Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 1-1

123456 156TH CHICAGO TRIBUNE Tyler Morning Telegraph photo by Scott Lieberman Debris from the space shuttle Columbia streaks across the sky Saturday over Tyler, Texas, just minutes before the craft was due to land in Florida. Wreckage was found in Texas and Louisiana. By Tim Jones Tribune national correspondent The homeward-bound space shuttle Columbia broke up in orange flames and contrails of smoke Saturday over Texas, killing all seven astronauts aboard and leavinginvestiga- tors baffled over what went wrong on a mission that was only 16 minutes away from a successful completion. Echoing the tragedy of the space shuttle Challenger that stunned the nation almost exactly 17 years ago, Columbia exploded at an altitude of about 39 miles as it was traveling 18 times the speed of sounden route to Cape Canaveral, Fla. The force of the explosion scattered debris across hundreds of square miles in Texas and Louisiana and, according to witnesses, shook houses in the area around Nacogdoches, Texas.

The catastropheevoked an outpouring of sympathy from a nation grappling with the memories of terrorist attacks and theprospect of war. Flags were lowered to half-staff. Americans interrupted their normal weekend routines to monitor developments on television and, in Texas and Florida, to create memorials to the fallen astronauts. Columbia is an emotional President Bush said in a televised address to the nation. He paid homage to the astronauts, saying, crew of the shuttle Columbia did not return safely to Earth, but we can pray that they are safely NASA and an independent review panel said they will investigate the disaster.

While officials said it was too early to speculate about the cause of the disaster, early indicators pointed to debris that damaged the left wing during launch. That could have been responsible for the loss of signals from temperature sensors in the hydraulic system during re-entry. Investigators have all but ruled out terrorism as a cause because the high altitude and extreme speed put it PLEASE SEE SHUTTLE, PAGE7 Debris scatters across 2 states Shuttle disintegrates, killing all 7 aboard By Jeremy Manier Tribune staff reporter NASA officials will be investigating whether loose foam that struck Columbia during takeoff 16 days before it exploded Saturday contributed to its disintegration under the extreme physical stress of re-entering the of the most dangerous parts of any shuttle mission. Cameras detected the foam insulation breaking free from an external fuel tank and striking left wing, prompting days of review while the shuttle was in space over whether the safety had been compromised, officials said Saturday. The sparse information NASA had Saturday seemed to point to failures on the left side.

Sensors on the left wing and in the left wheel gear detected a temperature increase or stopped working minutes before the vehicle exploded 207,000 feet over Texas as it flew at 12,500 m.p.h. Although possible the foam knocked off heat-resistant tiles the shuttle needs for re-entry, officials said, too soon to draw conclusions. that the smoking gun? We do not shuttle program manager Ron Dittemoresaid during a news conference Saturday. are a lot of things in this business that look like a smoking gun but turn out to be not even Experts said many other malfunctions could have destroyed the shuttle during re-entry, when a cocoon of hot plasma envelops the spacecraft. underside and the leading edges of its wings would have been subjected to some of the highest temperatures during to 3,000 degrees friction from air rushing by heated its surface, experts say.

During this critical period, computers control the angle of descent as it flies with its nose pointed about 40 degrees upward; the slightest deviation from the ideal orientation can expose underprotected parts, causing it to burn up. The chief defenses against an inferno are some 28,000 tiles made of heat-resistant silica and carbon compos- itesattached to the vulnerable aluminum exterior. Although those tiles have never failed to protect the shuttle, ex- Officials consider failure of skin Dallas Houston New Orleans Ft. Worth Cape Canaveral TEXAS LA. MISS.

ALA. GA. FLA. 100 MILES Columbia begins to break up. DESTINATION final minutes Sources: NASA, The Space Shuttle Manual, howstuffworks.comChicago Tribune 28,000 exterior tiles are designed to protect it from extreme heat during re-entry.

The tiles, made of carbon composite or foam glass, are attached to the exterior. Without the tiles, the shuttle would overheat and burn up. 7:53 A.M.: left wing temperature sensors stop sending data to Mission Control. 7:56 A.M.: A sensor detects an increase in temperature in the left landing gear. 7:58 A.M.: Three other sensors on the left side stop working.

8 A.M.: NASA loses all contact with Columbia. NOSE UP Atmospheric friction causes the exterior temperature to reach up to 3,000 degrees. Re-entering at a precise angle is crucial. Too steep or too shallow a slope could cause the shuttle to burn up. S-TURNS To control descent, the shuttle performs banking maneuvers called S-turns.

NASA officials said Columbia broke up during this phase. Columbia lost contact with Mission Control in Houston at the most critical moment of its descent. A shuttle reaches its hottest point about 20 minutes before it lands on the runway, about the same time problems began. 7:44 A.M. (CST): As the shuttle re-enters the atmosphere, it slows down by tilting its nose up about 40 degrees TILE SEQUENCE OF EVENTS Interior: Absorbs the remaining 5 percent, preventing it from reaching the aluminum skin.

Glaze: Deflects 95 percent of heat. INSULATING TILES Debris area PLEASE SEE FAILURE, PAGE7 By Amy E. Nevala and Vincent J. Schodolski Tribune staff reporters The astronauts of Columbia were astounding achievers, brimming with degrees and military commendations. But beneath the gold-plated resumes, they also were old- fashioned adventurers who ignored huge obstacles and leapt at the chance to fly into space.

They came from around the globe and wide-ranging backgrounds, bound together by a passion for science and an appetite for the rigors of astronaut training. Among them: a female engineer from India, an elite air force pilot from Israel, a female doctor from Wisconsin, an African-American Air Force colonel from Washington state. Together, they stood as testimony to power to mine talent from around the world and to the enduring lure of space travel. Mission specialist Kalpana Chawla, 41, was a 10th grader in India when she set her sights on a career in aerospace engineering, even though her nation had no space program. A teacher once scolded her that such a career choice was not In 1988, David M.

Brown, also a mission specialist, became the first Navy physician in a decade to win a spot in a special flight- training program. Brown, 46, graduated first in his class. Ilan Ramon, 48, the son of a Holocaust survivor, joined the Israeli air force and flew in the 1973 Yom Kippur War and other conflicts, including the controversial 1981attack on an Iraqi nuclear reactor. In 1997, he was Reuters photo by Joe Skipper Space shuttle Columbia crew members (from left) Rick Husband, William McCool, Ilan Ramon, David Brown, Michael Anderson, Laurel Clark and Kalpana Chawla speak at a preflight news conference. All were killed Saturday as the orbiter broke up during re-entry.

Passion for science, adventure bound crew PLEASE SEE CREW, PAGE6 Index can be found on Page 2..