NASA estimates $104 billion cost for returning astronauts to moon (09/20/05) The new exploration plan would allow four astronauts to stay on the moon for a week. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- It will cost $104 billion over the next decade to send astronauts back to the moon, NASA's chief said Monday, defending the price tag as an investment the nation can afford despite the expense of Hurricane Katrina...

NASA plans another lunar landing by 2018 (09/17/05) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA hopes to return astronauts to the moon by 2018, nearly a half-century after men last walked the lunar surface, by using a distinctly retro combination of space shuttle and Apollo rocket parts. The space agency presented its lunar exploration plan to the White House on Wednesday and on Capitol Hill on Friday. An announcement is set for Monday at NASA headquarters in Washington...

Shuttle back home almost two weeks after detour; next flight off until March (08/22/05) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Discovery arrived back at its home port Sunday atop a jumbo jet following a 5.8 million-mile journey through space -- the first by a shuttle in 2 1/2 years -- and then a jog across the country. The shuttle, bolted to the top of the modified Boeing 747, flew from its last pit stop in Louisiana to the Kennedy Space Center and, at midmorning, touched down on the runway where it should have landed almost two weeks earlier...

NASA pushes next flight to 2006 to understand foam loss problem (08/19/05) KFAR DAROM, Gaza Strip -- Riot troops stormed synagogues in two hardline Jewish settlements Thursday to evict hundreds of militant holdouts who locked arms in a human chain and pelted soldiers with acid, oil and sand, the most violent clashes in Israel's historic Gaza pullout...

NASA launches Mars orbiter to gather data for later exploration (08/13/05) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A spacecraft designed to gather more Mars data than all previous missions combined blasted off Friday into a golden morning sky on its way to the Red Planet. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter lifted off on an Atlas V rocket for the seven-month journey, which began three days after space shuttle Discovery completed its mission...

Discovery safely returns; questions remain (08/10/05) NASA wants to figure out foam problems before the next launch. EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Safely back on Earth, though not quite home. Now the shuttle faces an uncertain future. Signaling its arrival with two thunderous sonic booms, Discovery hurtled out of a black desert sky to a smooth touchdown Tuesday after scrapping four landing attempts at its Florida base because of rain and lightning. ...

NASA checking if repairs may have caused foam piece to break off (08/06/05) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- NASA is investigating whether repairs to a small crack in the foam on Discovery's fuel tank may have caused a 1-pound section of the insulation to break off during liftoff, officials said late Friday. The shallow crack -- just six-tenths of an inch long and two-tenths of an inch wide -- was sanded away at the Louisiana manufacturing plant before the tank was shipped to Cape Canaveral, Fla. No new foam was applied to the spot...

NASA says it has cleared Discovery for re-entry (08/05/05) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- After much soul-searching and analysis, NASA cleared Discovery to return to Earth next week, concluding Thursday that there was no need to send the astronauts out on another spacewalk to repair a torn thermal blanket near a cockpit window...

Mission Control may add to astronaut's to-do list (08/04/05) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- Spacewalking repairman Stephen Robinson was barely back inside Discovery and out of his spacesuit Wednesday when Mission Control called: What would he think about going out again to take care of another trouble spot? NASA said it may order a fourth spacewalk, on Friday, to repair a torn thermal blanket beneath a cockpit window...

Shuttle repair tools: Hands, forceps, scissors, hacksaw, and duct tape (08/03/05) Discovery's crew will remove two short pieces of filler material on the shuttle's belly. SPACE CENTER, Houston -- Employing the kind of NASA ingenuity seen during Apollo 13, an astronaut prepped for an emergency repair job on Discovery's exterior Wednesday with forceps, scissors and a hacksaw fashioned out of a blade and a little duct tape...

NASA schedules spacewalk to fix shuttle (08/02/05) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- NASA said Monday it will send out a spacewalking astronaut to fix two worrisome pieces of filler material protruding from Discovery's belly -- a high-stakes operation to repair a problem that could threaten the shuttle during re-entry...

NASA grounds future shuttle flights (07/28/05) Discovery lost foam debris, like Columbia, but no damage reported. SPACE CENTER, Houston -- NASA grounded future shuttle flights Wednesday because a big chunk of insulating foam flew off Discovery's fuel tank during liftoff -- as it did in Columbia's doomed mission -- but this time apparently missed the spacecraft...

NASA roars to life; debris causes concern (07/27/05) A 1 1/2-inch piece of tile came off from around a particular vulnerable spot. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA skipped the customary post-launch party Tuesday. The celebrating will have to wait until Discovery and its seven astronauts are safely home. After all, Columbia looked as if it was home free until it shattered on its return to Earth in 2003...

Countdown clock begins ticking again for Discovery liftoff (07/24/05) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The countdown clocks began ticking again Saturday for NASA's return to space, as shuttle managers voiced optimism -- but not certainty -- that they had fixed the fuel gauge problem that thwarted the first launch attempt. "No doubt there is some degree of finger crossing," NASA test director Pete Nickolenko said before the start of the second countdown in two weeks...

NASA still stumped by shuttle fuel gauge (07/19/05) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Nearly a week after a faulty fuel-gauge reading halted the first shuttle countdown since the Columbia tragedy, NASA had yet to uncover any clues to the problem Monday and put off the flight of Discovery until at least next week. ...

NASA scraps shuttle launch due to faulty fuel gauge (07/14/05) The problem postponed the first flight since Columbia disaster. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA scrapped Wednesday's launch of the first shuttle flight in 2 1/2 years because of a fuel gauge that mistakenly read full instead of empty, a frustrating setback to the agency's bid to get back into space after the Columbia tragedy...

NASA says Discovery and crew are ready to fly on Wednesday (07/13/05) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA resolved the last few technical concerns about Discovery on Tuesday and pronounced it ready for launch on the first space shuttle flight since the Columbia disaster 2 1/2 years ago. "We're go for launch tomorrow, pending the weather," NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said after one final meeting of NASA's managers on whether to go ahead with liftoff...

Shuttle damaged on launch pad by falling window cover (07/13/05) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- With the countdown for Discovery in its final hours, NASA was dealt an embarrassing setback Tuesday when a window cover fell off the shuttle and damaged thermal tiles near the tail. But the space agency quickly fixed the problem and said it was still on track for launch Wednesday...

NASA postpones first mission since Columbia because of ice problem (04/30/05) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA on Friday pushed back the first post-Columbia space shuttle flight by at least two months, after last-minute analyses suggested that ice falling off the fuel tank could prove as catastrophic as the foam that doomed the last mission two years ago...

Spring date for launch of space shuttle is set back (10/02/04) HOUSTON -- NASA's spaceflight leadership council decided Friday to delay the spring 2005 launch date for the first shuttle scheduled to return to space since last year's Columbia tragedy, citing hurricane damage and more work needed to meet a panel's recommendations...

NASA will have shuttle ready for rescue mission (02/20/04) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA said Thursday that the shuttle will remain grounded until next year, and once launches do resume, a second spaceship will be on standby to rescue the astronauts if their craft is damaged in flight. Because of the Columbia disaster one year ago, NASA decided last month that all shuttles from now on will be devoted to completing the international space station. ...

Nation pauses to remember anniversary of Columbia fall (02/02/04) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- One year after Columbia broke apart and fell in flaming streaks from the Texas sky, NASA workers who launched the shuttle and its seven astronauts and then gathered up the remains stood united in sorrow Sunday at the precise moment of destruction...

Mules get stubborn on Tigers (01/31/04) POPLAR BLUFF -- Ryan Delph scored 23 points but it was not enough to help short-handed Central avoid its first SEMO Conference loss on Friday night. The state-ranked Poplar Bluff Mules led from wire to wire in a 76-42 decision played in front of a standing-room only crowd for homecoming...

Columbia's fall , NASA's follow-up (01/29/04) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- These days the e-mailed gripes to the boss from NASA employees are often signed. More workers stand up at meetings and ask questions. More time is spent in making careful decisions. As NASA sets aside today as a day to remember the dead and reflect on its mistakes, its redemption for Columbia goes on, moving forward in small, sometimes barely perceptible ways...

NASA to embed shuttle wings with strike sensors (12/12/03) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- Taking a lesson from the Columbia disaster, NASA plans to embed high-tech sensors in the wings of the three remaining space shuttles to detect any blows from debris, an oversight panel said Thursday. The sensors will determine whether the leading edges of the wings were hit, but not the degree of damage, said Joseph Cuzzupoli, a Kistler Aerospace Corp. vice president who is part of the return-to-flight task force...

NASA targets next fall for shuttle flight (10/04/03) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA is targeting next fall for its next space shuttle launch, saying there are too many post-Columbia repairs to fly any sooner. Senior space agency officials decided Friday to aim for a launch in September 2004 for Atlantis. That date could slip even further into next year or even into 2005, depending on the progress of the shuttle repair work...

Nose cap inspection may delay return of space shuttle to flight (10/03/03) NASA wants to find out if the nose cap of the space shuttle Atlantis was inspected properly for corrosion, an action that could further delay the first shuttle launch since the Columbia disaster, an agency official said Thursday. Officials planning the return to space next year have questioned the inspection of the metal framework inside the nose cap, which can corrode. ...

NASA engineer - Repair kit may not be enough (09/17/03) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- A top NASA engineer said Tuesday the next space shuttle crew may not be able to fix a hole the size of the one that brought down Columbia, despite accident investigators' insistence on a repair kit for astronauts. It was the first time that someone so high within the space agency expressed uncertainty about the possibility of equipping future shuttle astronauts with the necessary materials and tools to patch potentially deadly holes in spacecraft wings...

NASA says next shuttle mission will be a test flight (09/09/03) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- NASA said Monday that when shuttle launches resume sometime next year, the first mission will essentially be a test flight, with astronauts inspecting their ship and practicing repair techniques to guard against another Columbia-type disaster...

Experts say NASA's safety culture may be too broken to fix (08/31/03) WASHINGTON -- With NASA under orders to fix its safety culture in the wake of the Columbia tragedy, industrial psychologists and management wizards say extreme measures may be needed: a purge at the top, the return of Apollo-era decision-makers, more businesslike behavior, possibly even a new name...

Investigator - Shuttle report didn't urge enough changes (08/28/03) WASHINGTON -- The Columbia investigation board did not go far enough in its recommended safety changes, one of the investigators says in a supplemental report that urges NASA to strengthen shuttle inspections and correct mechanical problems that were unrelated to the disaster but could cause another...

Investigators say flawed NASA culture led to Columbia accident (08/27/03) WASHINGTON -- A long-term relaxation of safety vigilance at NASA culminated in the loss of the space shuttle Columbia and seven astronauts, investigators said Tuesday, warning that without sweeping changes, "the scene is set for another accident."...

'Echos' of Challenger found in report (08/27/03) WASHINGTON -- Lessons learned from the 1986 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger were "undone over time" by NASA managers long before the disintegration of its sister spacecraft Columbia in a fiery return to Earth in February. Eighty-seven shuttle missions after Challenger, investigators are wondering why...

NASA expecting deeply critical report (08/26/03) WASHINGTON -- Bracing for a highly critical Columbia accident report, NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe is telling space workers the investigation board's rebuke of key management decisions should be viewed as a roadmap for safe return to orbit -- not as a "personal affront."...

Support for shuttle, space exploration steady despite accidents (07/29/03) WASHINGTON -- Most Americans support the space shuttle despite two accidents that claimed the lives of all astronauts aboard, but enthusiasm for civilians on board the shuttle is declining, an Associated Press poll found. Two-thirds in the AP poll said the shuttle should continue to fly despite the accidents, including one early this year. ...

NASA manager weeps as she defends herself (07/23/03) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- With tears in her eyes, the NASA manager who dismissed the possibility during Columbia's doomed flight that the shuttle had been seriously damaged by foam defended her decisions Tuesday and said no one should be blamed for the tragedy...

NASA debates merits of publicly displaying Columbia debris (07/21/03) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA officials are delicately seeking advice about what to do with the 84,000 shattered pieces from Columbia, cautiously broaching the idea of putting some shuttle parts on display. There is no precedent for publicly displaying disasters from the U.S. space program. And in the case of Columbia, there are mixed feelings among the survivors of the astronauts...

Superheated gas also breached shuttle during Atlantis mission (07/09/03) WASHINGTON -- Superheated gases breached the left wing of shuttle Atlantis during its fiery return to earth in hauntingly similar fashion to the demise of Columbia nearly three years later, according to internal NASA documents. Unlike Columbia, Atlantis suffered no irreparable damage during the May 2000 episode and, after repairs, returned to flight just four months later. NASA ordered fleetwide changes in how employees install protective wing panels and sealant materials...

Foam punches 16-inch hole in shuttle panel during test (07/08/03) SAN ANTONIO -- A chunk of foam insulation fired at shuttle wing parts Monday blew open a gaping 16-inch hole, yielding what one member of the Columbia investigation team said was the "smoking gun" that proves what brought down the spaceship. The crowd of about 100 watching the test gasped and cried, "Wow!" when the foam hit -- the impact so violent that it popped a lens off one of the cameras recording the event...

Columbia investigators say NASA needs to film shuttle liftoffs (07/02/03) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Columbia accident investigators Tuesday said NASA botched the photographing of the ill-fated launch, and urged the space agency to do a better job of filming shuttle liftoffs to detect potentially catastrophic problems. A pair of long-range cameras provided usable images for evaluating the blow to Columbia's left wing from a piece of foam, but a third camera that would have provided a better view was not working properly and yielded fuzzy pictures...

E-mails crew - 'Absolutely no concern' over foam strike (07/01/03) WASHINGTON -- Even as NASA engineers debated possible damage, a flight director e-mailed Columbia's astronauts to say there was "absolutely no concern" that breakaway foam that struck the space shuttle might endanger its safe return. The shuttle's commander cheerily replied, "Thanks a million!"...

Panel blames foam in shuttle accident (06/25/03) WASHINGTON -- In their strongest statement yet on the Columbia disaster, investigators said Tuesday that flyaway foam from the fuel tank was "the most probable cause" of the wing damage that brought down the space shuttle almost five months ago. "We've been trying to line up all the Swiss cheese holes. I think those holes have lined up pretty good," said Roger Tetrault, a member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board...

Other hardware problems found in shuttle program (06/25/03) When a space shuttle begins its thunderous ascent, the heavy-duty bolts and nuts that secure it firmly to the launch pad are designed to explode and release the vehicle as it surges into the skies with almost 8 million pounds of thrust. But if one or more of those sturdy fixtures fails to give, experts say, the result could be a horrific conflagration that could kill the crew and send torn shuttle components cartwheeling off the launch pad...

Board to suggest repairs for shuttle insulation (06/23/03) The Columbia Accident Investigation Board is preparing to recommend as early as this week that NASA fix foam insulation problems linked to the shuttle tragedy before resuming space flights, an official close to the investigation said. The recommendation might put a chill on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's plans. Space agency officials have vowed to fly again by early next year, even though they have not figured out how to fix all the problems related to the foam debris...

New treatment approved to block allergic asthma (06/22/03) WASHINGTON -- Patients with serious asthma caused by allergies are getting a new weapon to block the attacks, with approval of the drug Xolair by the Food and Drug Administration. The drug, approved late Friday, is expensive, requiring monthly shots that will cost between $5,000 and $10,000 a year, depending on the dose. It is intended only for sufferers from serious allergic asthma who get no relief from standard medication...

Flying bolt fragment may present new threat to future shuttle (06/13/03) WASHINGTON -- Investigators have found a new threat to future space shuttles -- a 40-pound bolt fragment that could fly off during launch and smash into the spacecraft with catastrophic results as it raced toward orbit. Members of the investigation board that is searching for the cause of Columbia's destruction said Thursday they found radar evidence that a piece of a 2-foot-long heavy bolt that joins the solid-rocket boosters to the shuttle's external fuel tank may have flown loose during the launch.. ...

Shuttle commander's widow says NASA must 'fly again' (06/08/03) ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The widow of the commander of the Columbia space shuttle said Saturday that NASA needs to fly again, but she doesn't want it to be "hammered" over irrelevant issues in the investigation of the doomed flight. "Fix it and fly again," said Evelyn Husband, wife of Rick Husband, who piloted Columbia on its final flight in February. "I would like for them to solve the problem so nobody ever has to go through this again."...

Test bolsters theory foam doomed shuttle (06/07/03) SAN ANTONIO -- A chunk of foam fired at high speed cracked a space shuttle wing panel Friday, offering what investigators said was the most powerful evidence yet to support the theory that a piece of the stiff, lightweight insulation doomed Columbia...

Resident who worked in maternity investigated for SARS symptoms (06/07/03) TORONTO -- Canadian health authorities are investigating whether a medical resident who worked in a Toronto hospital maternity ward has SARS, an official said Friday in a setback to the city's efforts to control a second outbreak of the disease. Globally, only a dribble of new SARS cases were reported Friday in the hardest-hit areas -- China, Taiwan and Hong Kong -- during a worldwide trend of remission. ...

Space shuttle investigator surprised by foam-impact test (06/05/03) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The Columbia accident investigator in charge of a series of impact tests said Wednesday he is surprised by the incredible force with which a 1 1/2-pound chunk of space shuttle foam struck and deformed a fiberglass wing replica...

Ready to risk more lives (05/22/03) WASHINGTON -- If he had known Columbia was in trouble, NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe said Wednesday he would have done everything possible to try and save the seven astronauts, even if it meant sending up a rescue space shuttle and risking another crew...

NASA - Foam hit Columbia with close to a ton of force (05/15/03) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A piece of foam insulation slammed into the edge of Columbia's left wing with nearly a ton of force, and the fact that it was tumbling almost certainly strengthened the blow, an accident investigator said. "Based on the first really analytic look at it, the rotation adds energy. What we have to figure out is how much," Scott Hubbard, a NASA executive who is on the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, said Tuesday...

Russian men relieved to safely return to Earth (05/05/03) ASTANA, Kazakhstan -- A Russian capsule safely returned two astronauts and a cosmonaut from the international space station on Sunday, but the landing, nearly 300 miles off target, triggered a nerve-racking two-hour search in the steppes of central Asia...

Weekend space landing creating high anxiety (05/02/03) MOSCOW -- Anxiety is high for this weekend's return of three international space station residents who will be making the first spacecraft landing since the Columbia disaster and NASA's first touchdown on foreign soil. "I think we are all going to be paying a little bit more attention to landing operations," said Dr. Terry Taddeo, a NASA flight surgeon who will monitor the event from Houston...

Russian, American blast off into orbit (04/27/03) BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan -- American astronaut Edward Lu and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko thundered toward the international space station Saturday as those who stayed on Earth hailed the opening of a new chapter in space travel after the Columbia shuttle disaster...

Space pioneers compare Columbia, Challenger disasters (04/24/03) HOUSTON -- Space program pioneers told Columbia investigators Wednesday that shuttle wings were never designed to be struck by anything and suggested NASA should have taken the potentially catastrophic problem much more seriously. NASA's quick dismissal of wing damage from a chunk of foam insulation also was criticized during the daylong public hearing by a sociologist who spent nearly a decade studying and writing about the Challenger disaster...

Evidence in shuttle probe points to wing seal (04/23/03) HOUSTON -- Columbia investigators said Tuesday they are growing more certain of what brought down the shuttle: A seal on the left wing was struck by foam during liftoff and fell off the next day, creating a gap that let in enough scorching gases during re-entry to rip the ship apart...

Investigators - Slit on wing may have doomed Columbia (04/16/03) HOUSTON -- A long, narrow slit on Columbia's left wing may have let in scorching heat and doomed the space shuttle during its plunge through the atmosphere, accident investigators said Tuesday. A slit possibly caused by a missing or broken seal on the leading edge of the wing is the latest -- and now strongest -- suspect in the 2 1/2-month-old inquiry...

Columbia recorder shows temperatures surging earlier (04/01/03) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- A tape recorder from the shattered Columbia shows temperatures surging inside the left wing three minutes earlier -- and hundreds of degrees higher -- than previously detected during the final portion of the shuttle's doomed flight, the chief investigator said Monday...

Helicopter crashes during debris search, killing two (03/28/03) BROADDUS, Texas -- A Forest Service helicopter searching for Columbia space shuttle debris crashed Thursday, killing two people and injuring three, officials said. All five were aboard the chopper when it crashed about 4 p.m. in rough, wooded terrain. The injured were taken to hospitals, said Kim Pease, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Conditions were not immediately known, and no names were released...

Panel recommends installation of ejection systems in shuttles (03/26/03) WASHINGTON -- Unless NASA installs a crew ejection system in its space shuttles, it can expect to lose at least one more astronaut crew before 2020, a safety panel told the space agency's top officials Tuesday. Sidney M. Gutierrez, a member of NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel who flew Columbia during a 1991 flight, said the agency's record of two shuttle disasters violates NASA's own safety margin requirements. ...

NASA flagged fuel tank foam as 'special topic' for flight (03/22/03) WASHINGTON -- Before the shuttle mission preceding Columbia's fateful flight, NASA flagged as a major concern a loss of foam in the same area on fuel tanks where investigators now believe debris broke away and smashed against Columbia's left wing...

NASA - single cause for shuttle disaster may never be found (03/20/03) BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. -- Investigators may never find a single definitive cause for the destruction of the space shuttle Columbia, NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe said Wednesday. Contributing factors could include hardware failure, failures of processes and procedures during the flight or bad judgment calls, O'Keefe told the NASA Advisory Council at Stennis Space Flight Center. He did not elaborate on those factors...

NASA starts making plans for fall space shuttle launch (03/15/03) WASHINGTON -- NASA officials are working to return the space shuttle to orbit as early as this fall, with plans to quickly correct any flaws in the system uncovered by the board now investigating the Columbia accident. Top NASA officials said Friday they are instructing engineers to plan any changes needed to resume the space shuttle program "as soon as practicable" after the investigation board determines why space shuttle Columbia broke apart...

Panel wonders if wind shear weakened shuttle Columbia (03/12/03) HOUSTON -- The Columbia accident investigation board raised the possibility Tuesday that an unusually strong wind shear a minute into the flight weakened the shuttle's left side. The board also suggested the age of the spacecraft may have contributed to the catastrophe...

New timeline shows space shuttle broke up later than thought (03/11/03) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- Columbia began exhibiting problems earlier than suspected and experienced the bulk of its breakup later than previously thought, according to the latest flight timeline released by the shuttle accident investigation board Monday...

Shuttle astronauts may have tried to override autopilot (03/10/03) HOUSTON -- An attempt may have been made to override Columbia's autopilot in the final few seconds of its doomed flight, according to information received Sunday by the space shuttle's accident investigation board. But, as an official close to the investigation stressed: "The data are really suspect. They can't ensure the integrity of any of the data."...

Columbia mission specialist Anderson buried at Arlington (03/08/03) WASHINGTON -- Shuttle crew member Michael P. Anderson had tried to prepare his daughters for his darkest hour, should it come aboard the Columbia. On Friday, one hugging a teddy bear, they helped lay him to rest. Anderson, who died Feb. 1, was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. A blustery wind whipped the more than 100 mourners at the hilltop grave site, where Anderson, 43, was given full military honors...

Ex-NASA official blames problems he warned about years ago (03/07/03) HOUSTON -- A former NASA official who led a study three years ago that faulted the way the agency dealt with safety risks told the Columbia investigation board Thursday that the same problem appears to have played a role in the shuttle disaster. Henry McDonald, an engineering professor, appeared as a witness as the board held its first public hearing on what caused the shuttle to break up over Texas on Feb. 1, killing all seven astronauts...

Aluminum slag deposits found on Columbia's thermal tiles (03/05/03) HOUSTON -- Melted 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...

Debate over risk to shuttle evolved until eve of breakup (03/02/03) Before the Columbia broke apart, NASA experts debated over five days the risks to the space shuttle, moving from a telephone inquiry about tires to remarkably accurate fears focusing on the left wing. Toward the end, engineers even identified with haunting precision which sensors might fail in sequence as the space shuttle raced through searing temperatures...

NASA chief denies request to transfer agency personnel (03/02/03) NASA's administrator rejected a formal request by the accident board looking into the Columbia disaster to reassign top agency officials from participating in the investigation, the first serious dispute over the integrity of the probe since the space shuttle's breakup killed seven astronauts...

Astronauts mug for cameras in final minutes of their lives (03/01/03) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- In the final minutes of their lives, Columbia's astronauts were cheerful, at times lighthearted. They helped one another in the cockpit, collecting empty drink bags and putting on their spacesuit gloves. The two women mugged for the camera. They remarked on the blast-furnace heat outside -- mere minutes before the superheated gases were about to penetrate the left wing and lead to their deaths...

NASA chief rejects idea Columbia was beyond help (03/01/03) WASHINGTON -- NASA's top administrator, Sean O'Keefe, said Friday he rejects the idea that nothing could have been done in orbit to help the crippled space shuttle Columbia and possibly save its seven astronauts. Raising his voice, O'Keefe told reporters that NASA has a long history of responding to orbital emergencies and would have done so again had it been clear that Columbia was in trouble...

County counts more road costs (02/28/03) Facing the possibility of having to maintain lettered state routes -- such as Route K which extends west from William Street -- the Cape Girardeau County Commission took the first steps Thursday to find out how much that would cost. The commission said it would charge county highway administrator Scott Bechtold with assessing the routes and the bridges on those roads so the county would be prepared if the financially strapped Missouri Department of Transportation acts on suggestions that were presented during a statewide commissioners meeting earlier this month.. ...

NASA - Space agency will review debate about Columbia (02/28/03) WASHINGTON -- NASA's top official said Thursday that engineers' dire speculations while Columbia was still in orbit were evaluated at the proper level below top management but that the space agency would review the decision-making process. Speaking before the House Science committee, Sean O'Keefe, administrator of the space agency, vigorously defended the way NASA dealt with a flurry of e-mails between engineers about the possible destruction of Columbia during its return to Earth. ...

Engineers raised concerns about Columbia wing burning (02/27/03) WASHINGTON -- One day before the Columbia disaster, senior NASA engineers worried the shuttle's left wing might burn off and cause the deaths of the crew, describing a scenario much like the one investigators believe happened. They never sent their warnings to NASA's brass, according to dozens of pages of e-mails NASA released Wednesday...

Last minutes of shuttle crew seen on videotape (02/26/03) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- NASA said Tuesday night that it had recovered a videotape showing four of the Columbia astronauts in the last minutes of their flight just before things went awry. The 13 minutes of tape, which includes the space shuttle's flight over the Pacific just before problems developed, shed no light on what went wrong, said an official close to the investigation into the Feb. ...

NASA - E-mail warning given about Columbia was typical (02/24/03) WASHINGTON -- NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe said Sunday an independent panel will decide the significance of e-mails by a NASA research engineer warning two days before Columbia broke apart that damage to the shuttle's insulating tiles might have left it in "marginal" condition...

Searchers find aluminum in Nev.; unclear if pieces from shuttle (02/23/03) LAS VEGAS -- Volunteers looking for a large piece of space shuttle Columbia's landing gear found several small scraps of aluminum in a remote part of Nevada on Saturday, but it was not immediately clear whether they belonged to the doomed spacecraft...

Searchers can use vehicles in federally protected area (02/22/03) INDIAN MOUNDS WILDERNESS, Texas -- Crews searching for shuttle debris have received government permission to use four-wheel-drive vehicles in a 12,000-acre federally protected wilderness area. The U.S. Forest Service gave authorization Thursday to searchers in the Indian Mounds Wilderness, where motorized equipment has been banned since 1984...

NASA engineer warned of possible shuttle breach (02/22/03) WASHINGTON -- A NASA safety engineer warned days before Columbia broke apart that he feared the shuttle was at risk for a breach near its left wheel and suggested others in the space agency weren't adequately considering the threat. "We can't imagine why getting information is being treated like the plague," the engineer wrote in one of a series of e-mails released Friday that describe internal concerns about Columbia's safety in the days before its breakup Feb. 1 over Texas...

Application of foam on fuel tanks gets attention in probe (02/21/03) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- Just how the foam insulation was applied to the fuel tanks of NASA's space shuttles is getting special attention by the board investigating the Columbia accident, officials said Thursday. One leading theory is that the insulation or the heavier material beneath may have damaged Columbia during liftoff, enough to trigger a deadly breach as the spaceship hurtled toward a Florida landing 2 1/2 weeks ago...

NASA moves ahead on space station orbiter (02/20/03) WASHINGTON -- As investigators search for the cause of the Columbia disaster, NASA is moving ahead with plans to develop a new craft that would replace shuttles on space station missions by 2012 and respond quickly to space station emergencies. The space agency released the first set of mission needs and requirements Wednesday for the orbital space plane, which would be designed to transport a crew of four to and from the International Space Station...

Rejected theories in Columbia shuttle probe back on the table (02/20/03) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- In the days after Columbia's destruction, NASA officials made their case: The foam couldn't have caused that kind of damage. It wasn't ice or metal that flew off the fuel tank. The left wing was not breached. All that -- and more -- is back on the table and under the microscope, now that an investigation board is calling the shots...

Investigators - Shuttle began losing pieces over California (02/19/03) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- Space shuttle Columbia began losing pieces over the California coast well before it disintegrated over Texas, the accident investigation board reported Tuesday, finally confirming what astronomers and amateur skywatchers have been saying from day one...

Columbia's children Shuttle lives on through projects it launch (02/18/03) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- Harvey Tananbaum has watched galaxies collide, peered into black holes and witnessed collapsing stars throwing off the same elements that were the seeds of life on Earth. The Chandra X-Ray Observatory gives all this to him. And the space shuttle Columbia gave Chandra to the heavens in 1999...

NASA asks farmers for help with debris (02/18/03) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- As the days become weeks since Columbia's disintegration over Texas, fewer and fewer pieces of space shuttle wreckage are turning up, even though the calls keep coming in. On Monday, NASA asked farmers and ranchers out West to be on the lookout during spring plowing for anything that might have fallen from the sky on Feb. 1...

Timeline tracks final moments of space shuttle Columbia (02/17/03) From the first hints that things were going wrong aboard the space shuttle Columbia until it disintegrated over Texas, killing its seven astronauts, the timeline was brief but full. Seven minutes of racing through the atmosphere, tracked by computer monitors and the worried words of controllers. Seven minutes of awed or troubled sightings from the ground. Seven minutes to silence...

Sound waves may help pin down timeline of shuttle's end (02/17/03) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- Recordings made by instruments sensitive to sound below the threshold of human hearing may help investigators build a timeline of any uncharacteristic movements made by the space shuttle Columbia minutes before it broke apart, scientists say...

Shuttle debris search expands to mountains of New Mexico (02/16/03) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- The board investigating the Columbia disaster toured the Louisiana plant where the external fuel tank was built, while searchers scoured the mountains east of Albuquerque, N.M., Saturday, two weeks after the shuttle broke up 39 miles above the Earth...

First woman shuttle pilot, commander, ready to lead (02/14/03) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- Eileen Collins fell in love with space before she even started noticing boys. The affair began in fourth grade, with an article in Junior Scholastic Magazine about the Gemini astronauts. It was a "pro" and "con" piece about whether the country should be spending money on the space program. Young Eileen didn't consider it a question for debate...

NASA official - No problems pointed at any safety risk (02/13/03) WASHINGTON -- NASA's top official assured Congress Wednesday that mission controllers detected no unusual readings from Columbia suggesting the crew's lives were threatened in the days preceding its mysterious breakup over Texas. Sean O'Keefe, who recently took over as head of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, also promised that investigators will discover the cause of the accident that killed seven astronauts and that a review board will operate without interference from NASA insiders.. ...

NASA releases Mission Control tape on Columbia (02/12/03) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- Engineers in Mission Control never lost their composure even as they lost hope that space shuttle Columbia would make it safely home. Conversations between the flight controllers, released Tuesday, suggest the engineers were waiting helplessly at Mission Control while Columbia came apart on the threshold of space, scattering debris across two states and killing seven astronauts...

Divers search silty lake for pieces of debris (02/11/03) HEMPHILL, Texas -- After being frustrated for several days by bad weather, divers finally went into a reservoir Monday in search of large pieces of Columbia that were believed to have splashed into the water after the shuttle disintegrated. "This is a lot better for the divers. They're out there. They have some spots to check. They should be able to do something," said Gene Davenport of the Federal Emergency Management Agency...

NASA - Wing fragment came from shuttle's troubled left side (02/11/03) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- NASA said Monday that a piece of broken wing found last week was from Columbia's troubled left side, giving investigators a potential clue in the space shuttle disaster. The fragment includes a 2-foot piece of carbon-composite panel, a dense material that covered the leading edge of the wing, and a 1 1/2-foot piece of the wing itself. Engineers are not certain where the piece fits...

Polls - Public still enthusiastic about NASA shuttle program (02/10/03) More than seven in 10 Americans say the space shuttle program is worth the risk in human life and should be continued, say polls taken after the disintegration of the shuttle Columbia killed its seven astronauts. A CNN-Time poll out this weekend found that 71 percent said the shuttle program is worth the risk to the astronauts; a CBS News poll found that three-fourths of Americans said the shuttle should be continued; and in a poll by The Orlando Sentinel, three-fourths said the shuttle program was somewhat or very important to the nation's future.. ...

Columbia astronauts had no special life insurance (02/10/03) NEW YORK -- The Americans who died aboard space shuttle Columbia were eligible for the standard life insurance offered to military personnel and federal employees, but NASA carried no special coverage specifically for astronauts, officials say. "There is a limit on what type of benefits the federal government provides," said NASA spokeswoman Eileen Hawley...

Investigators weighing chance ice formed on shuttle vents (02/10/03) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- Investigators are searching for evidence that a block of ice big enough to damage Columbia's wing may have formed on a waste water vent, a problem that plagued an earlier shuttle flight. They also are looking closely at what may be two key pieces of Columbia debris -- a 2-foot piece of one wing, including an attached chunk of thermal tiles, and a 300-pound cover of a landing gear compartment, possibly the site of a sudden temperature rise moments before the shuttle broke apart.. ...

Critics question bias from NASA-appointed commission (02/09/03) WASHINGTON -- The NASA-appointed commission conducting an independent investigation into the Columbia accident is too closely linked to the space agency and has too little time to do its work, say critics who wonder whether the public can trust the findings...

28,000-mile puzzle (02/09/03) Search for clues to Columbia disaster takes toll By Pauline Arrillaga ~ The Associated Press SAN AUGUSTINE, Texas -- "All right!" a voice booms from the trees. "Let's move out!" It is a cold, cloudy morning in the dense woods of East Texas, a week into the seemingly endless search for remnants of space shuttle Columbia...

Air Force photos of shuttle examined for wing damage (02/08/03) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- A high-definition military photo shot in the final moments before Columbia broke apart is "not very revealing," a NASA official said Friday. But investigators were optimistic that a recovered section of the shuttle's wing could provide solid clues...

NASA looks for secret shuttle box (02/08/03) BRONSON, Texas -- Debris crews combed an area along the Texas-Louisiana border for the wreckage of a secret device that allowed the encryption of communications between NASA and the shuttle Columbia. NASA spokesman John Ira Petty said Friday that finding the box was a high priority because officials feared its technology could be used "to send bogus signals" to the other shuttles during future flights...

Earlier shuttle adjusted flight amid fears of tile damage (02/08/03) WASHINGTON -- Two years before the Columbia disaster, NASA safety experts fearing similar damage to delicate heat tiles on the space shuttle Atlantis decided it was "prudent" to adjust its return path to lessen danger during the fiery descent, according to internal documents...

Agency taking steps to avoid collisions with space junk (02/07/03) WASHINGTON -- Space shuttles have been returning to Earth with a larger-than-expected number of dings from space junk, prompting NASA to make changes to better avoid potentially catastrophic collisions, space agency documents show. As NASA explores whether damage from space debris could have caused the Columbia disaster, its own documents detail replacements of nicked windshields and dents caused by space debris collisions that have become more frequent than NASA's computer models had predicted.. ...

Foam still under consideration as cause of disaster, NASA says (02/07/03) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- A day after all but ruling it out as a leading cause, NASA said Thursday that investigators are still considering whether a piece of insulating foam that struck Columbia's wing during liftoff was enough to bring down the shuttle...

Debris search still fails to find crucial parts of shuttle (02/06/03) NACOGDOCHES, Texas -- Despite gathering more than 12,000 pieces of debris from the shuttle Columbia, a NASA official said Wednesday none of the pieces provides critical answers for why the shuttle broke up. "We do not have any red-tag items," said Ron Dittemore, shuttle program manager, referring to items engineers have identified as crucial to the investigation into the cause...

Military mortuary to begin work on astronauts' remains (02/06/03) DOVER, Del. -- As a color guard stood at attention, flag-draped cases containing the remains of the seven crew members of the space shuttle Columbia arrived Wednesday at Dover Air Force Base. A C-141 military cargo plane carrying the remains from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana touched down just before 2:40 p.m. at Dover, home of the military's largest mortuary...

NASA backs away from foam as 'root cause' of disaster (02/06/03) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- After days of analysis, NASA backed away Wednesday from the theory that a piece of foam that struck Columbia during liftoff was the root cause of the space shuttle's disintegration over Texas. Shuttle program manager Ron Dittemore said investigators now are focusing more closely on the desperate effort of Columbia's automatic control system to hold the speed of the spacecraft stable despite an increasing level of wind resistance, or drag, on the left wing...

Senators say NASA will get safety funds when requsted (02/06/03) WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers expressed doubt Wednesday that they will rush extra safety funds to NASA, saying the space agency has not yet requested more money. But they said they expected Congress to provide additional money once NASA makes progress in uncovering the cause of the shuttle Columbia disaster and requests more dollars, perhaps this spring. ...

NASA teams checking reports of California, Arizona debris (02/05/03) HEMPHILL, Texas -- NASA sent teams Tuesday to check out reports of space shuttle debris found as far west as California and Arizona -- material that could shed light on the earliest stages of Columbia's breakup. Later in the day authorities in Texas said a 6- to 7-foot section of what they believe to be part of a shuttle wing was found in a pond east of Nacogdoches...

NASA was warned wings were vulnerable (02/05/03) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- NASA was warned nine years ago that the space shuttle could fail catastrophically if debris hit the vulnerable underside of its wings during liftoff -- the very scenario that may have brought down Columbia. After receiving the warning, NASA made changes in materials and flight rules to lessen the risk of debris breaking loose, Paul Fischbeck, an engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University who conducted the 1994 analysis, said Tuesday...

Bush - 'Space program will go on' (02/05/03) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- Under sapphire blue skies that once held Columbia and her crew, President Bush paid tribute Tuesday to the shuttle's seven astronauts and rededicated the nation to space travel. "They go in peace for all mankind. And all mankind is in their debt," he said...

Recovery teams locate space shuttle's nose cone (02/04/03) HEMPHILL, Texas -- Searchers found the nose cone of the space shuttle Columbia buried deep in a thick pine forest near the Louisiana border, officials said Monday night. "It's reasonably intact," said Warren Zehner, a senior coordinator for the Environmental Protection Agency, which is overseeing collection of shuttle debris...

Undaunted by tragedy - Young astronauts mourn Columbia victims (02/04/03) SMYRNA, Ga. -- When 10-year-old Tyler Brantley settled into his classroom Monday morning, he almost choked up when his teacher handed him a black arm band to mourn the victims of the space shuttle Columbia. Children around the country grieved for the crew Monday, but for Brantley and the other 49 fifth-graders in Russell Elementary's space center program, Saturday's tragedy hit particularly hard. All year, the students have prepared for a simulated launch in a huge model of a space shuttle...

Shuttle debris may not reveal much (02/04/03) Debris from an air disaster can supply important clues to what went wrong. But pieces of Columbia may have been so damaged by the searing heat during their fall through the atmosphere that they may not have much of a story to tell. The shuttle broke up at 200,000 feet and 12,000 mph, and "things burn up very quickly at that speed" from heat generated by contact with the air, said one expert, Jerry Grey. ...

Families of Columbia crew say 'exploration of space must go on' (02/04/03) The families of Columbia's crew remembered their loved ones Monday as optimists who rejected the word "can't" and explorers willing to accept risk for the sake of expanding knowledge. They urged Americans to support the space effort "for the benefit of our children and yours."...

NASA analysts didn't think tiles were reason for worry (02/04/03) SPACE CENTER, Houston -- While Columbia was still in orbit, NASA's "best and brightest" minds analyzed the potential damage done to its thermal tiles by a piece of debris during liftoff and concluded that the flight was in no danger, agency officials said Monday...

Accident raises questions about future of NASA shuttle program (02/03/03) NASA put shuttle launches on hold following the Columbia disaster, clouding the future of missions including assembly of the international space station, which has three astronauts aboard. Even with its shuttles grounded, NASA can easily retrieve the astronauts using Russian vehicles. But if the space agency's remaining shuttles are out of service for an extended period in the wake of Saturday's catastrophe, as seems likely, it could prove difficult to maintain the station's operations...

NASA detected heat spike in shuttle (02/03/03) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Just before it disintegrated, space shuttle Columbia experienced an abnormal rise in temperature and wind resistance that forced the craft's automatic pilot to make rapid changes to its flight path -- possible evidence that some heat-protection tiles were missing or damaged, NASA said Sunday...

NASA says it dealt with safety issues as best it could (02/03/03) WASHINGTON -- Shortages of key experts, tight budgets and mounting safety concerns all plagued the nation's space program in recent years, according to a trail of reports by congressional auditors, outside panels and NASA retirees. How much of a forewarning they were to Saturday's space shuttle Columbia tragedy may be determined in the next several weeks...

NASA - Some remains of crew found (02/03/03) Forensics experts expressed confidence that fragmentary remains of Columbia's crew members could be genetically identified despite the craft's disintegration 39 miles overhead, but said details about exactly how the seven astronauts died and how quickly could be elusive...

Law enforcement, recovery teams hunt for shuttle debris (02/03/03) DOUGLASS, Texas -- On horseback and in four-wheel-drives, hundreds of law officers and volunteers tromped through piney woods, over pastures and through swamps Sunday, looking for pieces of Columbia that could explain what brought the shuttle down. Pieces as small as a quarter and as big as a pickup were being secured and will eventually be analyzed at Barksdale Air Force Base next door in Louisiana...

Space fears rekindled for father of astronaut (02/02/03) A call from an acquaintance prompted James Godwin to turn on his television Saturday morning. It was then the rural Jackson resident saw video footage of space shuttle Columbia becoming a fireball across the Texas sky. His thoughts immediately went to his daughter, Dr. Linda Godwin, a NASA astronaut who lives in Houston and was part of the ground crew for the Columbia mission. He's been on the ground at her NASA launchings and landings, praying for her safety...

Search crews hunt debris around Texas, Louisiana (02/02/03) NACOGDOCHES, Texas -- Debris plummeted from the sky over hundreds of square miles of Texas and Louisiana, smashing a rooftop, splashing into a reservoir and sending emergency crews on a far-flung hunt for bits of what was once space shuttle Columbia...

Columbia's problems started on left wing (02/02/03) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Investigators trying to figure out what destroyed space shuttle Columbia focused immediately on the possibility that its thermal tiles were damaged far more seriously than NASA realized by a piece of debris during liftoff. Just a little over a minute into Columbia's launch on Jan. ...

Astronauts were heroes in their home countries (02/02/03) Israel's first astronaut, Ilan Ramon, lifted the spirits of a troubled country when he blasted off last month on the space shuttle Columbia. Front pages of Indian newspapers Saturday carried pictures of Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian-born woman in space, to celebrate her expected return to earth on the space shuttle Columbia...

'Columbia is lost' (02/02/03) High over Texas and just short of home, space shuttle Columbia fell to pieces Saturday, raining debris over hundreds of miles of countryside. Seven astronauts perished -- a gut-wrenching loss for a country and world already staggered by tragedy...