STS-107 Mishap Response Status Report #3<br />Thursday, February 13, 2003 - 2 p.m. CST<br /><br />The Columbia Accident Investigation Board said today preliminary analysis by<br />a NASA working group indicates the temperature indications seen in<br />Columbia's left wheel well during entry would require the presence of<br />plasma. Plasma is a super heated gas surrounding the orbiter during<br />re-entry.<br /><br />The CAIB said heat transfer through the structure, as from a missing tile,<br />would not be sufficient to cause the temperature indications seen in the<br />last minutes of flight. Additional analysis is under way, looking at various<br />scenarios in which a breach of some type could occur, allowing plasma into<br />the wheel well area or elsewhere in the wing.<br /><br />Other flight data, including landing gear position indicators and drag<br />information, indicate it is unlikely the left landing gear was deployed<br />early, the CAIB said.<br /><br />The search continues in the western United States for debris from Columbia.<br />As of early Thursday, no debris found farther west than Granbury, Texas,<br />about 40 miles southwest of Fort Worth, had been confirmed as<br />Shuttle-related. The first two trucks containing debris from Columbia<br />arrived at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Fla. Wednesday morning.<br /><br />The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reported today the Shuttle<br />debris recovery operation is proceeding well. FEMA said 72 percent of sites<br />in Texas and 84 percent of sites in Louisiana have been cleared.<br /><br />The Environmental Protection Agency has 42 teams conducting operations in<br />five Texas counties. Searches are focused on large structural items, and a<br />plan is being developed to support expanded searches in areas where<br />NASA-identified critical items have been found.<br /><br />The Civil Air Patrol is expanding operations west of Fort Worth, and<br />negotiations are under way to bring in a blimp to help search in the area<br />from Fort Worth east to Palestine, Texas. The Navy is taking control of<br />water operations, with dive teams and equipment arriving today. Searches<br />will focus first on the Toledo Bend Reservoir and then turn to other lakes<br />in the affected area.<br /><br />The CAIB spent its second day visiting KSC. The trip's purpose is to<br />familiarize members with operations at the center from which Columbia was<br />launched Jan. 16.<br /><br />On Friday the board is scheduled to visit the Marshall Space Flight Center<br />(MSFC) in Huntsville, Ala. On Saturday members are scheduled to visit the<br />Michoud, La., facility near New Orleans where Shuttle external tanks are<br />fabricated, before returning to Houston Saturday night.<br /><br />Leroy Cain, the Space Shuttle entry flight director on Feb. 1, will hold a<br />press conference at 3:30 p.m. EST Friday. It will be carried live on NASA<br />Television. Before that press conference, NASA-TV will carry a videotape of<br />events inside the Shuttle Flight Control Room on Feb. 1. The video will be<br />shown beginning at noon and 3 p.m. EST.<br /><br /><br />For more information about NASA on the Internet:: http://www.nasa.gov.