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Space Shuttle Columbia and the crew of STS-107 have been in orbit less than 24 hours. Everything seems to be going well until launch imaging expert Ken Brown reviews Columbia's high-resolution launch films and discovers a large piece of External Tank foam struck Columbia's left wing just 81.9 seconds into the launch. Brown knows that if Columbia's tender heat shield has been severely damaged by the impact, neither the crew nor the spacecraft will survive the inferno of atmospheric re-entry. So stunned by what he sees on the films, Brown quickly executes two critical actions. First he e-mails an organization-wide report recommending NASA immediately quantify the damage by acquiring satellite imaging of Columbia. Then, he leaks a private e-mail to his friend John Stangley detailing Columbia's predicament. Stangley, a former CNN science correspondent, knows exactly what to do with Brown's scoop of a lifetime. Soon, NASA is faced with its most difficult problem ever: how to save Columbia's inter- national crew of seven men and women.
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