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CNN Live Today
NASA Officials Backing Away From Earlier Theory
Aired February 06, 2003 - 10:20 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I want to bring you the latest on what people believe what went wrong with the shuttle Columbia. NASA officials are backing away from an earlier theory about what might have caused the shuttle Columbia disaster.
Our Jeff Flock joins us live. He is Johnson Space Center in Houston with the latest on the investigation.
Jeff, hello.
JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, I don't think anybody thought this was going to be a quick answer in terms of what was the root cause of what happened, but obviously, a lot of focus has been on that external fuel tank and the foam insulation that is on the outside of that. We have those pictures, of course, of the piece of that foam insulation coming away and striking at the underside of the space shuttle.
Of course everyone, because of that photographic evidence, has focused attention on that. But some new photographic evidence yesterday from Ron Dittemore, who is the fellow who runs the shuttle operations, and those are before and after photographs of the underside of the shuttle. One taken before that debris hit it, the other after.
Now the resolution, as you can see on those photos, not tremendously good, but no visible damage there. And yesterday, also Ron Dittemore brought along to the press briefing some of that foam insulation to give us a sense of what it looks like, how thick it is. He indicated that really that kind of piece of insulation, even the one that was depicted in the photographic evidence hitting the underside of the shuttle, shouldn't cause a failure of the orbiter.
Ron Dittemore yesterday:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RON DITTEMORE, SHUTTLE PROGRAM ADMINISTRATOR: I don't think it's ice. I don't think there is an embedded ice question here. I don't think this came off as a chunk of foam and solidified with ice. If you look at the picture, the video, when it hits the wing, this piece of foam disintegrates.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FLOCK: And so, Daryn, Ron Dittemore saying that while that clearly happened, they have photographic evidence that the foam insulation did hit the underside, that being the root cause, the only cause of any problems that took place thereafter, just doesn't make sense to him. So they're back it the drawing board. They're looking at possible debris that came off as far west as California, and if they can determine what pieces were coming off that far back, because the main debris field is in Texas and Louisiana, if they can find out what parts were coming apart earlier, that may give them a better indication of where the trouble started -- Daryn.
KAGAN: But it does look like the clues keep leading toward that left wing, which was where the first signs of trouble, at least to people on the ground, were coming.
FLOCK: Well, no question, you have the measurements of the heating in that area. So clearly, there's a problem there somewhere. But he just -- Ron Dittemore very clearly said yesterday that he just doesn't think that foam insulation alone hitting the underside is what led to it. So they're still back looking.
KAGAN: All right, Jeff Flock, in Houston, thank you so much.
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 6, 2003 - 10:20 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I want to bring you the latest on what people believe what went wrong with the shuttle Columbia. NASA officials are backing away from an earlier theory about what might have caused the shuttle Columbia disaster.
Our Jeff Flock joins us live. He is Johnson Space Center in Houston with the latest on the investigation.
Jeff, hello.
JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, I don't think anybody thought this was going to be a quick answer in terms of what was the root cause of what happened, but obviously, a lot of focus has been on that external fuel tank and the foam insulation that is on the outside of that. We have those pictures, of course, of the piece of that foam insulation coming away and striking at the underside of the space shuttle.
Of course everyone, because of that photographic evidence, has focused attention on that. But some new photographic evidence yesterday from Ron Dittemore, who is the fellow who runs the shuttle operations, and those are before and after photographs of the underside of the shuttle. One taken before that debris hit it, the other after.
Now the resolution, as you can see on those photos, not tremendously good, but no visible damage there. And yesterday, also Ron Dittemore brought along to the press briefing some of that foam insulation to give us a sense of what it looks like, how thick it is. He indicated that really that kind of piece of insulation, even the one that was depicted in the photographic evidence hitting the underside of the shuttle, shouldn't cause a failure of the orbiter.
Ron Dittemore yesterday:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RON DITTEMORE, SHUTTLE PROGRAM ADMINISTRATOR: I don't think it's ice. I don't think there is an embedded ice question here. I don't think this came off as a chunk of foam and solidified with ice. If you look at the picture, the video, when it hits the wing, this piece of foam disintegrates.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FLOCK: And so, Daryn, Ron Dittemore saying that while that clearly happened, they have photographic evidence that the foam insulation did hit the underside, that being the root cause, the only cause of any problems that took place thereafter, just doesn't make sense to him. So they're back it the drawing board. They're looking at possible debris that came off as far west as California, and if they can determine what pieces were coming off that far back, because the main debris field is in Texas and Louisiana, if they can find out what parts were coming apart earlier, that may give them a better indication of where the trouble started -- Daryn.
KAGAN: But it does look like the clues keep leading toward that left wing, which was where the first signs of trouble, at least to people on the ground, were coming.
FLOCK: Well, no question, you have the measurements of the heating in that area. So clearly, there's a problem there somewhere. But he just -- Ron Dittemore very clearly said yesterday that he just doesn't think that foam insulation alone hitting the underside is what led to it. So they're still back looking.
KAGAN: All right, Jeff Flock, in Houston, thank you so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
