• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Molten Aluminum Found on Columbia Tiles

Posted on: Tuesday, 4 March 2003, 06:00 CST

By MARCIA DUNN

HOUSTON (AP) -- Molten aluminum was found on Columbia's thermal tiles and inside the leading edge of the left wing, bolstering the theory that the shuttle was destroyed by hot gases that penetrated a damaged spot on the wing, the accident investigation board said Tuesday.

Roger Tetrault, a board member, said he suspects the melting occurred because of the penetrating gases and also because of the intense heat of falling through the atmosphere.

"My best guess would be that eventually we'll probably find both," he said. The melted aluminum, or slag, looks like black soot, and is present on both the right and left sides of the spacecraft, he said.

"Many of the tiles on the left side have a thin, black deposit on them, and that deposit has never been seen on any previous flight," Tetrault said.

He said both tires from the left main landing gear also show evidence of unusual and extreme heat: They are flat with torn fabric, possibly from a rupture in the final seconds of the spaceship's flight, Tetrault said.

However, he said the damage to the tires could have been caused by heat penetrating the wing. That heat, in turn, may have set off the small explosives that are used to free the landing gear if it gets stuck right before touchdown.

"I would not speculate that it blew out the door or blew down the landing gear and that caused the accident. It is the result, not the initiating event," said Tetrault, a retired corporate executive with experience in nuclear submarines.

Investigators have theorized that foam or other debris that broke off the shuttle's big external fuel tank during liftoff Jan. 16 damaged the wing - perhaps the leading edge, perhaps the area around the wheel well - and allowed hot gases to penetrate the wing and destroy the shuttle.

Meanwhile, the board's chairman, Harold Gehman Jr., said the board will delve into what role NASA management and the agency's institutional culture played in the tragedy. But he said it is more important, for now, to find out what caused the accident.

Columbia Accident Investigation Board members Roger Tetrault, left, and Steven Wallace brief the media on their investigation. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

He was referring to the flurry of e-mails among flight controllers and other engineers in the last few days of Columbia's flight, in which they discussed the possibility that the launch debris severely damaged the left wing. They said they were merely "what-iffing" and did not suspect any serious problems, even though some of them accurately predicted what might happen if a breach occurred.

For the first time, the board's weekly news conference was not held at Johnson Space Center, but rather a few miles away, off NASA property. The panel wants to distance itself from the space agency and, in fact, has asked NASA's chief, Sean O'Keefe, to remove some top shuttle program officials from the investigation.

Gehman said he is satisfied that O'Keefe will comply with his request. He refused to name which NASA officials he wanted off the investigation.

---

On the Net:

NASA Human Spaceflight

NASA

More science, space, and technology from RedNova

Copyright © 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

More News in this Category