Searchers hunt shuttle debris in New Mexico
Unusual sounds reported on morning of disaster
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Searchers walk up a dry riverbed Saturday in the Sandia Mountain foothills east of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
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NASA released video of the mission control moments before space shuttle Columbia crashed (February 14)
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ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (CNN) -- More than 150 searchers combed a remote New Mexico canyon to look for shuttle debris Saturday, two weeks after Columbia disintegrated on its return to Earth.
NASA pinpointed a 2-square-mile area east of Albuquerque with the help of radar and eyewitness reports. The searchers are in Embudito Canyon in the Sandia Mountains, said Peter Olson, spokesman for the New Mexico Department of Public Safety. A helicopter from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico was assisting in the search.
On the morning of the shuttle disaster, February 1, someone who lives near the canyon "heard something falling out of the sky," Olson said.
Searchers are specifically looking for portions of the leading edge of the shuttle's left wing, made of a heat-resistant carbon-carbon material, Olson said. Data sent by the shuttle moments before the disaster showed unusual heating in the left wing.
So far, no shuttle debris has been found west of Texas, where the shuttle broke apart 40 miles above Earth. But NASA officials say evidence suggests the shuttle's problems might have begun earlier, as it was traveling over California and across the Southwest toward its scheduled landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The New Mexico search began at 8:30 a.m. (10:30 a.m. EST), and searchers planned to scour the area until 4 p.m. (6 p.m. EST). As of midday, no debris had been recovered, Olson said.
NASA officials have indicated that more searches in New Mexico are planned, Olson said.
The morning of the disaster, a telescopic camera at Kirtland Air Force Base, on the south side of Albuquerque, captured a grainy image of the shuttle that seemed to show a misshapen left wing, with a plume coming from its bottom. However, NASA officials say they need further analysis before reaching any conclusions. (Full story)
Meanwhile, an external investigative team trying to find the cause of the disaster traveled Saturday to the Michoud Operations facility in New Orleans, Louisiana, where the shuttle's external fuel tanks are prepared.
Investigators have been looking at whether a piece of insulating foam that broke off of the tank and struck the underside of Columbia's left wing during its launch January 16 might have played a role in the accident.
