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CNN Live At Daybreak
Too Early to Say What Caused Disaster
Aired February 03, 2003 - 05:00 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: It is too early to say exactly what caused the disaster. NASA officials are looking over the computer data from the last minute's of Columbia's flight and, yes, what they've found is troublesome.
CNN's Miles O'Brien has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (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 registered 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 elevans (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.
RET. ADM. HAROLD GEHMAN, LEADS INDEPENDENT REVIEW: We do believe that there are -- 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, Houston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Nothing they could do. Columbia was nearly 40 miles high when it began to break up over Texas. Let's take a look at this animation. It will give you an idea of how the debris fell to earth. Pieces of the wreckage have been found in 33 Texas counties, an area greater than 28,000 square miles. Debris also found in Louisiana.
Later this morning here on CNN, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe will give us the latest information on the investigation. That's on AMERICAN MORNING WITH PAULA ZAHN. That airs at 7:00 a.m., Eastern, 4:00 a.m. Pacific Time.
NASA will also have two news briefings today. Of course, we'll bring them to you live. The first is at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, 8:30 Pacific Time, the second at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, 1:30 Pacific Time.
For the families of the astronauts, this is, of course, a time of great grief. But many of them are also sharing their thoughts about their loved ones.
In Israel, people are gathering to remember the life of Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli to go up into space. His mission brought hope to a country that faces so much violence.
But as our Jerrold Kessel reports, that hopeful mood is quite different now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Air Force Colonel Ilan Ramon headed for Columbia's blastoff, he was a rare symbol of hope and pride for Israelis battered and buffeted by more than two years of deadly conflict. Now, in the tails of smoke over Texas, those hopes have vanished.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had a little bit of, a moment of pride, a moment of light and it seems to be taken away from us. It's awful.
KESSEL: "Remnants Of A Dream," this banner headline. "Weeping For Ilan" the message here, as students from the very youngest talked about the tragedy, seeking like all Israelis to come to grips with the pain that has replaced the innocent hope.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because he was a representative of the country in this issue, it was very, it was more hurting than anyone that was killed in Kabul or something like that.
KESSEL: From space, Ilan Ramon spoke of the vulnerability of the planet, of the smallness of his own country, feelings resonating all the more with his fellow Israelis now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We thought that this hope will bring us a little bit of smile to the face because this period is very difficult for us in Israel. We hope that this project will continue with other Israeli astronauts.
KESSEL: Ariel Sharon sent condolences to the people of the United States. The prime minister called Ramon a bold pilot who did not, he said, deserve to be taken from us along with our hopes and dreams. But, with U.S. Ambassador Dan Kurtz (ph) at his side, Sharon insisted the tragedy should not mean the end of the brave endeavor.
ARIEL SHARON, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Their deaths are not in vain. Man's journey into space will continue. Cooperation between the United States and Israel in this field will continue. The day will come when we will launch more Israeli astronauts into space.
KESSEL: Flags are at half staff as Israel mourns, together with its best friend, the United States.
(on camera): For a while, Ilan Ramon's space journey diverted some of Israel's attention from their searing conflict with the Palestinians, from their domestic political turmoil. Now, in a troubled region, even as they mourn, those issues return to be confronted with greater intensity.
Jerrold Kessel, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And for more reaction, we'll take you back to Israel in the next half hour for a live report from Jerrold.
Here in the United States, many people are trying to come to grips with the tragedy by turning to prayer.
Our Bruce Morton takes us to church services across the country now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARDINAL THEODORE MCCARICK, WASHINGTON: Well, you pray. You know, you always try to pray and you try to see god's presence in all things. And it's certainly there.
BRUCE MORTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Americans took that advice Sunday and tried to pray, to look for god in the wreck of Columbia.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Amazing grace, how sweet the sound...
MORTON: Tried at Houston's Grace Community Church, where Rick Husband and Mike Anderson worshipped.
REV. STEVE RIGGLE, GRACE COMMUNITY CHURCH: It's incredible that one moment changes everything. It's the difference between tragedy and triumph.
MORTON: Tried at Washington's National Cathedral.
REV. PETER GRANDELL, WASHINGTON NATIONAL CATHEDRAL: Give your comfort to the families and colleagues of those who have died and receive into the arms of your mercy Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon.
MORTON: Tried at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Beg the lord to receive each and every one of them into heaven for an eternity in his presence, the destiny for which all of us are bound.
MORTON: It wasn't just in churches. In Florida, signs marked the tragedy and at Cape Canaveral people put flowers next to a memorial to astronauts who have died in the program.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very sad. My heart goes out to the families, I think, first of all.
MORTON: At Washington's Air and Space Museum, they had comment books so people could write about how they felt. And someone had put flowers there, too, by a model of Columbia. At the National Shrine, good words in a troubled time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yet I truly believe that as they must have had a sense of god as they traveled at such speeds around his universe, so, too, that sense of god would be with them as they moved into an encounter with him at the end of their lives.
MORTON: At the National Cathedral, one of the windows is about space. It even contains an exceptionally small moon rock, a reminder of how far humankind has traveled. Beneath it this Sunday, a candle burns in memory of seven whose journey was cut short.
Bruce Morton, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Our Web site has the very latest news and video from the disaster. Also there, an audio slide show, a gallery with bios of the crew and time lines. Easy to get to. Just click onto cnn.com/shuttle.
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 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is too early to say exactly what caused the disaster. NASA officials are looking over the computer data from the last minute's of Columbia's flight and, yes, what they've found is troublesome.
CNN's Miles O'Brien has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (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 registered 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 elevans (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.
RET. ADM. HAROLD GEHMAN, LEADS INDEPENDENT REVIEW: We do believe that there are -- 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, Houston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Nothing they could do. Columbia was nearly 40 miles high when it began to break up over Texas. Let's take a look at this animation. It will give you an idea of how the debris fell to earth. Pieces of the wreckage have been found in 33 Texas counties, an area greater than 28,000 square miles. Debris also found in Louisiana.
Later this morning here on CNN, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe will give us the latest information on the investigation. That's on AMERICAN MORNING WITH PAULA ZAHN. That airs at 7:00 a.m., Eastern, 4:00 a.m. Pacific Time.
NASA will also have two news briefings today. Of course, we'll bring them to you live. The first is at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, 8:30 Pacific Time, the second at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, 1:30 Pacific Time.
For the families of the astronauts, this is, of course, a time of great grief. But many of them are also sharing their thoughts about their loved ones.
In Israel, people are gathering to remember the life of Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli to go up into space. His mission brought hope to a country that faces so much violence.
But as our Jerrold Kessel reports, that hopeful mood is quite different now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Air Force Colonel Ilan Ramon headed for Columbia's blastoff, he was a rare symbol of hope and pride for Israelis battered and buffeted by more than two years of deadly conflict. Now, in the tails of smoke over Texas, those hopes have vanished.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had a little bit of, a moment of pride, a moment of light and it seems to be taken away from us. It's awful.
KESSEL: "Remnants Of A Dream," this banner headline. "Weeping For Ilan" the message here, as students from the very youngest talked about the tragedy, seeking like all Israelis to come to grips with the pain that has replaced the innocent hope.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because he was a representative of the country in this issue, it was very, it was more hurting than anyone that was killed in Kabul or something like that.
KESSEL: From space, Ilan Ramon spoke of the vulnerability of the planet, of the smallness of his own country, feelings resonating all the more with his fellow Israelis now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We thought that this hope will bring us a little bit of smile to the face because this period is very difficult for us in Israel. We hope that this project will continue with other Israeli astronauts.
KESSEL: Ariel Sharon sent condolences to the people of the United States. The prime minister called Ramon a bold pilot who did not, he said, deserve to be taken from us along with our hopes and dreams. But, with U.S. Ambassador Dan Kurtz (ph) at his side, Sharon insisted the tragedy should not mean the end of the brave endeavor.
ARIEL SHARON, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Their deaths are not in vain. Man's journey into space will continue. Cooperation between the United States and Israel in this field will continue. The day will come when we will launch more Israeli astronauts into space.
KESSEL: Flags are at half staff as Israel mourns, together with its best friend, the United States.
(on camera): For a while, Ilan Ramon's space journey diverted some of Israel's attention from their searing conflict with the Palestinians, from their domestic political turmoil. Now, in a troubled region, even as they mourn, those issues return to be confronted with greater intensity.
Jerrold Kessel, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And for more reaction, we'll take you back to Israel in the next half hour for a live report from Jerrold.
Here in the United States, many people are trying to come to grips with the tragedy by turning to prayer.
Our Bruce Morton takes us to church services across the country now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARDINAL THEODORE MCCARICK, WASHINGTON: Well, you pray. You know, you always try to pray and you try to see god's presence in all things. And it's certainly there.
BRUCE MORTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Americans took that advice Sunday and tried to pray, to look for god in the wreck of Columbia.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Amazing grace, how sweet the sound...
MORTON: Tried at Houston's Grace Community Church, where Rick Husband and Mike Anderson worshipped.
REV. STEVE RIGGLE, GRACE COMMUNITY CHURCH: It's incredible that one moment changes everything. It's the difference between tragedy and triumph.
MORTON: Tried at Washington's National Cathedral.
REV. PETER GRANDELL, WASHINGTON NATIONAL CATHEDRAL: Give your comfort to the families and colleagues of those who have died and receive into the arms of your mercy Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon.
MORTON: Tried at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Beg the lord to receive each and every one of them into heaven for an eternity in his presence, the destiny for which all of us are bound.
MORTON: It wasn't just in churches. In Florida, signs marked the tragedy and at Cape Canaveral people put flowers next to a memorial to astronauts who have died in the program.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very sad. My heart goes out to the families, I think, first of all.
MORTON: At Washington's Air and Space Museum, they had comment books so people could write about how they felt. And someone had put flowers there, too, by a model of Columbia. At the National Shrine, good words in a troubled time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yet I truly believe that as they must have had a sense of god as they traveled at such speeds around his universe, so, too, that sense of god would be with them as they moved into an encounter with him at the end of their lives.
MORTON: At the National Cathedral, one of the windows is about space. It even contains an exceptionally small moon rock, a reminder of how far humankind has traveled. Beneath it this Sunday, a candle burns in memory of seven whose journey was cut short.
Bruce Morton, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Our Web site has the very latest news and video from the disaster. Also there, an audio slide show, a gallery with bios of the crew and time lines. Easy to get to. Just click onto cnn.com/shuttle.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
