[mombonn]

Debris crews found a large section of wing from the space shuttle Columbia that includes the wing's leading edge, though it wasn't clear which side of the shuttle it had be on

I must be really dumb, because it seems to me that it should be easy to identify a right wing from a left wing just by the shape. What am I missing?

[Politically Correct]

I must be really dumb, because it seems to me that it should be easy to identify a right wing from a left wing just by the shape. What am I missing?

It's a fragment, it's twisted, mangled and burnt. They will eventually figure out which wing it's from but with just a cursory look it's probably not obvious.