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(meteorobs) Not really...
Re: Meteor Trackers Called in to Predict Trajectory of
Columbia Debris
Actually, NASA did not confirm this...
"NASA spokesman John Ira Petty at the Johnson Space
Center could not confirm whether NASA or the Columbia
Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) was seeking the
help of any meteor experts in California."
The premise of this Space.Com article rests entirely
on the word of a "former" shuttle engineer from
California. I doubt that he would even qualify as a
"NASA official", whatever that elusive term means.
And, before my "nasadot gov" email address gets me in
trouble by being declared as a "NASA source", let me
make clear that - neither I, nor any "meteor expert"
that I know of, have been approached by NASA for help.
What I can confirm is that a "predicted" trajectory
and probable debris field has already been plotted!!
It was calculated by our own List member, Rob Matson,
on his own time, at his own expense, without any
funding from NASA. His data is published at this URL:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/debris-locators/files/
Before I went to Tucson earlier this month, I set up a
discussion group on YahooGroups so that members of our
meteorite-recovery team could have a "place" (other
than existing meteorite-lists) to discuss the O.T.
subject of the STS-107 disaster and how best to help
NASA locate debris. Before I returned from that
Tucson trip, Rob Matson had already calculated and
uploaded a map of a ground-track for the Columbia
STS-107 re-entry flight path. Once again, this was
accomplished before NASA published their web site.
Now the Debris-locators Group will continue its theme
of "lead by example", by supplying links to official
NASA web sites for people who wish to report debris
locations, at the following URL:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/debris-locators/links
Access to these links can be made by obtaining a Yahoo
ID name and password at this web site:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/debris-locators
With best regards,
BOb Verish
Moderator, Debris-locators
P.S. - the Johnson Space Center Debris Hotline-number
is (281) 483-3388
------------- Original Message --------------
[meteorite-list] Meteor Trackers Called in to Predict
Trajectory of Columbia Debris
Ron Baalke baalke@zagami.jpl.nasadot gov
Tue, 18 Feb 2003 12:37:18 -0800 (PST)
http://space.com/missionlaunches/sts107_meteor_030218.html
Meteor Trackers Called in to Predict Trajectory of
Columbia Debris
By Jim Banke
space.com
18 February 2003
HOUSTON -- Columbia investigators are looking for help
from experts who track meteors entering Earth's
atmosphere so they can better predict where in the
California mountains a potentially telling piece of
debris from the doomed shuttle might have landed.
NASA officials are interested in finding the material
because it could help pinpoint what part of Columbia's
heat shield failed first and allowed superhot plasma
to flow into the spacecraft. It is believed this
eventually led to the break up of the vehicle and loss
of seven astronauts.
So far there has been no luck locating any confirmed
pieces of debris west of Texas despite hundreds of
reports, NASA officials said Tuesday.
But in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California there
is strong hope that one or two larger pieces of
debris, perhaps a reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) panel
from the leading edge of Columbia's left wing, might
be sitting among the trees.
Several eyewitnesses in the area saw Columbia fly
overhead on Feb. 1 and saw one or two large pieces
fall in flames away from the vehicle, followed by
several relatively tiny pieces of debris.
A few moments later, residents throughout the mountain
range heard sonic booms and strong rumbling noises
much like thunder, said Doug Kohl, a former shuttle
engineer who now lives among the Sierra Nevada
mountains.
As the local space shuttle expert, Kohl has been in
constant contact with the NASA debris team in an
effort to pin down where the material might have
landed. As part of that effort, Kohl said NASA was
seeking the advice of meteor experts.
While Columbia was still too high to be heard as it
flew overhead, pieces falling from the vehicle could
have made those sounds, which would be similar to the
sound a small meteor makes as it entered the
atmosphere.
By combining all the visual sightings and audio
descriptions, which varied depending on what side of
what mountain a person was on, it is hoped that meteor
tracking experts will be able to plot the debris'
impact point.
"NASA is in the process of funding a meteor expert to
give an estimate of the trajectory of the falling
debris and determine if the height and velocity of
Columbia was sufficient to have cleared the Sierra
Range," Kohl said.
NASA spokesman John Ira Petty at the Johnson Space
Center could not confirm whether NASA or the Columbia
Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) was seeking the
help of any meteor experts in California.
The independent board, led by retired Navy Admiral
Harold Gehman, is overseeing the inquiry into the
Columbia incident. On Saturday, former Air Force
Secretary Sheila E. Widnall joined the CAIB, becoming
the first woman on the panel.
Gehman Jr., confirmed Widnall's appointment as board
members left NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center for
Louisiana to tour the Lockheed Martin factory that
makes the shuttle's external fuel tanks.
----------------------------------------
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