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CNN Live At Daybreak
Investigation into Columbia Shuttle Tragedy
Aired February 03, 2003 - 06:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A lot of you are e-mailing us this morning with this question: Just what did go wrong on Saturday morning 40 miles above the earth? The data has been secured, and the investigation is now under way.
Here's our Miles O'Brien with what we know and what we don't know.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The first sign of trouble began as Columbia streaked over northern California at 8:53 a.m. Eastern Time. Temperature sensors inside the control flaps at the trailing edge of the orbiter's wings suddenly register zero, as if the lines were cut. Those cables wound their way through the left wheel well, and at the same time, the temperature inside it was spiking, rising 20 to 30 degrees in five minutes.
One minute later, 8:54 Eastern, a temperature sensor inside the left fuselage records a 60-degree increase over five minutes. The right side is up 15 degrees, perfectly normal.
Four minutes later, 8:58, Columbia is over New Mexico, and the orbiter is pulling to the left. The computer-driven autopilot compensates by moving those flaps, called elevons (ph), in the opposite direction.
RON DITTEMORE, SHUTTLE PROGRAM MANAGER: Does this mean something to us? We're not sure. It can be indicative of rough tile, it can be indicative for perhaps missing tile.
O'BRIEN: In the left wheel well, those temperature sensors go silent, one by one. One minute later, 8:59, Columbia's computers are still trying to compensate for that bank to the left, and then there is nothing. A loss of signal, but not a complete loss, it appears.
DITTEMORE: We do believe that there is additional information to us, another 32 seconds, that we believe if we go into our computer system on the ground that we can pull out additional data.
O'BRIEN: It means the vehicle may have been intact enough to be transmitting something. No one knows how useful that data may be.
NASA engineers are also focusing a lot of attention on the beginning of Columbia's final voyage. About 80 seconds after launch, a piece of foam, or perhaps some ice, fell off the shuttle's orange external fuel tank. It struck somewhere underneath the left wing. Is it a coincidence or a smoking gun? Neither is being ruled out.
But NASA says when engineers spotted the debris after reviewing high-speed film of the launch, shot with a long telephoto, there was a lot of discussion about how much damage that debris might have caused. It's not unusual to see foam and ice fall off fuel tanks, and the shuttle team determined the damage was probably not significant. But perhaps more to the point, no matter how bad the damage, there was nothing anyone on the ground or in orbit could do.
Miles O'Brien, CNN at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 3, 2003 - 06:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A lot of you are e-mailing us this morning with this question: Just what did go wrong on Saturday morning 40 miles above the earth? The data has been secured, and the investigation is now under way.
Here's our Miles O'Brien with what we know and what we don't know.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The first sign of trouble began as Columbia streaked over northern California at 8:53 a.m. Eastern Time. Temperature sensors inside the control flaps at the trailing edge of the orbiter's wings suddenly register zero, as if the lines were cut. Those cables wound their way through the left wheel well, and at the same time, the temperature inside it was spiking, rising 20 to 30 degrees in five minutes.
One minute later, 8:54 Eastern, a temperature sensor inside the left fuselage records a 60-degree increase over five minutes. The right side is up 15 degrees, perfectly normal.
Four minutes later, 8:58, Columbia is over New Mexico, and the orbiter is pulling to the left. The computer-driven autopilot compensates by moving those flaps, called elevons (ph), in the opposite direction.
RON DITTEMORE, SHUTTLE PROGRAM MANAGER: Does this mean something to us? We're not sure. It can be indicative of rough tile, it can be indicative for perhaps missing tile.
O'BRIEN: In the left wheel well, those temperature sensors go silent, one by one. One minute later, 8:59, Columbia's computers are still trying to compensate for that bank to the left, and then there is nothing. A loss of signal, but not a complete loss, it appears.
DITTEMORE: We do believe that there is additional information to us, another 32 seconds, that we believe if we go into our computer system on the ground that we can pull out additional data.
O'BRIEN: It means the vehicle may have been intact enough to be transmitting something. No one knows how useful that data may be.
NASA engineers are also focusing a lot of attention on the beginning of Columbia's final voyage. About 80 seconds after launch, a piece of foam, or perhaps some ice, fell off the shuttle's orange external fuel tank. It struck somewhere underneath the left wing. Is it a coincidence or a smoking gun? Neither is being ruled out.
But NASA says when engineers spotted the debris after reviewing high-speed film of the launch, shot with a long telephoto, there was a lot of discussion about how much damage that debris might have caused. It's not unusual to see foam and ice fall off fuel tanks, and the shuttle team determined the damage was probably not significant. But perhaps more to the point, no matter how bad the damage, there was nothing anyone on the ground or in orbit could do.
Miles O'Brien, CNN at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
