Glenn Mahone/Doc Mirelson<br />Headquarters, Washington March 25, 2003<br />(Phone: 202/358-1600)<br /><br /><br />Dave Drachlis<br />Lufkin Command Center, Texas<br />(Phone: 936/699-1019)<br /><br /><br />Eileen Hawley<br />Johnson Space Center, Houston<br />(Phone: 281/483-5111)<br /><br /><br />RELEASE: 03-117<br /><br /><br /> PRIMARY SEARCH FOR COLUMBIA MATERIAL PASSES HALFWAY <br />MARK<br /><br /><br />As the search of more than 500,000 acres of primary recovery <br />area for Space Shuttle Columbia material reached its halfway <br />mark, NASA Administrator, Sean O'Keefe, visited key sites in <br />east Texas to thank recovery crews for their diligence and <br />hard work.<br /><br /><br />"The outstanding interagency cooperation, and the hard work <br />of all the individuals working on recovery, has been truly <br />gratifying and inspiring," Administrator O'Keefe said. <br />"There has been an untiring, fulltime, and dedicated effort <br />to recover Columbia material. The great recovery work <br />directly supports the efforts of the Columbia Accident <br />Investigation Board to determine what caused the Shuttle <br />mishap", he said. On Monday Administrator O'Keefe and <br />Associate Administer for Space Flight, William F. Readdy <br />visited the Lufkin Command Center, Nacogdoches Base Camp, <br />and Toledo Bend Reservoir Dive Site.<br /><br /><br />Approximately 4500 ground searchers have covered <br />approximately 56 percent of the planned 555,000-acre search <br />area. The air search has covered approximately 74 percent of <br />604, four-square nautical mile grids; and, on water, <br />searchers have scanned about 81 percent of a planned 14.7 <br />square nautical mile area. The search should be completed <br />within four to six weeks, weather permitting. Searches <br />farther west, along Columbia's ground track, likely will <br />take additional time, because of the great area involved.<br /><br /><br />About 25 percent of the Shuttle Columbia, by weight, has <br />been delivered to the collection hangar at Kennedy Space <br />Center (KSC), Fla. More is en route from the searched area <br />in eastern Texas and western Louisiana to KSC.<br /><br /><br />Last Wednesday's recovery of the Orbiter Experiment Support <br />System recorder (OEX) is potentially significant, and search <br />coordinators hope to recover additional critical items. "We <br />are extremely excited with the recent discovery of this <br />recorder, and we want to thank the other agencies and <br />communities for their support," said Allen Flynt, NASA <br />Oversight Manager at the Lufkin Command Center. "But we <br />remain dedicated to our goal of bringing home as much of <br />Columbia as possible. We remain focused on the recovery <br />effort, which continues at full strength, " he said.<br /><br /><br />Some of the top priorities of NASA, and its local, state and <br />federal partners, are to recover or clean up potentially <br />hazardous materials and ensure the public's safety. The <br />Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has <br />responsibility for the overall disaster response effort. The <br />Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is tasked with <br />collecting and delivering recovered Shuttle material to NASA <br />and the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB). The <br />U.S. Forest Service and Texas Forest Service are <br />coordinating the land and air search. The U.S. Navy is <br />managing water search activities.<br /><br /><br />"We still have an obligation to the residents of Texas and <br />Louisiana, as well as any other state that may contain <br />Columbia material, to recover all known material and leave <br />the land as it was prior to Feb. 1. Our obligation also <br />extends to providing all public assistance funds to eligible <br />applicants, and we'll satisfy all those obligations before <br />closing down," said FEMA Federal Coordinating Officer Scott <br />Wells.<br /><br /><br />All of these organizations are continuing to encourage local <br />residents to report any possible Shuttle materials to the <br />toll-free hotline at the Lufkin Command Center at:<br /><br /><br />1/866/446-6603<br /><br /><br />For more information about NASA and the Space Shuttle <br />Columbia accident investigation on the Internet, visit:<br /><br /><br />http://www.nasa.gov