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American Morning
Shuttle Investigation
Aired April 23, 2003 - 08:03 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: NASA investigators becoming more certain that damage caused during liftoff led to the eventual breakup of the space shuttle Columbia; 70,000 pieces of debris have been recovered. More attention focused on solving the ultimate puzzle. How much, though, have investigators learned so far?
Randy Avera is our aeronautics analyst for CNN, a former NASA engineer. He's here to talk about it with us at the CNN Center.
Good to see you again, Randy. Good morning to you.
RANDY AVERA, CNN AERONAUTICS ANALYST: Good to see you, Bill.
HEMMER: We have talked a lot about the insulation foam peeling off upon liftoff, and also now the discovery and the possibility that this T-seal was damaged. I don't know a whole lot about it, and maybe you can explain it in laymen's terms. What's the T-seal? How critical is it to a shuttle?
AVERA: Well, the T-seal is a component on the leading edge of the wing. There are many panels on the front leading edge of each wing of an orbiter, and there are spaces between those panels. Imagine like spaces between your teeth, if you will. The gap between these panels have to be aerodynamically sealed, so the hot gas plasma does not get through that gap and attack the leading edge structural spar of the wing. This T-seal, it's called the T-seal because of its cross-section, looks like the capital letter 'T.' And it's believed the obscene floating away from the orbiter on the second day of the mission was perhaps this T-seal.
The T-seal It is about 30 inches long, and is in the shape of a capital letter "C." it's a curved shape, like the leading edge of the wing.
HEMMER: Randy, do you think this is a problem that's easily fixed?
AVERA: Well, there are two categories of how to solve these issues. Number one, it's believed that the strike of the foam had an obvious effect that caused the damage leading to the departure of this component from the orbiter. But also there is a concern that with the age and with the accumulative small defects, whether they're manufacturing defects or micromedia impacts during previous missions, small little defects that over time accumulate to be a significant issue and whether or not the actual structural strength of this reinforced carbon material has been compromised and reduced in strength based on its accumulative damage and wear and tear, and that when the foam actually struck the orbiter, that it was much easier, in fact, to fail that component.
HEMMER: Listen, I mentioned 70,000 pieces compromise about 40 percent of the space shuttle Columbia been discovered and now being pieced together. How do you gauge the pace of this investigation and what they're finding out? Satisfactory at this point?
AVERA: Well, as we know, for the past couple of months, there has been exhaustive efforts in several states to collect these components. It's been nonstop. It's important to gather the key pieces that will solve this, this puzzle. The condition that's different for this accident compared to the 1986 accident of the space shuttle Challenger is that some of the metal had actually been vaporized during the re-entry through the atmosphere, and hopefully that the components that have been collected will provide all of the answers needed to identify the problem, solve the problem, and not just in the material itself, but also in the procedures of how to process the space shuttle, launch a space shuttle, and do the orbital mission and landing.
HEMMER: It is a massive project still underway. Amazing, though, they have found so many pieces so far in trying to put this thing back together and try to figure out safety in the future, if the shuttle program is still with us in the future.
Thanks, Randy. Good to see you again. Randy Avera at the CNN Center.
AVERA: You're welcome, Bill.
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 April 23, 2003 - 08:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: NASA investigators becoming more certain that damage caused during liftoff led to the eventual breakup of the space shuttle Columbia; 70,000 pieces of debris have been recovered. More attention focused on solving the ultimate puzzle. How much, though, have investigators learned so far?
Randy Avera is our aeronautics analyst for CNN, a former NASA engineer. He's here to talk about it with us at the CNN Center.
Good to see you again, Randy. Good morning to you.
RANDY AVERA, CNN AERONAUTICS ANALYST: Good to see you, Bill.
HEMMER: We have talked a lot about the insulation foam peeling off upon liftoff, and also now the discovery and the possibility that this T-seal was damaged. I don't know a whole lot about it, and maybe you can explain it in laymen's terms. What's the T-seal? How critical is it to a shuttle?
AVERA: Well, the T-seal is a component on the leading edge of the wing. There are many panels on the front leading edge of each wing of an orbiter, and there are spaces between those panels. Imagine like spaces between your teeth, if you will. The gap between these panels have to be aerodynamically sealed, so the hot gas plasma does not get through that gap and attack the leading edge structural spar of the wing. This T-seal, it's called the T-seal because of its cross-section, looks like the capital letter 'T.' And it's believed the obscene floating away from the orbiter on the second day of the mission was perhaps this T-seal.
The T-seal It is about 30 inches long, and is in the shape of a capital letter "C." it's a curved shape, like the leading edge of the wing.
HEMMER: Randy, do you think this is a problem that's easily fixed?
AVERA: Well, there are two categories of how to solve these issues. Number one, it's believed that the strike of the foam had an obvious effect that caused the damage leading to the departure of this component from the orbiter. But also there is a concern that with the age and with the accumulative small defects, whether they're manufacturing defects or micromedia impacts during previous missions, small little defects that over time accumulate to be a significant issue and whether or not the actual structural strength of this reinforced carbon material has been compromised and reduced in strength based on its accumulative damage and wear and tear, and that when the foam actually struck the orbiter, that it was much easier, in fact, to fail that component.
HEMMER: Listen, I mentioned 70,000 pieces compromise about 40 percent of the space shuttle Columbia been discovered and now being pieced together. How do you gauge the pace of this investigation and what they're finding out? Satisfactory at this point?
AVERA: Well, as we know, for the past couple of months, there has been exhaustive efforts in several states to collect these components. It's been nonstop. It's important to gather the key pieces that will solve this, this puzzle. The condition that's different for this accident compared to the 1986 accident of the space shuttle Challenger is that some of the metal had actually been vaporized during the re-entry through the atmosphere, and hopefully that the components that have been collected will provide all of the answers needed to identify the problem, solve the problem, and not just in the material itself, but also in the procedures of how to process the space shuttle, launch a space shuttle, and do the orbital mission and landing.
HEMMER: It is a massive project still underway. Amazing, though, they have found so many pieces so far in trying to put this thing back together and try to figure out safety in the future, if the shuttle program is still with us in the future.
Thanks, Randy. Good to see you again. Randy Avera at the CNN Center.
AVERA: You're welcome, Bill.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
