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NASA Still Analyzing What Action to Take on Tomorrow's Shuttle Launch; U.S. Army Probing Alleged Rape and Killing by U.S. Soldiers

Aired July 03, 2006 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: On the launch pad and on hold, yet again. NASA has hit another snag trying to get the shuttle Discovery back into space.
Our technology correspondent, Daniel Sieberg, is at Kennedy Space Center.

Daniel, what is the latest word?

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Betty.

They haven't had a lot of luck so far with shuttle Discovery. It's still on launch pad 39B. And right now the mission management team is still briefing the media on what they're doing.

They're still going to try and proceed with the launch tomorrow. They've made no decision to delay it. That would be at 2:38 in the afternoon. But the concern right now from a technical perspective is this crack that they discovered on the external fuel tank.

And if you can see right here, this is what the external fuel tank looks like on Discovery. And the external fuel tank contains these extremely cold fuels, the liquid oxygen back in the top here, the liquid hydrogen down below. And this crack, about three to four inches long, just about an eighth of an inch deep, it's up near the liquid oxygen part here where a feed line goes into it. And I think we have a graphic illustration of where it is on the actual external fuel tank and how big the crack is.

It's very small, and they actually discovered the pieces of foam on the launch pad, but big enough for them to be somewhat concerned about it. They've been meeting this morning to discuss what to do. At this point, they're going -- they're going to have another meeting at 6:30 tonight to see if they need to get a closer look at it, to get in there and inspect it.

If they do need to get in there and expect that area closer, they would have to get up inside this rotating service structure that's actually around the shuttle right now, get a closer look at it, and decide if they need to delay it until Wednesday. But they did talk earlier about the reasons they need to be very careful with this and what they're going to be looking at.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN SHANNON, DEPUTY PROGRAM MANAGER: The obvious question is, well, gee, if this would have happened in flight and this piece of foam would have come off, would that have been an issue? And the answer is, no, absolutely, it would not have been an issue. It is less than half the size that we think can cause damage to the -- to the orbiter. So, although it is in an area that we don't like to have foam come off, this was not unexpected and it would not have caused any damage to the orbiter itself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIEBERG: I have a piece of foam right here, and this piece is much, much larger than the piece that they found. And this is also smaller than the piece that they discovered had hit Columbia back when Columbia ended up burning up on reentry. It was a piece of foam about a pound and a half, which is even bigger than this, that ended up striking Columbia on the wing, pierce through the heat shield there, and ended up causing to disintegrate upon reentry.

You might also remember about a year ago when Discovery went up they had a lot of cameras, they learned something in the last couple of years. They had some cameras on it, and they did see another piece of foam that came off, a smaller piece than with Columbia but still of concern. And they wanted to make sure, of course, that that doesn't happen.

Now, in this particular case, what they have to think about is not only could the foam come off in that area, but could ice form there? The reason they think this may have happened is that the external fuel tank contains these really cold fuels. It basically contracts when the fuels go in. It shrinks, in a sense, then it expands when it heats up again. And so, the stress on it may have caused this tiny crack.

Now, the foam there is actually applied by hand. Most of the foam that's on the external fuel tank, in fact, about 90 percent of it, is applied automatically. But the part where this crack actually happened was done by hand. And it's hand-applied.

This is foam that goes on there -- and you can see some of it happening when they actually apply this foam -- it goes on to the external fuel tank, a lot of it. And now they need to decide what to do.

So, they're sort of in a holding pattern right now. NASA considering a lot of options, possibly a fix on the launch pad. But if they do that, they would have to test out the fix, in a sense, and then actually apply the fix. And that could cause a delay. They may even swap out the external fuel tank, and that would be quite a delay.

So, they've got from Plan A to Plan Z, Betty, and they're just going to have to go through all of them and make a decision. A lot of variables at play here. They hope to have a decision by late tonight, possibly 9:00 or 10:00, which could affect whether they go up tomorrow.

NGUYEN: Yes, a lot of decisions to be made. A lot of discussion being made at this moment, Daniel, because that news conference that we broke into just a little bit earlier is still going on. In fact, I want to let our viewers take a listen to something the deputy program manager had to say just a little bit earlier about the situation at hand.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Are you confident -- I mean, your confidence based on the fact that a year later you feel you're a lot smarter about foam, or is this something that prior to the Columbia disaster you would have not even probably worried about at all?

SHANNON: Well, you know, that's a good question. I think it would not have gotten as much attention prior to Columbia as it is getting now. And I think it is a very -- I think it's a very good thing that we had this the sensitivity and we're looking this close at the vehicle, that if it -- if it does something that is unexpected, that we really put forth the effort to understand it before we commit to go fly. And I think that's -- that's the attitude we want to have with the team.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: And our space correspondent, Miles O'Brien, is going to be joining us in just a little bit to talk more about the issue of falling foam and the options that NASA is considering at this moment.

An Iraqi war vet with a purported personality disorder is in a North Carolina lockup today charged with rape and murder in Iraq.

CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr is at her post with the details on this.

Barbara, bring us up to speed with what happened.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, a man named Steven Green, 21 years old, a former private 1st class in the 101st Airborne Division, after spending several months in combat in Iraq, is now charged by federal prosecutors in this unfolding case which has some very disturbing details. You see him here earlier today at his arraignment proceeding.

The U.S. Justice Department brought the charges against him because, of course, now he is a civilian, though he could be turned back over to the military at some point, possibly. He is charged with murder of four Iraqi civilians and also the rape and murder of one woman.

This incident allegedly now taking place back in March. Other soldiers bringing it to light just a couple of weeks ago when they were undergoing a stress combat debriefing. They said that this incident back in March had happened, and that perhaps as many as four soldiers were involved in this incident, which has some very disturbing details.

Betty, it involved apparently a night of consuming alcohol, which is absolutely forbidden to U.S. troops in combat, of course; changing into dark clothing; going to this house in Mahmoudiya that they already knew an Iraqi family was living in, going there; putting the people in one room, then raping and shooting one of the women and shooting the other three people in the house, including a small child, a little girl estimated to be about five years old.

Now, Steven Green did receive an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army, but the U.S. Justice Department document, the affidavit released today, says he was discharged after it was determined he was suffering from a personality disorder -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Well, Barbara, we're looking at these pictures. In fact, they're the first time we're seeing these pictures of Green here on CNN. And let me ask you a little bit more about him.

What do you know about him and this discharge? Is it connected in any way to these charges?

STARR: Well, at this point there's no reason to think that it is. That's not reflected in the Justice Department document. Clearly, in retrospect, there's every indication that something was very wrong with this individual. But at this point, it's all going to have to be investigated.

If he is convicted of the charges of murder, he could face the death penalty. And on the charge of rape, of course, life in prison.

And a lot of what may come to light may come from other soldiers in the unit who brought this information forward, apparently some of them also saying that they were involved in some of this, that they knew some of the details. So, there's also a lot of indication, Betty, that soldiers went to great lengths to cover all of this up since it happened in March.

NGUYEN: Very disturbing.

Barbara Starr, thank you for that.

Well, two more U.S. military families are getting the worst possible news. Another U.S. Marine was killed in Iraq today, and a soldier died on patrol last night.

It's been a deadly day for Iraqis, as well. At least 12 killed in attacks all across the country. Dozens were hurt, including two soldiers and two police officers, when a suicide car bomber blew himself up near a Baghdad hospital.

It's a bitterly contested election and just too close to call. That's not stopping the two leading candidates in Mexico's presidential race from claiming victory today.

Voters are split between conservative Felipe Calderson and leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. The victory by Calderon would probably mean more pro-business policies favored by the U.S. If Obrador wins, Mexico could join another Latin American -- or other Latin American countries that have swung too the left and away from Washington. An official vote count is set to begin on Wednesday.

Well, each man claiming victory in Mexico's presidential elections wants to replace Vicente Fox, who's retiring because of term limits. He won't know who really won before midweek, but it will have an impact on you.

CNN's Chris Lawrence explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Here's why Mexico's election is important to average Americans...

PROF. OCTAVIO PESCADOR, UCLA: Mexico is the third largest trading partner of the United States.

LAWRENCE: ... why its immigration policies matter...

JACK KYSER, LOS Angeles COUNTY ECON. DEV.: If you snapped your fingers and undocumenteds disappeared from southern California, our economy would probably grind to a halt.

LAWRENCE: ... and why Americans may not need to worry about which candidate is elected.

PESCADOR: There is no way that no one left, center or right will threaten the relationship between the U.S.

LAWRENCE: Dr. Octavio Pescador is a college professor. Alberto Aviles a marketing director. Both are U.S. citizens who moved from Mexico many years ago.

ALBERTO AVILES, VOTER: Just because we left the country, that doesn't mean that we are not Mexicans.

LAWRENCE: Aviles will drive to Tijuana Sunday. He's one of the few expatriates who will actually cast a vote. More than 10 million Mexicans are living in the United States. Less than 1 percent requested absentee ballots.

AVILES: I'm disappointed at the way this process was implemented.

LAWRENCE: Aviles says Mexicans living in the United States had to register in Mexico. Inconvenient for people who live far from the border and too risky for those in the U.S. illegally. After the election, Pescador says Mexico's immigration policy could shift one of two ways. One candidate could request more money to create jobs in Mexico.

PESCADOR: In a nutshell, it's help us help you.

LAWRENCE: And the other might be more willing to negotiate with the United States on a guest worker program.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: And remember, you will hear the official returns first right here on CNN.

Way up there, more than a dozen spy satellites keeping an eye on Earth. Yes, they're watching us. An exclusive look at how they're made and the agency that oversees them, when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHANNON: The obvious question is, well, gee, if this were to happen in flight and this piece of foam would have come off, would that have been an issue? And the answer is, no, absolutely, it would not have been an issue. It is less than half the size that we think could cause damage to the -- to the orbiter. So, although it is in an area that we don't like to have foam come off, this was not unexpected and it would not have caused any damage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: All right. So, the launch on the fourth still a go for now. Here's a live picture right now. But, you know, that go for launch could change in just a few hours, because one of the first to learn of the latest snag of the shuttle was Michael Cabbage, and he's going to talk to us right now, joining us from Florida, the Kennedy Space Center. He's the editor for "The Orlando Sentinel."

You just got out of that news conference. While they said that it was not a big surprise, that it may not have caused any catastrophic damage, they're obviously still very concerned about this, Mike.

MICHAEL CABBAGE, AEROSPACE EDITOR, "THE ORLANDO SENTINEL": There's no question that they are. And, in fact, there is another mission management team meeting scheduled tonight at 6:30. And they're going to talk about this issue again.

One thing that they're taking comfort from, though, is the fact that the piece of foam that fell off the tank was so incredibly small. It was about five one-thousandths of a pound. And according to NASA's own guidelines, they can actually withstand a strike from a piece of foam about twice that large, still without suffering any sort of major damage.

NGUYEN: All right. Let's get to the basics of this. What caused this crack and then the foam to fall off?

CABBAGE: Well, when the tank is filled with its liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants, it slightly contracts because of the coldness. And when the fuel is drained out after a launch attempt, as was the case yesterday, it expands. And there's a bracket on a big pipe, a big feedline that pipes liquid oxygen into the bottom of the tank near where the main engines are, and this bracket moves back and forth. And when it moves, pieces of foam can get pinched. And what happened, what mission managers think, is that when the tank was emptied yesterday, that this bracket moved and the piece of foam fell off.

NGUYEN: So, we're still waiting for a launch. And as we wait, they're going to have to continue to fuel up and then drain that until this thing really does, you know, go into the skies and head into outer space. So, that being the case, can we see more pieces of foam fall off because of that -- that fuel tank going in and out with fuel?

CABBAGE: It's possible. This is a phenomenon that NASA is just starting to understand right now, this whole idea that, as you fill the tank and empty the tank repeatedly, as you put cycles on it, as NASA says, that pieces of foam become more easily broken off, that cracks develop, and that it weakens the foam insulation that covers the entire exterior of the tank. And I think this is an issue that they're going to have to address and that they're going to really look at hard before they make a decision on whether they're going to launch tomorrow.

NGUYEN: And in the meantime, the astronauts are sitting and waiting and trying to be mentally prepared. You've covered NASA for a very long time. What goes through their minds right about now?

CABBAGE: I imagine the astronauts are still focused on the mission at hand. My understanding is they did participate in the mission management team meeting that was held earlier, and they were part of the discussion about the piece of foam that they saw come off of the tank. And they're probably still looking over the timeline for the launch tomorrow.

They're going to go to bed relatively early in the day, somewhere late this afternoon. And so it's possible that if in fact there is a launch attempt for tomorrow, that the crew, much of the crew, might go to sleep tonight without knowing whether they're going to fly tomorrow.

NGUYEN: Yes, it's a big wait and see situation.

So, tomorrow, when this thing is scheduled for launch -- you've been talking to a lot of folks there, there's a lot of decisions to be made between now and then. What kind of feeling are you getting? Are you getting the feeling that NASA wants to be very cautious with this one and that they want to make sure that everything is safe? And can this thing be fixed on the launch pad?

CABBAGE: If necessary, I believe they could do the repair work on the launch pad. I don't think there is any question that as they've looked at it, as the day has progressed today, NASA managers are getting much more comfortable with the problem. But there's a perception issue.

Foam has been a huge problem ever since the Columbia accident in 2003. And I think NASA wants to dot all the Is and cross all the Ts, so to speak, to make sure that they have everything well understood before they proceed with tomorrow's launch attempt. NGUYEN: And quickly, as we talk about the future of space travel, right now looking like there is only 16 more missions for the shuttle, and then we go into this new form of space travel, talk to us briefly about that. And will the issue of falling foam still be there for this new form of travel?

CABBAGE: Well, the booster rockets that they're looking at for the next generation space flights that are going to go to the moon and maybe eventually on to Mars, those are going to have foam, but they're going to be beneath the capsule that sits on top of the rocket. So, even if foam falls off, the crew and the craft, the spacecraft that the crew rides in to orbit and in space, will not be affected when the foam falls, if it continues to do so. So, it shouldn't be an issue.

NGUYEN: Mike Cabbage, he knows his business -- "Orlando Sentinel."

Thanks so much for joining us today.

CABBAGE: My pleasure.

NGUYEN: Well, they cause the big bangs very well, and many will be watching tomorrow night, but business isn't necessarily booming for firework companies. We'll tell you why when LIVE FROM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: The Fourth of July means picnics, flags, and, of course, fireworks. But some of those big firework extravaganzas we're used to seeing may be in danger of disappearing.

Cheryl Casone is live from the New York Stock Exchange with this story.

Cheryl, say it isn't so. No fireworks?

CHERYL CASONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, can you -- can you imagine a world without fireworks?

NGUYEN: No.

CASONE: It's horrible, Betty.

NGUYEN: Not on the fourth, especially.

CASONE: You know, the professional fireworks industry which produces those large-scale displays is in big trouble. According to the American Pyrotechnics Association, the industry is struggling to survive because of increased regulations following September 11th.

Now, those include extensive criminal background checks and increased site facility security. The result, skyrocketing costs for the marketers who foot that bill and a rising need for cosponsors to defray those costs.

That means many local communities can no longer sponsor Fourth of July fireworks shows, leaving just the giant displays sponsored by companies like Macy's and Disney.

Now, tomorrow marks the 30th anniversary of the annual Macy's New York fireworks show. Betty, it's quite a sight. You can't miss it.

NGUYEN: I can imagine.

Well, you know, Wall Street got an early start to the Fourth of July. They're on break right now, but there is some news, though, coming out of the auto industry. What's that all about?

(BUSINESS REPORT)

CASONE: Well, that is the latest in business news.

Stay with us. LIVE FROM will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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