I imagine the searches on the Nevada-Utah state line are being made on the basis of radar returns, and that some guesses about what to look for have been made based on the trajectories of the debris. Maybe they are looking for a main gear door rather than for the main gear itself. The door could be about six feet long and might have fluttered down.
Seems that some people who should know are still not entirely happy with the composition of the inquiry board and its reporting responsibilities:
---- Start quote -------
.... "It would put their independence beyond a doubt if they were to report to the president," said David C. Acheson, a member of the Challenger board. Acheson, 81, a retired attorney living in Washington, was one of the 13 members of the Rogers Commission, named after its chairman, the late William P. Rogers, the former Secretary of State. ......The Rogers Commission was made up of engineers, an astronomer, a lawyer, a space journalist, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, former astronauts Neil Armstrong and Sally Ride and legendary test pilot Chuck Yeager. Its unsparing 1986 report on the Challenger accident pushed NASA to make significant safety and management changes to the space shuttle program. .... "I think one of the big differences is we had several serious scientists on the board," said Eugene Covert, 77, an engineering professor at MIT and Rogers Commission member. "I don't think there are any serious scientists right now." .......
---- End quote -------
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/sto...MPLATE=DEFAULT
Note added Feb 25 2003 From:
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttl...30220pinpoint/
------- Start quote ---------
Video imagery of Columbia's entry provided to NASA was analyzed by imagery, trajectory and ballistics experts," the release said. "The results of that analysis were then provided to National Transportation Safety Board officials who reviewed air traffic control radar imagery in that area during the time of Columbia's descent.
"The review resulted in what is believed to be a significant radar track of a piece of debris as it fell to Earth. As a result, a search of the Caliente area near the Nevada-Utah border is under way using Civil Air Patrol assets. A search using additional means also may be forthcoming."
--------- End quote --------
