Associated Press
HOUSTON -- The board investigating the space shuttle Columbia disaster Saturday toured the Louisiana plant where the orbiter's external fuel tank was built, while searchers scouring the mountains of New Mexico -- west of where any debris has been found -- were coming up empty.
Investigators also revealed that two more Columbia control jets, making at least four in all, continued to fire in a desperate attempt to stabilize the shuttle during its final minutes.
The jets fire automatically when flaps on the shuttle's wings and tail are inadequate to control abnormal motions encountered at supersonic speeds. The information was coaxed from the final 32 seconds of ragged data sent from Columbia as it was breaking apart, investigators said.
The last voice communication from the shuttle's seven astronauts came as Columbia streaked across New Mexico during reentry Feb. 1 before breaking apart about two minutes later.
People near New Mexico's Sandia Mountains, east of Albuquerque, reported hearing a whooshing sound, said Peter Olson, a spokesman for the New Mexico Department of Public Safety. He said there also was radar evidence that debris could have fallen in the state, but he didn't have details.
About 140 searchers concentrated Saturday on a rugged 2-square-mile area of Embudito Canyon, walking a few feet apart. Nothing was found as teams began wrapping up by afternoon; one searcher picked up a small disc of melted metal that was later identified as part of a beer can. Two helicopters from White Sands Missile Range that criss-crossed the area also came up empty.
The Embudito Canyon search was expected to last only a day, but NASA could search elsewhere in the state, officials said.........