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Glenn Mahone/Robert Mirelson
Headquarters, Washington			Feb. 6, 2003
(Phone: 202/358-1600)

RELEASE: 03-057

NASA UPDATES COLUMBIA ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION

The independent board charged with determining what caused the 
destruction of the Space Shuttle Columbia, and the loss of seven 
astronauts, began work today at the Johnson Space Center, Houston. 
Recovery teams continued to search for debris.

Under the leadership of retired Navy admiral Harold Gehman, Jr., the 
Columbia Accident Investigation Board received a briefing from Shuttle 
Program Manager Ron Dittemore. The board began the process of 
gathering material collected so far since Columbia's breakup during 
reentry just 16 minutes before landing on Feb 1.

NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe reaffirmed the Board will act as a 
"totally independent entity in assessing all of the factors" 
associated with Columbia's loss. Administrator O'Keefe added, "We will 
be guided by the findings of the Board."

As search teams looked for debris throughout the west, the southwest 
and the Gulf Coast, Administrator O'Keefe said he met with the 
International Space Station Partners today following the memorial 
ceremony for Columbia's astronauts at Washington's National Cathedral. 
He said the Partners expressed their support for the recovery effort 
and NASA's vow to find the cause for the accident for the resumption 
of safe flight operations.

O'Keefe indicated Admiral Gehman may consider adding another member or 
members to the Independent Board that have no affiliation or ties to 
NASA in further strengthening its charter. The Charter is available on 
line at: 

http://www.nasa.gov/columbia/board_documents.pdf

O'Keefe will appear before a joint hearing of the Senate and House 
Science Committees, Wednesday, Feb. 12, to provide details of the 
progress of the investigation.  In his afternoon briefing, Dittemore 
described the pace of the inquiry and data and debris collection as 
"fast and furious". He said the Shuttle program would support Admiral 
Gehman's Board "in any way we can".

Dittemore said more than 1000 pieces of Shuttle debris have been 
recovered. Items found as far west as California are currently being 
analyzed to see whether they are from Columbia. As of today, no debris 
found west of Fort Worth, Texas has been positively identified as 
coming from Columbia.

"No possibility is being ruled out as the root cause for Columbia's 
loss," Dittemore said. "We are still looking for that elusive missing 
link." Dittemore said bad weather in the west today hampered efforts 
to recover additional debris. The forecast calls for improving 
conditions by the weekend. The recovered debris will be analyzed at 
Barksdale Air Force Base, La., before being returned to the Kennedy 
Space Center for reconstruction to the extent possible and for final
disposition.

Dittemore added a fault tree is being developed based on existing 
Probability Risk Assessments. The investigation team has received a 
large number of still images and video, which are being examined to 
determine if they are authentic and to see if they shed light on the 
investigation. At the memorial service at National Cathedral, Vice 
President Dick Cheney said of Columbia's astronauts, "They were 
soldiers and scientists, doctors and pilots, but above all they were 
explorers." "They were envoys to the unknown," Cheney added.
"They 
advanced human understanding by showing human courage."

Aboard the Space Station, the crew continued to unload the Russian 
Progress resupply ship that docked Tuesday, carrying one ton of food, 
fuel and supplies. Payload controllers continued to analyze the new 
power components installed yesterday in the Microgravity Science 
Glovebox in the Destiny laboratory to try to determine why a circuit 
breaker popped after it was powered. The science facility remains off 
while the troubleshooting effort is underway.

On Friday, a memorial ceremony for Columbia's astronauts will be held 
at the Kennedy Space Center. Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Administrator 
O'Keefe and former astronaut Robert Crippen, Columbia's first pilot on 
its maiden flight, STS-1, on April 12, 1981, will attend. The ceremony 
will be broadcast live on NASA Television at 8:15 a.m. EST, the exact 
time of Columbia's deorbit burn last Saturday. NASA TV is on AMC-2,
Transponder 9C, vertical polarization at 85 degrees west longitude, 
3880 MHz, with audio at 6.8 MHz.

The next STS-107 Accident Response briefing is on Friday at 4:30 p.m. 
EST from the Johnson Space Center. It will be on NASA TV, with 
question and answer capability for reporters at NASA centers.

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

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