THE Columbia Accident Investigation Board has pieced together what caused NASA’s oldest space shuttle to break up 60 kilometres above Texas on 1 February. Yet its hardest job is still ahead: making NASA’s ageing shuttle fleet safe to fly.
The board concluded last week that Columbia’s problems started when a chunk of foam broke off the external fuel tank 81.7 seconds after lift-off. It hammered into the leading edge of the wing, damaging vital carbon composite heat shielding panels and perhaps an inter-panel seal.
The next day radar images showed a chunk of the panel or seal drifting away from…
