Jolie Rouge
03-27-2003, 10:22 PM
Shuttle Recorder May Provide Answers
By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer
www.customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SHUTTLE_INVESTIGATION?SITE=WBRZ&SECTION=HOME
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- Salvaged tape from Columbia's data recorder may hold vital information up until just a few seconds before the shuttle disintegrated over Texas, accident investigators said Thursday.
While the 9,400 feet of magnetic tape was being duplicated at Kennedy Space Center this week, a time tag on it confirmed that some type of imprint exists until 18 seconds past 9 a.m. on Feb. 1, the board said. After that, the tape is blank.
Columbia was losing a steady stream of parts as it crossed over California, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas en route to a Florida landing, almost certainly because of a breached left wing. NASA's latest flight timeline shows the main body of the shuttle breaking apart as early as 21 seconds past 9 a.m.
The Columbia Accident Investigation Board is optimistic given that the recorder evidently was collecting data almost up until the very end, but spokeswoman Laura Brown noted: "We're still cautious about predicting what's going to be on it."
Temperature and aerodynamic measurements, if they're there, would provide 14 extra seconds of flight data for investigators.
The 58-pound recorder was found, right-side-up and fully intact, on a damp slope in East Texas on March 19. Until now, officials feared possible heat damage to the tape, since the recorder was not built to withstand high impacts or temperatures, Brown said. The recorder is similar to an airliner's black box, but not nearly as robust or self-sustaining.
A copy of the tape will be shipped Friday to Johnson Space Center in Houston for analysis, a time-consuming process expected to continue throughout next week and possibly longer, NASA spokesman James Hartsfield said.
Hartsfield said the tape appears to be "very promising." But he cautioned the data could be corrupt and that the most critical information - temperature, pressure, vibration and other measurements from Columbia's left wing - might not be available if the wires leading to those sensors were burned in the final minutes of flight.
Investigators have said if temperature sensors near the wing's leading edge - the hottest area - remained online and if that information is, indeed, on the tape, they could better determine the flow of the penetrating plume of deadly hot gas.
The investigation board speculates Columbia's left wing may have been breached by insulating foam or other material that fell off the external fuel tank during liftoff Jan. 16. One theory is that the heat-protective carbon panels on the leading edge of the wing, which were struck, may have been weakened already from wear and tear or corroding bolts.
The data recorder was collecting data from 721 sensors on Columbia's wings, fuselage and tail during both launch and re-entry.
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On the Net:
Columbia Accident Investigation Board: http://www.caib.us
By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer
www.customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SHUTTLE_INVESTIGATION?SITE=WBRZ&SECTION=HOME
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- Salvaged tape from Columbia's data recorder may hold vital information up until just a few seconds before the shuttle disintegrated over Texas, accident investigators said Thursday.
While the 9,400 feet of magnetic tape was being duplicated at Kennedy Space Center this week, a time tag on it confirmed that some type of imprint exists until 18 seconds past 9 a.m. on Feb. 1, the board said. After that, the tape is blank.
Columbia was losing a steady stream of parts as it crossed over California, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas en route to a Florida landing, almost certainly because of a breached left wing. NASA's latest flight timeline shows the main body of the shuttle breaking apart as early as 21 seconds past 9 a.m.
The Columbia Accident Investigation Board is optimistic given that the recorder evidently was collecting data almost up until the very end, but spokeswoman Laura Brown noted: "We're still cautious about predicting what's going to be on it."
Temperature and aerodynamic measurements, if they're there, would provide 14 extra seconds of flight data for investigators.
The 58-pound recorder was found, right-side-up and fully intact, on a damp slope in East Texas on March 19. Until now, officials feared possible heat damage to the tape, since the recorder was not built to withstand high impacts or temperatures, Brown said. The recorder is similar to an airliner's black box, but not nearly as robust or self-sustaining.
A copy of the tape will be shipped Friday to Johnson Space Center in Houston for analysis, a time-consuming process expected to continue throughout next week and possibly longer, NASA spokesman James Hartsfield said.
Hartsfield said the tape appears to be "very promising." But he cautioned the data could be corrupt and that the most critical information - temperature, pressure, vibration and other measurements from Columbia's left wing - might not be available if the wires leading to those sensors were burned in the final minutes of flight.
Investigators have said if temperature sensors near the wing's leading edge - the hottest area - remained online and if that information is, indeed, on the tape, they could better determine the flow of the penetrating plume of deadly hot gas.
The investigation board speculates Columbia's left wing may have been breached by insulating foam or other material that fell off the external fuel tank during liftoff Jan. 16. One theory is that the heat-protective carbon panels on the leading edge of the wing, which were struck, may have been weakened already from wear and tear or corroding bolts.
The data recorder was collecting data from 721 sensors on Columbia's wings, fuselage and tail during both launch and re-entry.
---
On the Net:
Columbia Accident Investigation Board: http://www.caib.us