GOOD MORNING AMERICA (07:00 AM ET) - ABC February 3, 2003
SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA DISCUSSING VARIOUS POINTS OF THE INVESTIGATION
CHARLES GIBSON, ABC NEWS
But we have correspondents fanned out now covering the various parts of this story. We start with the latest on the investigation. I mentioned some of the high points. Here to review them, ABC's Lisa Stark.
LISA STARK, ABC NEWS
(Off Camera) Good morning, Charlie. Well, what they know is as the shuttle was coming back in to land it was heating up on the left side. It was getting too hot, in fact. The first warning, some sensors here in the left wheel well, and then sensors where the wing joins the fuselage. That is now the area, the focus of their investigation. LISA STARK (CONTINUED)
(Voice Over) It's clear whatever went wrong happened on the left side of the shuttle, the same side that was struck by a piece of insulation from the fuel tank shortly after liftoff. NASA was worried that may have damaged critical heat tiles, but decided there was no safety concern. The first trouble, seven minutes before disaster. 8:53 AM eastern time, the shuttle is over California. Two photographers take pictures through a telescope. They believe pieces are already falling off. The temperature is increasing in the left wheel well and data from some other temperature sensors on the left side suddenly disappear.
RON DITTEMORE, SPACE SHUTTLE PROGRAM MANAGER
It was as if someone had cut the wire. It was immediately gone.
LISA STARK
(Voice Over) One minute later, 8:54, another jump in temperature where the left wing attaches to the fuselage.
RON DITTEMORE
On the side of the vehicle, we had a 60-degree rise over five minutes. That's not normal.
LISA STARK
(Voice Over) Four minutes later, 8:58, increased drag on the left side that could mean problems with heat tiles on that side. The vehicle rolls to the left. The flight computer works to roll it back to the right.
JOHN PIKE, ABC NEWS
(Off Camera) If the thermal protection tiles fail, the heat's going to get in, it's going to melt through wires and it's going to cause the structure eventually to fail.
LISA STARK
(Voice Over) One minute later, 8:59, the last communication.
MALE ONE, MISSION CONTROL
We see your tire pressure messages, and we did not copy your last.
MALE TWO, COLUMBIA
Roger . . .
LISA STARK
(Voice Over) The shuttle is over Texas. It is 38 miles up, traveling at 18 times the speed of sound. On the ground, photographers capture the shuttle. At first, it appears in tact. Then, the breakup begins. Pieces peeling off. The catastrophic event recorded as a red slash by a weather satellite. Sixteen minutes before scheduled touchdown, the shuttle Columbia is gone.
LISA STARK (CONTINUED)
(Off Camera) One of the things investigators are going to be working on very carefully today is that final 32 seconds of data captured by the computers, they're hoping that will provide valuable clues.
LISA STARK (CONTINUED)
(Off Camera) And now for more on the recovery of the wreckage, we go to Mike von Fremd who is in Nacogdoches, Texas.
LISA STARK (CONTINUED)
(Off Camera) Mike?
MIKE VON FREMD, ABC NEWS
(Off Camera) Good morning, Lisa. In front of me here is a chunk of the space shuttle that smashed into Micah Miller's trailer right in front of his eyes.
MIKE VON FREMD (CONTINUED)
(Off Camera) Mr. Miller, has, have officials told you when they're coming to pick this piece up?
MICAH MILLER, RESIDENT
Saint Augustine Sheriff County, Saint Augustine County Sheriff Department has come and taped it off, but NASA hasn't said yet when they would come and pick it up.
MIKE VON FREMD
(Voice Over) So, it may be a while before you use the trailer again. Recovery teams now say they're making significant progress in locating crucial portions of the shuttle and have also found remains from many of the astronauts. This is one of the windows to the shuttle's crew cabin, and this is believed to be part of the one of the shuttle's hatches. It is the FBI's responsibility to collect all human remains, and it is making every effort to do it with as much dignity and respect as possible. A flight patch in one of the astronaut's helmets had been found near Nacogdoches.
video clip of nasa employee
MIKE VON FREMD
(Voice Over) There are now 30 Federal, state and local agencies helping with the recovery here. More than 1,500 pieces of debris have been reported. And last night they began meticulously collecting and preserving the shuttle fragments. To provide every clue for the investigation, survey teams are taking precise measurements of the location of even the smallest pieces of debris.
video clip from debris recovery
MIKE VON FREMD
(Voice Over) Investigators will be searching local reservoirs where there are reports of large chunks of debris falling into the water, but officials say people here will be finding debris in remote areas for years to come.
MIKE VON FREMD (CONTINUED)
(Off Camera) NASA has even set up a link on its Web page so people can report and e-mail pictures of anything they find here to help of uncovering every possible clue for the investigation.
MIKE VON FREMD (CONTINUED)
(Off Camera) We now go to my colleague Erin Hayes in Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, Louisiana.
MIKE VON FREMD (CONTINUED)
(Off Camera) Erin?
ERIN HAYES, ABC NEWS
(Off Camera) Thank you, Mike. The plan now is for all of the debris that's found in the coming weeks to be brought here to Barksdale Air Force Base.
ERIN HAYES (CONTINUED)
(Voice Over) Here, investigators will work to reconstruct the space shuttle as best they can as pieces are discovered and brought in. There is a large hangar here on site that's suitable for that kind of reconstruction. And this Air Force base affords NASA a high degree of security. This is also where the Independent Review Commission is setting up shop, headed by retired Navy Admiral Harold Gehman Jr. Admiral Gehman had worked on the commission that investigated the attacks on the USS Cole in Yemen two years ago.
ERIN HAYES (CONTINUED)
(Off Camera) And he has put together a team here that draws from the Navy, the Air Force, the FAA, and NASA. They expect to get their work started this morning, and for debris to begin arriving as soon as those arrangements can be finalized.
ERIN HAYES (CONTINUED)
(Off Camera) And now, back to Charlie in Houston.
ERIN HAYES (CONTINUED)
(Off Camera) Charlie?
CHARLES GIBSON
(Off Camera) All right. Thanks very much, Erin.
Copyright © 2003, American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
