NASA yesterday all but ruled out the possibility that the shuttle Columbia disaster was caused by a chunk of foam insulation that struck the left wing during liftoff.
Agency experts are now focusing on other theories – including the possibility the wing’s heat-protecting tiles were damaged by orbiting space junk.
The heat-protecting tiles are designed to keep the spaceship from burning up during re-entry.
In orbit, the shuttle zips along at 17,500 mph – so fast that a bit of space junk the size of a pea could hit the shuttle with the same impact as a 600-pound safe moving 60 mph on Earth, the newspaper said.
NASA is so worried about space debris that in orbit, the shuttle flies backwards – so the crew compartment at the shuttle’s nose faces away from its direction of travel.
At a news conference yesterday, shuttle program manager Ron Dittemore said investigators now are studying the desperate effort of Columbia’s automatic control system to hold the shuttle’s speed steady despite increasing drag – or wind resistance – on the wing.
The shuttle chief said that in Columbia’s last minutes, it was yawing and its control system was rapidly moving rudders, and even firing small rockets, in a vain effort to gain control.
“We were beginning to lose the battle,” he said.
The possibility of damage from falling foam has been discounted, he said.
“We’re focusing our attention on what we didn’t see,” he said. “We believe there was something else. There’s got to be another reason.”
In Boston, meanwhile, the angry brother of schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, who died in the Jan. 28, 1986, Challenger disaster, called for a moratorium on shuttle flights until safety problems are resolved.
“Every time they’ve lost seven people – and for what?” said Christopher Corrigan, 42.
Speaking after a memorial service for the seven Columbia astronauts, Corrigan said the program should be suspended until safety issues are resolved.
“They should revamp some of it,” he said.
But McAuliffe’s mom, Grace, said space exploration should continue.
“I feel it’s very necessary,” she said.