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American Morning
Investigators Review Launch of Columbia
Aired February 04, 2003 - 07:04 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush will travel this morning to the Johnson Space Center in Houston to attend the memorial service for Columbia's astronauts a little bit later today. Meanwhile, searchers continue to locate debris, including a large part of the shuttle's nose cone.
We have two live reports for you this morning. Rusty Dornin in Houston on the investigation and the memorial, and Maria Hinojosa in Hemphill, Texas, where the shuttle's nose cone has been found.
Let's start off with you this morning, Rusty -- good morning.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Well, they are looking a lot harder at the mishap that occurred during launch of the shuttle Columbia, and saying that could be the cause of the problem. That damage to the external fuel tank could have been drastic, and it's a very sobering thought.
Now, there were film reviews right after liftoff to take a look at that debris that came off the orbiter and fell onto the wing. But about a week later, upon final review, the engineers said there was no threat to the crew or safety of the vehicle.
Now, NASA has been releasing more information about the minutes preceding the disaster, and they are saying that there were increases in temperature also in the wheel well. But they say these temperature increases are telling them something. They just don't know what that something is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RON DITTEMORE, SHUTTLE PROGRAM MANAGER: We have pieces of information, but I think it's around the edges. And that missing link is out there, and we just need to be persistent and go find it. I'm confident that we'll get more information that will help us come up with a plausible scenario.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Now, thousands are expected to attend the memorial service today, along with President Bush and first lady Laura and family members of the seven astronauts. Folks here are saying it's a day of mourning, a time to pause and reflect upon the seven family members that they lost -- Paula.
ZAHN: Rusty, if you would, we're going to try to use some of that video that was just released to us yesterday showing the piece of that foam, or what is believed to be a combination of ice and foam falling back on the shuttle, to help us better understand what investigators are saying. Walk us through exactly what they told you yesterday.
DORNIN: Well, what they said was they are now taking a second look, they're re-analyzing that film that they had initially said that they did not believe it caused damage to the orbiter. And what they had said was they thought initially when that tile falls off and it hits the wing, you see what looks like a flash of light. Well, actually now they're saying it could be a reflection flash of light. Initially, they thought it was some kind of other debris. They weren't sure exactly what that was.
So, they're going back over and reviewing this film, and of course all of the data, to see if there could have been any more structural damage than what they initially thought.
ZAHN: I thought it was interesting that Ron Dittemore, who led that news conference yesterday, said that the assumption is drastic, because it implies a fundamental flaw in the design of the shuttle. Can you elaborate on that?
DORNIN: They just -- that's exactly what he said. I think they are just completely taken aback that all of the things that they believed to be true in terms of their analysis and their review of what could have happened during this mishap. You know that this has happened actually before, Paula, that there had been a tile that had fallen against the wing or on the shuttle on another launch, and it had not done any damage. Now, they're saying, my goodness, you know, we're going to have to go back and take another look at this. This could completely rewrite the book.
ZAHN: Rusty Dornin, thanks for the update -- appreciate it.
Let's go back to Maria Hinojosa, who is standing by in Hemphill, Texas, where there is a tremendous amount of pressure and a tremendous amount of emotions flowing as more discoveries are made in that area.
Good morning -- Maria.
MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Well, yesterday in the late-evening briefing, we were told that yesterday was the very best day that they've had in terms of recovery of debris. A very good day indeed, because the nose cone was recovered. Believe it or not, just about three miles from where I'm standing in downtown Hemphill, the nose cone was discovered.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
SHERIFF TOMMY MADDOX, HEMPHILL, TEXAS POLICE: They dispatched a unit out to investigate this. And anyway, it was reported there that that had been recovered, that it was in pretty good shape, and you know, that -- right now that's all that we know about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HINOJOSA: Now, there are pictures of the debris surrounding the area where the nose cone was recovered, but as soon as it was discovered, very tight security was put in place, and no photographers or reporters have been allowed near it. The cone continues to lay in the woods off of a main country road about 400 yards into the woods here in Hemphill. And we're told that a man was out surveying his extensive property in the woods, and he was the one who came upon the nose cone, again about three miles from where we are here in downtown Hemphill.
Again, very, very lucky that no one was hurt on the ground considering these large pieces of debris.
Now, the EPA and NASA were called in immediately, but we haven't been told if there is anything inside the cone or when the cone is supposed to be removed. It remained under police protection last night as we drove by it very, very late last night. But larger pieces of debris have continued to -- have in fact since yesterday been removed from this site by the EPA, but the feeling here in Hemphill, Texas is that this recovery of the nose cone has certainly pumped up those people who are out in the woods doing the very hard work of going foot by foot to try to recover as much debris as possible here in Hemphill.
ZAHN: What a horrible task. Maria Hinojosa reporting from Hemphill, Texas -- thanks.
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 4, 2003 - 07:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush will travel this morning to the Johnson Space Center in Houston to attend the memorial service for Columbia's astronauts a little bit later today. Meanwhile, searchers continue to locate debris, including a large part of the shuttle's nose cone.
We have two live reports for you this morning. Rusty Dornin in Houston on the investigation and the memorial, and Maria Hinojosa in Hemphill, Texas, where the shuttle's nose cone has been found.
Let's start off with you this morning, Rusty -- good morning.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Well, they are looking a lot harder at the mishap that occurred during launch of the shuttle Columbia, and saying that could be the cause of the problem. That damage to the external fuel tank could have been drastic, and it's a very sobering thought.
Now, there were film reviews right after liftoff to take a look at that debris that came off the orbiter and fell onto the wing. But about a week later, upon final review, the engineers said there was no threat to the crew or safety of the vehicle.
Now, NASA has been releasing more information about the minutes preceding the disaster, and they are saying that there were increases in temperature also in the wheel well. But they say these temperature increases are telling them something. They just don't know what that something is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RON DITTEMORE, SHUTTLE PROGRAM MANAGER: We have pieces of information, but I think it's around the edges. And that missing link is out there, and we just need to be persistent and go find it. I'm confident that we'll get more information that will help us come up with a plausible scenario.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Now, thousands are expected to attend the memorial service today, along with President Bush and first lady Laura and family members of the seven astronauts. Folks here are saying it's a day of mourning, a time to pause and reflect upon the seven family members that they lost -- Paula.
ZAHN: Rusty, if you would, we're going to try to use some of that video that was just released to us yesterday showing the piece of that foam, or what is believed to be a combination of ice and foam falling back on the shuttle, to help us better understand what investigators are saying. Walk us through exactly what they told you yesterday.
DORNIN: Well, what they said was they are now taking a second look, they're re-analyzing that film that they had initially said that they did not believe it caused damage to the orbiter. And what they had said was they thought initially when that tile falls off and it hits the wing, you see what looks like a flash of light. Well, actually now they're saying it could be a reflection flash of light. Initially, they thought it was some kind of other debris. They weren't sure exactly what that was.
So, they're going back over and reviewing this film, and of course all of the data, to see if there could have been any more structural damage than what they initially thought.
ZAHN: I thought it was interesting that Ron Dittemore, who led that news conference yesterday, said that the assumption is drastic, because it implies a fundamental flaw in the design of the shuttle. Can you elaborate on that?
DORNIN: They just -- that's exactly what he said. I think they are just completely taken aback that all of the things that they believed to be true in terms of their analysis and their review of what could have happened during this mishap. You know that this has happened actually before, Paula, that there had been a tile that had fallen against the wing or on the shuttle on another launch, and it had not done any damage. Now, they're saying, my goodness, you know, we're going to have to go back and take another look at this. This could completely rewrite the book.
ZAHN: Rusty Dornin, thanks for the update -- appreciate it.
Let's go back to Maria Hinojosa, who is standing by in Hemphill, Texas, where there is a tremendous amount of pressure and a tremendous amount of emotions flowing as more discoveries are made in that area.
Good morning -- Maria.
MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Well, yesterday in the late-evening briefing, we were told that yesterday was the very best day that they've had in terms of recovery of debris. A very good day indeed, because the nose cone was recovered. Believe it or not, just about three miles from where I'm standing in downtown Hemphill, the nose cone was discovered.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
SHERIFF TOMMY MADDOX, HEMPHILL, TEXAS POLICE: They dispatched a unit out to investigate this. And anyway, it was reported there that that had been recovered, that it was in pretty good shape, and you know, that -- right now that's all that we know about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HINOJOSA: Now, there are pictures of the debris surrounding the area where the nose cone was recovered, but as soon as it was discovered, very tight security was put in place, and no photographers or reporters have been allowed near it. The cone continues to lay in the woods off of a main country road about 400 yards into the woods here in Hemphill. And we're told that a man was out surveying his extensive property in the woods, and he was the one who came upon the nose cone, again about three miles from where we are here in downtown Hemphill.
Again, very, very lucky that no one was hurt on the ground considering these large pieces of debris.
Now, the EPA and NASA were called in immediately, but we haven't been told if there is anything inside the cone or when the cone is supposed to be removed. It remained under police protection last night as we drove by it very, very late last night. But larger pieces of debris have continued to -- have in fact since yesterday been removed from this site by the EPA, but the feeling here in Hemphill, Texas is that this recovery of the nose cone has certainly pumped up those people who are out in the woods doing the very hard work of going foot by foot to try to recover as much debris as possible here in Hemphill.
ZAHN: What a horrible task. Maria Hinojosa reporting from Hemphill, Texas -- thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
