WASHINGTON (nasa) – The U.S. Space Agency (NASA) has released a videotape of the doomed Columbia crew going through routine procedures minutes before the shuttle disintegrated earlier this month.The video was taken by an automatic camera on the Columbia’s flight deck. Because of subsequent heat damage, the tape ends four minutes before ground controllers received any indication of trouble in the shuttle’s return to earth. The video reveals no sign of impending disaster.
The shuttle Columbia overheated during re-entry into the atmosphere February 1 and broke apart, scattering debris over a wide swath of the southern United States. Blast-off damage to the spacecraft’s protective heat shield is thought to be the most likely cause of the disaster.
The tape, found in Palestine, Texas, on February 6, was shown to the astronauts’ families before being released to the public. Four of the seven astronauts were on the flight deck, and are shown smiling and apparently in good spirits.
Because of the damage, only 13 minutes of the video is viewable. NASA experts call it virtually a miracle the tape survived at all.
The independent board investigating the disaster says the fragment’s shape and thickness indicate that it came from the top surface of the troubled left wing near where it attached to the shuttle’s body.
This could be significant because the board suspects something penetrated Columbia’s left wing, allowing extremely hot gases to enter it. Readings from wing sensors showed a dramatic temperature rise minutes before the break-up.
On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives committee that oversees NASA will hold separate hearings on how the Columbia accident is affecting the space agency’s programs.
