oracle
02-03-2003, 12:47 PM
NASA memo figured wing damage (http://www.msnbc.com/news/867336.asp)
NBC: Memo saw possibility of gash from liftoff incident
<font size=1>NBC, MSNBC AND NEWS SERVICES</font>
CAPE CANAVERAL, Feb. 3 -- Two days before the Columbia disaster, a NASA engineering team sent an internal memo calculating a high probability that launch debris had caused a gash 7½ by 30 inches on the shuttle's left wing, NBC's Jay Barbree reported Monday. NASA engineers have talked of a heat spike and drag on the left wing, suggesting a potential problem with the thermal tiles there. But NASA's chief told NBC News on Monday that the tiles are just one of many variables being investigated.
BARBREE REPORTED from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral that the memo reflects an analysis that was performed after foam debris from a shuttle fuel tank hit the left wing during launch on Jan. 16.
At a press conference later Monday, a senior NASA official said he hadn't heard of that specific memo.
Bill Readdy, NASA's assistant administrator for space flight, said NASA's evaluation of the foam debris was concluded four days before the tragedy and specifically stated that while there could be some localized tile damage there was "no burn through and no safety of flight issue."
He added, however, that NASA engineers would be checking all past analyses. "We will go back and review those data," he told reporters.
Barbree said all of his NASA sources had expected some drag and a small temperature increase from debris damage to thermal tiles, but that they also felt it was manageable and not a serious threat.
...
Click here to read more (http://www.msnbc.com/news/867336.asp)
NBC: Memo saw possibility of gash from liftoff incident
<font size=1>NBC, MSNBC AND NEWS SERVICES</font>
CAPE CANAVERAL, Feb. 3 -- Two days before the Columbia disaster, a NASA engineering team sent an internal memo calculating a high probability that launch debris had caused a gash 7½ by 30 inches on the shuttle's left wing, NBC's Jay Barbree reported Monday. NASA engineers have talked of a heat spike and drag on the left wing, suggesting a potential problem with the thermal tiles there. But NASA's chief told NBC News on Monday that the tiles are just one of many variables being investigated.
BARBREE REPORTED from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral that the memo reflects an analysis that was performed after foam debris from a shuttle fuel tank hit the left wing during launch on Jan. 16.
At a press conference later Monday, a senior NASA official said he hadn't heard of that specific memo.
Bill Readdy, NASA's assistant administrator for space flight, said NASA's evaluation of the foam debris was concluded four days before the tragedy and specifically stated that while there could be some localized tile damage there was "no burn through and no safety of flight issue."
He added, however, that NASA engineers would be checking all past analyses. "We will go back and review those data," he told reporters.
Barbree said all of his NASA sources had expected some drag and a small temperature increase from debris damage to thermal tiles, but that they also felt it was manageable and not a serious threat.
...
Click here to read more (http://www.msnbc.com/news/867336.asp)