posted 09-16-2004 01:33 AM               

quote:

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A large piece of space shuttle Columbia debris found recently is a part of the crew compartment, possibly including the escape hatch, a NASA official said Wednesday.

The six-foot-long piece containing a hinged window was found in Newton County by Jason Sebesta, a wildlife biologist with Temple-Inland Inc., Angelina County Sheriff Kent Henson said Wednesday. Sebesta found the piece in a water-runoff area near one of the company's lodges, Henson said. The debris had bright green moss growing over one section of the window.

Henson said a NASA contact told him the piece was likely from the upper cockpit, including the escape hatch window. Bruce Buckingham, a Kennedy Space Center spokesman, on Wednesday confirmed the piece was from the crew compartment area, but he did not know whether the window was an escape hatch.

The shuttle broke apart on Feb. 1, 2003, during a return flight to the Kennedy center in Florida, killing all seven of the astronaut crew aboard. The crash left thousands of debris pieces scattered across East Texas, many found afterward in a massive recovery effort.

Even if the astronauts did reach the escape hatch, there was "no possibility of crew survival" during that part of the flight, according to a Columbia Accident Investigation Board report released in August 2003.

A pair of damaged hinges and inch-thick chunks of glass on one side of the hatch were still intact, coated in what appeared to be black soot. Sheet metal on one side of the piece was peeled back like a sardine can top. Reddish-orange squares outlined the placement of heat-resistant tiles apparently peeled off in the crash. The piece will continue to sit in Henson's office until NASA representatives are able to retrieve it. Pickup has been delayed due to weeks of hurricane preparations in Florida, according to Henson.

Henson said he and FBI Agent Terry Lane responded to Sebesta's discovery two weeks ago. Lane, who was deeply involved in the original shuttle recovery effort, used global positioning system data to confirm the new find was consistent with the shuttle's debris path, Henson said.

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posted 09-16-2004 05:00 AM               

This is very interesting news, we all know that pieces of Columbia will continue to turn up for years to come but what will happen to these pieces? Will they be placed with the others and will they be available for researchers to examine like other parts have been?

Are there any photos yet of this piece?

posted 09-16-2004 08:10 AM               

That said, if this piece is later identified as part of the internal structure of the crew compartment, or had it been part of the crew's personal effects, it would still be stored within the VAB but may not be available for research. As it was explained when I toured the facility, the crew cabin remnants are stored within a separate room that only a few NASA personnel and the families have access to. Any request for research concerning these items, must seek the permission of the families first.

I have yet to be able to find any pictures of the piece that was found.

posted 09-17-2004 03:37 PM               

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Originally posted by John K. Rochester:
.. I guess I'm confused by what is meant in the original post as a " hinged window ".. I don't believe that any of the windows aboard the shuttle were hinged...all were solidly mounted.

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The overhead windows were hinged (downward, if I remember correctly - I'd have to find the NASA manual) so that if an orbiter landed in such a way that the crew couldn't egress by the side hatch, they'd stick a crowbar in one of two places and get the window to drop down, thereby they could use a Skygenie to leave the orbiter.

There's training photos showing a thermal blanket (to protect the crew from the hot tiles) along the port side of an orbiter, with an astronaut in a harness rappelling down the orbiter from the top.

posted 09-20-2004 11:50 PM               

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Originally posted by CJC:
Are there any photos yet of this piece?

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See: http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.html?id=977

posted 09-21-2004 05:53 AM               

However I'm wondering if this piece is a part of the crew compartment itself or a part of the forward fuselage that covered it?

Anybody else have any ideas?