Continuing coverage of a heartbreaking event.

NASA ANNOUNCES COLUMBIA ENTRY FLIGHT DIRECTOR PRESS BRIEFING

BBSNews - 2003-02-13 -- Leroy Cain, the flight director who oversaw the ascent and entry of the Space Shuttle Columbia on Feb 1, 2003, from Mission Control, Houston, will hold a press conference beginning at 3:30 p.m. EST, Friday, February 14 from the Johnson Space Center, Houston. The briefing will be carried live on NASA Television.

Prior to the start of the press briefing, at Noon and at 3 p.m. EST, a videotape of events inside the Space Shuttle Flight Control Room will air on NASA TV. It will include the audio of the Flight Director's conversations with his flight control team and air-to-ground communications between Mission Control and the Shuttle Columbia.

The Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) will conduct a press conference on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 3 p.m. EST. The press briefing will be at the Johnson Space Center (JSC), Houston.

CAIB Chairman, retired Navy Admiral Harold W. "Hal" Gehman Jr., will be joined by other members of his investigative team. The press conference will be an opportunity to review with the recent investigatory activities of the CAIB.

The press conference will be broadcast on NASA Television.

Preliminary analysis by a NASA working group this week indicates that the temperature indications seen in Columbia's left wheel well during entry would require the presence of plasma (super heated gas surrounding the orbiter during re- entry).

Heat transfer through the structure as from a missing tile would not be sufficient to cause the temperature indications seen in the last minutes of flight.

Additional analysis is underway, looking at various scenarios in which a breach of some type, allowing plasma into the wheel well area or elsewhere in the wing, could occur.

Other flight data including gear position indicators and drag information does not support the scenario of an early deployment of the left gear.

The search continues for possible debris from Columbia in the western U.S., but as of early Thursday, no debris further west than Ft. Worth, Texas has been confirmed as Shuttle- related.

Compiled from NASA press releases.

Michael Hess is the Editor of BBSNews in Charlotte, NC. Write to the editor here. Not all submissions are published. Or visit the completely new BBSNews Blog and Forum on our front page - Please Participate in BBSNews!