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Columbia probe backs damaged tiles theory

Members of the Columbia reconstruction team fit wreckage onto a fixture for the leading edge of the left wing of the orbiter at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Tuesday. — AP

HOUSTON (United States) May 7. Investigators have picked a leading theory to explain why the space shuttle Columbia broke apart on re-entry, proposing that superheated gases penetrated the spacecraft through damaged thermal tiles on its left wing.

Investigators were still hesitant to attribute a direct cause of the damage, even though evidence points to a collision with foam insulation from the shuttle's external fuel tank during launch as the likely culprit.

``We now know enough,'' retired Navy Adm. Harold Gehman Jr., the board's chair, said during the group's weekly news conference on Tuesday. ``We're at the point where we should focus our efforts.''

But Adm. Gehman was quick to point out the board still needs more evidence to prove what damaged the left wing. The board was careful in discussing its theory, calling it a ``working scenario.''

The board did say on Tuesday that photos showed a large piece of foam insulation struck the leading edge of the left wing as Columbia streaked skyward on January 16. ``We were careful not to say the foam caused a hole in the shuttle. But that's not to say we don't believe that,'' Adm. Gehman said. ``The board is certainly suspicious the foam had something to do with it.''

The shuttle came apart over Texas on Feb. 1 while streaking toward a planned landing at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. Seven astronauts were killed and the shuttle fleet was grounded while investigators looked for the cause of the accident.

For weeks now, evidence had mounted supporting the theory that a piece of fuel tank foam broke off, hitting and dislodging a fragment of an insulating panel or seal along the vulnerable leading edge of the shuttle's left wing.

Under its theory, the board believes that an object that drifted free of Columbia during its second day in orbit could either be an insulating panel or a seal.

It could have been broken by the foam during launch and then shaken free during a manoeuvre by the shuttle.

— AP

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