Columbia's final readings deciphered Data analysis sheds new light on problems before breakup MSNBC STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS The final seconds of flight data from the space shuttle Columbia, transmitted even after contact was lost with Mission Control, indicate that the crew members were likely aware they were in serious trouble, NBC News reported Thursday. FOR SEVERAL DAYS now, experts at NASA's Johnson Space Center have been immersed in the highly complex process of reconstructing 32 seconds of data that were recorded by computers in White Sands, N.M., but not displayed on the computer monitors in Mission Control. The data represent the final transmissions from Columbia, which broke up over Texas on Feb. 1, killing all seven astronauts aboard. The remaining three shuttles of NASA's fleet have been grounded during the investigation of the tragedy. Investigators have said Columbia's final readings, transmitted as the shuttle was descending toward a landing in Florida, were so corrupted that NASA's communication system kept them from being displayed at Mission Control. However, new analysis techniques have been used to interpret some of the corrupted data, NBC space analyst James Oberg reported. Bits of the data show a leak in the shuttle's Reaction Control System, said Oberg, citing sources within NASA's shuttle program who did not wish to be identified. This system controls a series of small thrusters that were firing furiously in an attempt to stabilize the orbiter. Oberg, a former Mission Control engineer, said other readings indicate a pressure drop in the left wing's hydraulic system. Such a scenario would have set off audible alarms in the crew compartment. The last readable part of the White Sands data indicates that Columbia's autopilot was still functioning, Oberg reported, which means the onboard computers were still operating at that point. The corrupted data, which is still being analyzed, show no indication so far of any voice communication from the crew in the final 32 seconds, he said. The data would support the prevailing view that Columbia's troubles began with a breach on the shuttle's left side, but they do not pinpoint the cause of the failure. FOCUS ON FOAM One leading theory is that foam insulation from Columbia's external fuel tank, or perhaps the heavier material beneath, may have done enough damage during liftoff to trigger the breach during re-entry 16 days later. The insulation is applied at a Lockheed Martin plant in New Orleans. More of the foam is applied about a month before liftoff in several small areas of the tank needing touchup at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The board in charge of investigating the Columbia accident has visited both sites and is going back for a second, harder look at the techniques -- and safeguards -- used. "That is getting a good bit of attention by more than one of the groups," said NASA's Steve Nesbitt, referring to the board's three working groups. "A couple of the groups are looking at the thermal protection on the tank in this area, and some of them will be going back to see the manufacturing facilities, to talk to the people involved. So it is getting some special attention." Nesbitt said the theories that focus on the left side of Columbia -- where all the overheating and other problems developed -- "will be getting the earliest attention." TROUBLED HISTORY Air Force Maj. Gen. John Barry said earlier this week that he and other board members are reviewing NASA's troubled history of foam coming off the so-called bipod area, where a pair of struts holds the tank to the upper belly of the shuttle. That is the spot where a chunk of foam came off 81 seconds into Columbia's flight on Jan. 16; the debris slammed into the left wing during launch. An engineering analysis days later concluded that any damage was minimal and posed no safety threat. NASA officials said that finding was based, in part, on the fact that previous foam impacts had not caused severe damage. Barry said that four previous shuttle flights had foam falling from the bipod area: Challenger in 1983, Columbia in 1990 and again in 1992, and Atlantis just last October. A 10-year gap exists between those two last flights, he pointed out, "so we've got some backtracking to do to be able to look at the history and make the analysis." Last week, the board inspected Atlantis and its fuel tank at Kennedy and a completely assembled fuel tank at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans that is identical to the one used by Columbia on its doomed flight. The Michoud tank has been impounded by the board for testing. NASA estimates that the chunk of broken foam was 2.67 pounds (1.2 kilograms) and 20 by 16 by 6 inches (50 by 40 by 15 centimeters). The weight would be more if ice were attached, a possibility under consideration by the board. The panel also is looking into whether the underlayer may have broken off. Barry said he has learned that the heavier premolded, ablative material beneath the foam "really doesn't serve a purpose." He asked workers whether moisture could have accumulated there and loosened the insulation. "We're looking at that as maybe an option on why the foam came off and why we've had some problems in that area," he said. At Michoud, polyurethane foam insulation is sprayed robotically about an inch (2.5 centimeters) thick over the entire 154-foot (47-meter) tank to prevent ice buildup on the metal tank, which is filled with super-cold liquid hydrogen and oxygen during the final hours of the countdown. The foam also helps protect the tank from engine and aerodynamic heating. In some small hard-to-spray areas, workers at Michoud handpack the gaps with foam. At Kennedy, more foam is applied by hand in the area around the bipod and also around the other attach points. PRIOR DAMAGE DESCRIBED Internal NASA reports obtained by The Associated Press describe damage during some of the earlier shuttle missions, caused by foam from the bipod area. Columbia suffered damage to three insulating tiles during a June 1992 liftoff when a large chunk of foam from the bipod -- 26 by 10 inches (66 by 25 centimeters) -- fell off. After the mission, NASA determined that the shuttle fleet had suffered an unprecedented amount of serious tile damage over 18 preceding flights. Investigators believe damage to those three tiles was from foam or similar material because of the size and depth of the damage. On the same mission at liftoff, ice and other insulating foam caused a "significant concentration" of damaging strikes to tiles near Columbia's right landing gear compartment. The shuttle returned safely from that mission. The damage to Atlantis in October was not considered significant, at the time, by NASA. The foam from the bipod area hit the bottom of one of the two booster rockets, officials said. During a visit Thursday to Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, NASA chief Sean O'Keefe told reporters that the analysis into the possible problems from the external fuel tank alone fills an entire room at Michoud. Everything is under consideration, though, he stressed. "There is no favorite theory. There is no favorite approach to this. There is no preferred cause," O'Keefe said. "There is nothing right now that would be argued as the most likely condition that I've seen yet, and that is also the view of the Columbia accident investigation board, I am advised." IN OTHER DEVELOPMENTS Teams of trained wilderness firefighters will join the search for remnants of Columbia in Texas, NASA said Thursday. In all, up to 3,500 searchers will operate from four camps between Dallas and the Texas-Louisiana state line. Thirty-five helicopters also were being used in the search for Columbia's remnants along a 240-mile-long path that runs from just south of Dallas to the Toledo Bend Reservoir, which sits between Texas and Louisiana. U.S. Navy personnel are managing the search in the reservoir, using side-scanning sonar and supervising seven dive teams. Experts investigating sick animals in Texas report no evidence linking the problems to Columbia debris. Concerns were raised that some cattle and deer came in contact with potentially toxic debris following the breakup of the shuttle. The probe by government veterinarians began Feb. 7 after three cows had swelling of the tongue and head. Two cows died. But tests found signs of pneumonia, with bacterial complications. Texas animal health officials say a third cow is recovering. Mental health counselors on the ground have helped the three-member crew aboard the international space station deal with their grief following the Columbia disaster, the crew's commander said Thursday. "One thing we talked a little about is standard grief responses and the types of emotion you might feel," American astronaut Kenneth Bowersox said during a broadcast interview. The space station crew, which also includes American Donald Pettit and Russian Nikolai Budarin, has planned sessions with the psychological support team on a regular basis, Bowersox said. [NBC News' Dan Molina, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.] © 2003 MSNBC. All rights reserved.