STS-107<br />Report #23 <br />Wednesday, February 5, 2003 - 7:00 p.m. CST <br />Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas <br /> <br />The search for clues about what caused Columbia's breakup during reentry<br />Saturday, and the hunt for key debris from the orbiter, expanded today with<br />recovery teams deployed in California and Arizona.<br /><br />Four days after Columbia broke apart 16 minutes prior to landing, Space<br />Shuttle Program Manager Ron Dittemore said the inquiry into the cause for<br />Columbia's demise is "picking up speed". But Dittemore said<br />efforts to draw any new information from an additional 32 seconds of data<br />acquired by ground computers following the loss of voice communications with<br />Columbia have so far been unsuccessful.<br /><br />In a briefing, Dittemore said the engineering evaluation teams are focusing<br />their attention on "something other" than insulating foam on<br />Columbia's external tank that fell off 80 seconds after launch striking the<br />left wing, as the reason for the accident.<br /><br />"It does not make sense that a piece of (foam) debris caused the loss<br />of Columbia and its crew," Dittemore added. He reiterated Columbia<br />tried to compensate for increased drag on its left wing in the seconds prior<br />to its breakup, firing steering jets to right itself. But Dittemore said of<br />Columbia, "It was doing well, but it was losing the battle."<br /><br />As the engineering analysis continued, the remains of Columbia's astronauts<br />were flown to Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, where identification of the<br />astronauts will be completed. At the conclusion of the forensic analysis,<br />the remains will be released to the families for burial.<br /><br />In an earlier briefing, Michael Kostelnik, NASA's Associate Administrator<br />for International Space Station and Space Shuttle, said the recovery<br />operations are moving ahead "full steam", involving 2500 people<br />nationwide from federal and local agencies. Kostelnik said NASA has added a<br />task force to integrate the work between numerous engineering teams that are<br />reviewing over Columbia's data and the Columbia Accident Review board,<br />chaired by retired Navy Admiral Harold Gehman, Jr.<br /><br />Kostelnik said that although a relatively small percentage of Shuttle debris<br />has been recovered so far, segments of large components such as Columbia's<br />nose cone and main engines have been found. The focus of the recovery effort<br />and the data analysis, according to Kostelnik, continues to be Columbia's<br />left wing area, although no element of the orbiter has been exonerated in<br />the ongoing inquiry.<br /><br />Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 6 Commander Ken Bowersox,<br />Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin and NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit<br />spent the day unloading the Russian Progress resupply ship that docked to<br />the ISS Tuesday, carrying one ton of food, fuel and supplies.<br /><br />Pettit unstowed replacement parts for the Microgravity Science Glovebox from<br />the Progress and installed them in the facility in the Destiny laboratory in<br />an effort to revive the Glovebox that has been dormant since November<br />following a power failure.<br /><br />Pettit powered up the Glovebox, but a circuit breaker in the system popped<br />and payload controllers told Pettit to shut it down so they can evaluate its<br />current status.<br /><br />On Thursday, NASA Television will broadcast a memorial ceremony for<br />Columbia's astronauts from National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. at 10:00<br />a.m. EST. <br /><br />The next STS-107 Accident Response briefing will be held on Thursday at 4:30<br />p.m. EST from the Johnson Space Center, Houston, also on NASA TV, with<br />multi-center question and answer capability for reporters at NASA centers.<br /><br />NASA TV is on AMC-2, Transponder 9C, vertical polarization at 85 degrees<br />west longitude, 3880 MHz, with audio at 6.8 MHz.<br /><br />Status reports will be issued as developments warrant.