Posted on 02/06/2003 10:10:19 PM PST by Ramtek57
CATASTROPHE IN THE SKY Astronaut 'e-mailed brother about wing' Senator says crewmembers 'concerned' as NASA backs away from foam theory
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: February 6, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Joe Kovacs © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Columbia were apparently so concerned about possible damage to the orbiter during launch, that they photographed the left wing and even sent e-mails about it.
That's according to Sen. George Allen, R-Va., who sits on the Senate committee charged with oversight of NASA.
David Brown
Allen learned of the worries from a phone conversation he had with Arlington, Va., resident Doug Brown, the brother of mission specialist David Brown.
He briefly recounted the discussion during a speech memorializing the seven astronauts who lost their lives Saturday during re-entry to Earth's atmosphere.
Allen said Doug Brown had told him that in private e-mails while the mission was still in progress, his brother David was "concerned" about Columbia's left wing.
The wing has become a focal point of the investigation into the shuttle's disintegration, as NASA has been looking at the possibility that protective tiles damaged at takeoff by falling foam insulation could have led to the tragedy during its descent.
But shuttle program manager Ron Dittemore appeared to back away from that theory yesterday.
NASA backs away from foam-damage theory
"It doesn't make sense to us that a piece of debris could be the root cause of the loss of Columbia and its crew," Dittemore said. "There's got to be another reason."
According to Sen. Allen, Doug Brown had said the crew took pictures of the left wing, though Doug said he never actually received any such photos in the e-mails.
Dittemore rejected as ''impossible'' the claim photos were taken of the wing since it's not visible from the shuttle windows.
A NASA spokesman told a Virginia newspaper he also didn't believe the crew had an unobstructed view of the area in question.
"At this point we believe the crew could only see the tip of the wing from the crew compartment," NASA's Bob Jacobs told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "They could not see the leading edge. Nor could they see the bottom where the strike appears to have taken place."
He added the space agency was still "trying to track what if any e-mails were sent to the family."
"All indications that we had from the crew was that they were not concerned about the insulation strike and if there is new information suggesting otherwise we would be interested in hearing from the family," Jacobs told the paper.
When asked about the e-mails regarding the wing, Michael Kostelnik, a deputy administrator with NASA, said he wouldn't be surprised if astronauts mentioned it in correspondence to family members, but he didn't believe the crew was especially worried.
"The sense throughout the NASA community was that this was not a safety issue, and I think the crew accepted that," Kostelnik said.
Meanwhile, Dittemore says the search for debris continues to move West to include states such as California, Arizona and New Mexico.
A California Institute of Technology scientist reported seeing a blazing trail of debris behind the shuttle over the Golden State.
Dittemore says finding debris in the West would be very significant, "and that's why we've invested a lot of energy in following up on these reports."
He did not make a direct reference to a photograph snapped by an amateur astronomer in San Francisco purported to show some kind of strange electrical-type phenomenon surrounding the orbiter, but he called upon the public to submit any photographs of the disaster, even by e-mailing them directly to the space agency.
Dittemore says four-wheel vehicles, horses, and helicopters equipped with sensors are being utilized in the ongoing hunt for Columbia's remnants.
NASA has created a list of certain debris engineers believe is more important than others to help determine the cause of the breakup.
"Things like the left wing, pieces of the left wing, tiles, recorders – whether they be voice or data recorders," Dittemore said.
Yes, they were at first and then they notified the crew that they had studied it and decided the damage, if any was not major.
As explained a hundred times previously.
BTW, hard to see the botton from the top. Even tougher to take pictures of something you cannot see.
Yesterday, someone posted a pic taken through the viewing-port of the cabin looking back into the cargo bay, doors open. The tops and leading edges, of a large percentage both wings, are visible in the shot. Having no other options, it's logical that they would have examined what could be seen very closely.
Even trailways busses now have rear cameras to see what is directly behind them, to eliminate drivers blind spots.
I presume that you are referring to the white tiles over the engines on either side of the tail? They do look very pitted. It would be interesting to compare this photo with a similar one from another mission -- and with a pre-flight photo of the same area.
NASA lately is playing down falling foam theory, why? Because if this is proven as a cause of the tragedy, their asses are on the line for the foam problems had occured in previous launches, and if wing damage was the cause, they would be blamed that they did not do everything humanely possible to save the crew. They already started spin "nothing could be done after liftoff to repair or even inspect the tiles.
I do not trust NASA, like in any governement agency there is a lot of pigheaded beurocrats holding menagement position there.
Hopefully there are other independent bodies in charge of investigation, so NASA will not easy cover up their own fault if any.
I totally agree. The problem is that the dang engineers are going to build something intricate and expensive.
It appears that they are working on just that. It has been done before. I posted info of a experiment they did with (ironically) the Columbia, where cameras watched the aero dynamics and wing heating.
They cannot take the arm with them for all trips, but a EVA could be arranged with a device that could place a optical scanner under the craft to look for damage.
I just don't know how they would do that. And, I don't think anything exists that would accomplish the task.
Some have said it should do a fly by of the station, but that is not really very possible. Chasing the station uses much time and resources.
I think someone will come up with something before we launch another that cannot look under the wing.
They are playing the foam theory down because their knowledge base of the tiles strength and past performance tells them that not enough damage could have been done to cause the loss of the craft. They are not discounting it, just saying that they don't feel confident that the foam strike was the cause.
I watched a re-play of the Challenger aftermath today and saw something interesting.
They were loading the remains of the crew cabin that they plucked from the bottom of the sea.
It had survived the tremendous explosion but smashed when it struck the water after falling 12 miles. It hit at approximately 212MPH.
Most of the tiles, both white and black were still attached to the crumpled metal. I was amazed.
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