National Public news just reported that, according to AW & ST, the USAF has given NASA photographs of the shuttle. The photographs reveal major structural damage at the root of the left wing/fuselage join.
----------------------------------------------------------
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida (CNN) -- Photographs taken by an Air Force tracking camera shortly before the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated show serious structural damage to the shuttle's left wing, an aviation magazine reported Friday.
The images, captured about a minute before the shuttle broke apart, show a jagged edge on the left wing structure near where the wing begins to intersect with the fuselage, according to a report in Aviation Week & Space Technology. Columbia's right wing and fuselage appear normal in the photos, the magazine said.
The damage to the left wing indicates either a small structural breach, such as a crack, or that a small piece of the wing's leading edge fell off, according to the magazine. It said NASA investigators at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, are analyzing the pictures.....................
Last edited by ORAC; 7th Feb 2003 at 14:25.