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American Morning
Shuttle Columbia Tragedy: Search for Answers
Aired February 03, 2003 - 07:01 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: As the shuttle heroes are honored, the search for the cause of the disaster is now stepped up. Officials say the shuttle experienced an unusual sharp rise in temperature on the left side of the plane just before breaking up, leading investigators to believe the problem could have been thermal and not structural.
Investigators hope to retrieve 32 additional seconds of data that computers may have received from the shuttle right after audio contact was lost. And the search continues for debris and remains scattered across hundreds of square miles in eastern Texas and Louisiana. President Bush will fly to Houston tomorrow to attend a memorial service for the shuttle crew.
Now we go live to the Johnson Space Center, where Rusty Dornin joins us with the very latest.
Good morning -- Rusty.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, as we understand it, NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe will be meeting with President Bush today, and following that meeting, he will go up and brief members of Congress.
Now, of course, meantime here at the Johnson Space Center, scientists are sifting through mounds and mounds of computer files, retrieving bits and pieces of information that's beginning to tell the story.
Now, apparently at 7:53 a.m., four temperature sensors began measuring an increase in temperature of 25 to 30 degrees over five minutes. That was followed by a 60-degree rise over the left wing. Now, those increases in temperature apparently triggered a sequence of events.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROD DITTEMORE, SHUTTLE PROGRAM MANAGER: At 7:58 a.m. over New Mexico, the roll trim and the elevan (ph) started to increase, indicating that we had an increase in drag on the left side of the vehicle. 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. We're not sure yet. We do know it's indicative that there was an increase in drag on the left side of the vehicle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Now, that drag apparently caused the command -- the autopilot to command the shuttle to bank to the right. It was shortly after that that all communication with the shuttle was lost.
NASA is trying to retrieve that 32 seconds right after that signal was lost that may indicate what happened then. There will be a briefing later on this morning, and hopefully, we'll be hearing some more information -- Paula.
ZAHN: Rusty Dornin, thanks so much. Appreciate that live report.
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 - 07:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: As the shuttle heroes are honored, the search for the cause of the disaster is now stepped up. Officials say the shuttle experienced an unusual sharp rise in temperature on the left side of the plane just before breaking up, leading investigators to believe the problem could have been thermal and not structural.
Investigators hope to retrieve 32 additional seconds of data that computers may have received from the shuttle right after audio contact was lost. And the search continues for debris and remains scattered across hundreds of square miles in eastern Texas and Louisiana. President Bush will fly to Houston tomorrow to attend a memorial service for the shuttle crew.
Now we go live to the Johnson Space Center, where Rusty Dornin joins us with the very latest.
Good morning -- Rusty.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, as we understand it, NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe will be meeting with President Bush today, and following that meeting, he will go up and brief members of Congress.
Now, of course, meantime here at the Johnson Space Center, scientists are sifting through mounds and mounds of computer files, retrieving bits and pieces of information that's beginning to tell the story.
Now, apparently at 7:53 a.m., four temperature sensors began measuring an increase in temperature of 25 to 30 degrees over five minutes. That was followed by a 60-degree rise over the left wing. Now, those increases in temperature apparently triggered a sequence of events.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROD DITTEMORE, SHUTTLE PROGRAM MANAGER: At 7:58 a.m. over New Mexico, the roll trim and the elevan (ph) started to increase, indicating that we had an increase in drag on the left side of the vehicle. 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. We're not sure yet. We do know it's indicative that there was an increase in drag on the left side of the vehicle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Now, that drag apparently caused the command -- the autopilot to command the shuttle to bank to the right. It was shortly after that that all communication with the shuttle was lost.
NASA is trying to retrieve that 32 seconds right after that signal was lost that may indicate what happened then. There will be a briefing later on this morning, and hopefully, we'll be hearing some more information -- Paula.
ZAHN: Rusty Dornin, thanks so much. Appreciate that live report.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
