Posted on 02/07/2003 12:53:57 PM PST by 1ofmanyfree
Video: Shuttle may have shed debris over Arizona 02/04/2003
By BYRON HARRIS / WFAA-TV
NEWS 8 EXCLUSIVE
There is now dramatic new evidence that the shuttle Columbia may have been in trouble before it disintegrated over Texas.
The spacecraft's demise may have begun much farther west - captured on tape in Arizona.
The sky over Wupatki National Monument was still dark Saturday morning when Scott and Chris Valentine got up early to shoot pictures of Columbia en route to a landing in Florida.
The Valentines were space fans, so they knew where the shuttle was supposed to be at a given time, and when it was supposed to fly overhead. When it was first sighted, they were initially ecstatic. "That is cool ... it's cool," their voices can be heard saying on the videotape. "There are seven people in that thing!"
For a few grand seconds it was a space buff's dream: a dot of energy moving eastward into the dawn.
Then, as the young photographer zoomed in for a final shot, the excitement turned to shock as a piece appeared to drop off the spacecraft.
"Look at the chunks falling off of it," said a voice on the tape. "What the heck is that?"
Columbia then sped out of view into the sunrise - and to its disintegration.
Minutes earlier, in California, two amateur astronomers took still photos as the shuttle passed over them. Their shots show a thickening of Columbia's contrail in two places, as if something may have dropped off there as well.
NASA said it has talked to witnesses in California about debris there. Now, this exclusive video may be a major piece in a puzzle that now has thousands of pieces.
"If we find any tile or structure upstream of Fort Worth, New Mexico (or) Arizona - if that exists - that is extremely important to us," said NASA's Ron Dittemore.
In the video, it was dark because the sun rises east to west, and it was not yet fully light in Arizona.
But, visible in the corner of the video was the time of day - corresponding to 7:55 a.m. Dallas time, just a few minutes before the shuttle flew over Dallas.
The tape has now been turned over to NASA investigators.
E-mail: bharris@wfaa.com
It might if it was trailing it's own plasma cloud and glowing from the friction of the atmosphere. OTOH, it might be the leading edge of the wing said to be found somewhere near Ft. Worth, since anything that fell off would still be on the same general track as the shuttle itself, just trailing behind it somewhat, slowing down a bit faster too. Thus it might not fall all that much "upstream" from the main wreckage in east Texas and Louisiana.
A little bit of investigative science thrown in.
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