COLUMBIA LOST
Launch video shows debris hit left wing
By Frank Oliveri
Florida Today
Video of debris striking the left wing of shuttle Columbia during its takeoff will be at the center of the disaster investigation, experts who examined the video said.
The NASA video, obtained by Florida Today, shows debris from the shuttle's main fuel tank bursting against Columbia's left wing.
NASA video
View the video at: www.floridatoday.com
The experts said the debris' impact did not seem significant. But coupled with data showing sensor failures along the shuttle's left wing during re-entry, more damage to the protective heat tiles could have been caused than was apparent, said retired NASA official Bill Martin.
Martin was an assistant to Bob Gray, a shuttle program manager. Martin was a NASA employee for 31 years before leaving in 1994.
The tiles protect the orbiter from intense heat, sometimes reaching 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, when it enters the atmosphere at 17,000 mph. More than 1,000 tiles line the bottom and nose of the orbiter.
"It didn't look like something more than ice," said Martin.
Retired NASA launch engineer Bill Meyer, who worked on Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions and took part in in shuttle design, said he thought the debris was ice.
"It's probably ice because it turned into dust," Meyer said. "The spray dusted away and didn't bounce. That's normal."
That ice would not be strong enough to damage the tiles, he said. But Ron Dittemore, the shuttle program manager, said in hindsight the debris might have caused more damage than originally believed.
In the video, Columbia has rolled onto its back. At about launch plus 30 seconds, a chunk of debris breaks away from the main fuel tank. The debris briefly disappears beneath the left wing, and then there is a spray of debris from behind the wing. Chunks of the debris then fly past the lower end of the left solid rocket booster.
Martin and Meyer said the debris did not appear big enough to damage the shuttle, but Martin said shuttle heat tiles, while built to withstand extreme heat, are sensitive to debris.
"You could poke your finger into one of the tiles," he said. He added one more key point: If there was significant tile damage, the astronauts had no recourse since NASA has no in-flight procedure to repair tiles.
