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Researchers will study debris { April 14 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/space/1867217 http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/space/1867217 HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Space April 14, 2003, 3:55PM Researchers will get to study Columbia debris Associated Press CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Debris from the space shuttle Columbia will be made available to qualified researchers after the official investigation into the tragedy ends, NASA officials said today. "We're going to learn from Columbia," said Michael Leinbach, chairman of the Columbia reconstruction team. "This is the legacy we're going to leave the STS-107 crew and their families." Leinbach envisioned the wreckage being studied by researchers interested in hypersonic re-entry, spacecraft design and flight crew systems. Columbia broke up over Texas during re-entry on Feb. 1, killing all seven astronauts aboard. The disaster's cause is undetermined, but investigators are looking into whether a chunk of foam from the craft's external tank may have hit and damaged thermal protection materials on the left wing during the launch 16 days before. Wreckage from the shuttle was scattered over east Texas and Louisiana. Searchers on the ground have recovered more than 32 percent of Columbia, and debris continues to found at a rate of hundreds of pieces per day. NASA expects to ultimately collect 40 percent of the craft; the remaining pieces either burned up as they fell to earth, are too small or have fallen in places where they are not likely to be found. Leinbach said the criteria for loaning pieces will be similar that of the moon rocks brought back to earth by the Apollo missions from 1969 to 1972. A research facility will put in an application for specific pieces and the purpose for the research. After NASA checks the validity of the request, the researcher will be lent the piece for a specified time. It is hoped that the research will lead to better spacecraft designs. The only other accident involving a vehicle traveling more than five times the speed of sound was an X-15 crash in 1967 that killed its pilot. "We're going to learn from this tragedy instead of just putting it in a silo," Leinbach said. The pieces from the space shuttle Challenger disaster of 1986 were put into an abandoned missile silo at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Apollo 1 capsule, in which three astronauts died in a launch pad fire in 1967, is in storage at the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. Leinbach said there is discussion of allowing parts of Colombia to be lent for display in museums. "That concept has been kicked around and we're not opposed to it," he said. "Study, for sure; display, I'm not sure yet. Maybe, I don't know."

Lawmakers question objectivity { February 12 2003 } Lawmakers question probe secrecy { May 12 2003 } Repubs demos question panel independence { February 13 2003 } Researchers will study debris { April 14 2003 } Shuttle breached 3 times before Shuttle data recorder { March 19 2003 } Shuttle image request email dispute { April 1 2003 } Shuttles fly again no big changes { June 24 2003 } Shuttles fly before wing change Undamaged tape { March 24 2003 } Files Listed: 10

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