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American Morning
Hunt For Clues Continues in Shuttle Tragedy
Aired February 05, 2003 - 07:37 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: We heard the emotional and chilling sounds of the 911 calls a few moments ago. The hunt, though, for clues continues in the shuttle tragedy. A six to seven foot piece on one of Columbia's wings recovered yesterday in Nacogdoches, Texas, and sections of the shuttle's fuselage and landing gear also found nearby. NASA checking reports that debris has been found as far west as California, maybe New Mexico and Arizona, as well. Officials say that could be crucial in the investigation going forward.
Former NASA engineer Randy Avera, CNN's shuttle analyst, who helped lead up the investigation into the Challenger disaster of 1986, is back with us.
Randy, good morning to you.
Good to see you again.
RANDY AVERA, CNN SHUTTLE ANALYST: Good morning.
HEMMER: If, indeed, this amateur videotape shows the shuttle breaking up over California, one could think it's even possible that the break-up started over the Pacific Ocean. But is there nothing on the shuttle that would notify the astronauts on board or the crews on the ground, some sort of sensor system that would let them know that something was happening far earlier than the State of Texas?
AVERA: Fundamentally, the track that the orbiter follows as it comes down through the atmosphere on reentry, it's a precise corridor with limits left, right, up and down, and if the orbiter were to exceed any of these limits, left, right, up or down, it would be obvious to the flight controllers. And, of course, if there were any communications, oral communications between the astronauts and mission control, that could be an indicator. But we don't believe that that occurred. So there's, we're talking about a very high speed, mach 18.3 at the time of break-up, speeds that are moving across the earth at a very fast rate. And it's very unlikely that something could be determined real time in order -- I think the spirit of wanting to know if something's going on is to wonder if the astronauts could have done something. Could they have been told something that would have made a difference? And that's very unlikely.
This is like a bullet or a meteorite streaking through the atmosphere.
HEMMER: Well, so, Randy, what you're saying, large chunks of the shuttle could be essentially ripped off in flight and no one would know it? AVERA: Well, it's a very high altitude. The break-up was at 207,000 feet. And the astronauts are in the front end of the orbiter and, just like on a commercial flight you may be familiar with, if something came off the tail of the aircraft, you may not know it, the pilots in the cockpit may not know it.
HEMMER: Wow. Listen, I heard you about 36 hours ago after an extensive NASA briefing. You had two concerns at the time. You said, number one, why doesn't NASA have more information at that time and why doesn't NASA know details of the debris that came off upon lift- off, be it ice or insulation?
Thirty-six hours later, are your answers solved just yet or not, Randy?
AVERA: I'm concerned that NASA at this time does not have readily available a calculation that revealed the energy analysis of that strike that apparently occurred during the boost to orbit. It's curious to me how you could decide that it's not an issue if you don't really have handy the calculations. This is an engineering problem and one would expect an engineering analysis as opposed to an assumption.
After the Challenger investigation in 1986, one of the recommendations to the president was to have quality and safety and everyone else, whether it's engineering, management, whoever, totally involved in decisions for launch and safety of flight.
HEMMER: Thanks, Randy.
Randy Avera, our investigator, our analyst at the CNN Center.
We'll talk again, OK?
Thanks for your time this morning.
AVERA: You're welcome.
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 5, 2003 - 07:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We heard the emotional and chilling sounds of the 911 calls a few moments ago. The hunt, though, for clues continues in the shuttle tragedy. A six to seven foot piece on one of Columbia's wings recovered yesterday in Nacogdoches, Texas, and sections of the shuttle's fuselage and landing gear also found nearby. NASA checking reports that debris has been found as far west as California, maybe New Mexico and Arizona, as well. Officials say that could be crucial in the investigation going forward.
Former NASA engineer Randy Avera, CNN's shuttle analyst, who helped lead up the investigation into the Challenger disaster of 1986, is back with us.
Randy, good morning to you.
Good to see you again.
RANDY AVERA, CNN SHUTTLE ANALYST: Good morning.
HEMMER: If, indeed, this amateur videotape shows the shuttle breaking up over California, one could think it's even possible that the break-up started over the Pacific Ocean. But is there nothing on the shuttle that would notify the astronauts on board or the crews on the ground, some sort of sensor system that would let them know that something was happening far earlier than the State of Texas?
AVERA: Fundamentally, the track that the orbiter follows as it comes down through the atmosphere on reentry, it's a precise corridor with limits left, right, up and down, and if the orbiter were to exceed any of these limits, left, right, up or down, it would be obvious to the flight controllers. And, of course, if there were any communications, oral communications between the astronauts and mission control, that could be an indicator. But we don't believe that that occurred. So there's, we're talking about a very high speed, mach 18.3 at the time of break-up, speeds that are moving across the earth at a very fast rate. And it's very unlikely that something could be determined real time in order -- I think the spirit of wanting to know if something's going on is to wonder if the astronauts could have done something. Could they have been told something that would have made a difference? And that's very unlikely.
This is like a bullet or a meteorite streaking through the atmosphere.
HEMMER: Well, so, Randy, what you're saying, large chunks of the shuttle could be essentially ripped off in flight and no one would know it? AVERA: Well, it's a very high altitude. The break-up was at 207,000 feet. And the astronauts are in the front end of the orbiter and, just like on a commercial flight you may be familiar with, if something came off the tail of the aircraft, you may not know it, the pilots in the cockpit may not know it.
HEMMER: Wow. Listen, I heard you about 36 hours ago after an extensive NASA briefing. You had two concerns at the time. You said, number one, why doesn't NASA have more information at that time and why doesn't NASA know details of the debris that came off upon lift- off, be it ice or insulation?
Thirty-six hours later, are your answers solved just yet or not, Randy?
AVERA: I'm concerned that NASA at this time does not have readily available a calculation that revealed the energy analysis of that strike that apparently occurred during the boost to orbit. It's curious to me how you could decide that it's not an issue if you don't really have handy the calculations. This is an engineering problem and one would expect an engineering analysis as opposed to an assumption.
After the Challenger investigation in 1986, one of the recommendations to the president was to have quality and safety and everyone else, whether it's engineering, management, whoever, totally involved in decisions for launch and safety of flight.
HEMMER: Thanks, Randy.
Randy Avera, our investigator, our analyst at the CNN Center.
We'll talk again, OK?
Thanks for your time this morning.
AVERA: You're welcome.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
