Mar 21 2003
From The Space Library
NASA announced the replacement of its Mishap Response Team with the newly formed NASA Accident Investigation Team (NAIT), which would continue to support the CAIB. NASA had formed the Mishap Response Team within hours of the Columbia disaster on 1 February but had drawn criticism for the team's composition, which included staff that had directly overseen the Shuttle's mission. Linda Ham had led the Mishap Response Team, even though, as a senior Shuttle program manager, she had assisted in making key decisions during the 16-day Columbia mission. NASA and the CAIB intended for the NAIT to support the CAIB, and they had organized the NAIT to mirror the CAIB's structure, with three subsections: materials, operations, and engineering. NASA had appointed Deputy Director of JSC Randy Stone to chair the NAIT. (NASA, “NASA Columbia Accident Support Activities Reorganized,” news release 03-113, 21 March 2003, http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2003/mar/HP_news_03113.html (accessed 25 August 2008); Robyn Suriano, “New Team Created To Help with Shuttle Probe,” Orlando Sentinel (FL), 24 March 2003.
NASA officials and a CAIB spokesperson stated that NASA had recovered intact, from a field in Texas, the Orbital Experiment Support System, an electronic box containing vital information from Space Shuttle Columbia's descent. NASA had designed the system to activate at about 400,000 feet, when Earth's atmosphere first affects the Shuttle. The box contained data that the Shuttle had not transmitted to NASA's Mission Control via telemetry. (CNN, “Crucial Columbia Part Found,” 20 March 2003.
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