits as they continue human spaceflight and scientific 
research aboard the orbital outpost. Cabana said Commander Ken 
Bowersox, Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin and NASA ISS Science Officer 
Don Pettit are preparing for Tuesday's arrival of a Russian Progress 
cargo ship. Progress 10 was launched this morning from the Baikonur 
Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. 

On Tuesday, Feb. 4, President and Mrs. Bush will join NASA 
Administrator Sean O'Keefe at the Johnson Space Center to pay tribute 
to Columbia's astronauts during a special memorial service. The 
ceremony to honor Columbia's seven crewmembers is scheduled to begin 
at 1 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on NASA Television. The service is 
not open to the public.

The next STS-107 Accident Response briefings are on Monday, Feb. 3 at 
NASA Headquarters in Washington at 11:30 a.m. EST and at the Johnson 
Space Center at 4:30 p.m. EST. Status reports will be issued as 
developments warrant.

NASA TV can be found on AMC-2, Transponder 9C, vertical polarization 
at 85 degrees West longitude, 3880 MHz, with audio at 6.8 MHz.

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