An American flag blows near an unofficial memorial at the Johnson Space Centre entrance in Houston, Texas. A memorial service for the seven astronauts who died in the crash of the American space shuttle Columbia took place at the Space Centre on Tuesday. The shuttle exploded on Saturday as it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere
(photo: AP
AMERICAN investigators are working around the clock to find an explanation for the explosion of the US space shuttle Columbia on Saturday morning. In an effort to find evidence for the explosion, police cordoned off a 900-square-mile area around Texas and Louisiana. Officers used four-wheel drive vehicles, satellite tracking devices and horses to comb the grounds and find every last piece of debris that could be used as evidence.
Authorities reported that a potential reason for the explosion may have been possible damage to heat-resistant tiles that broke loose on one wing during take-off on 16 January. According to NASA officials, the first sign of technical malfunction was the loss of temperature sensor readings on that wing. It is important to note that Columbia was the oldest shuttle in the fleet, which raises questions over whether the explosion was due to metal fatigue.
The shuttle came apart as it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere at 3.5 miles a second, 15 minutes before it was scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. The shuttle's crew of six Americans and one Israeli, Colonel Ilan Ramon, a former fighter pilot, all died in the explosion.
