http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2003_3623771
Columbia's Last Mission: THE AFTERMATH / `Debris field' widened in search efforts / Crews on land find at least 2 intact fuel cells
JIM HENDERSON, RACHEL GRAVES, JAMES KIMBERLY, DALELEZON Staff
TUE 02/04/2003
Houston Chronicle
LUFKIN - Finding the piece of debris that might give clues to why the space shuttle Columbia broke apart on re-entry has been described by one NASA official as like "looking for a needle in a haystack."
Monday, the haystack got bigger.
While lawmen and volunteers in several East Texas counties were beating the piney woods and lake shores for more remnants of Columbia, the size of the "debris field" was enlarged to take in a portion of West Texas and a longer stretch of Louisiana.
Authorities did report a major find Monday. A man found the shuttle's nose cone buried about six feet in the ground on his land just outside the town of Hemphill. The cone was said to be in good shape and searchers planned to excavate it today.
Most of the significant debris and body parts apparently have been found between Nacogdoches and the Sabine River, but some fragments may be found as far east as the New Orleans suburbs and west of the point over Dallas-Fort Worth where the shuttle began to disintegrate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Columbia_disaster
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurred on February 1, 2003, when shortly before it was scheduled to conclude its 28th mission, STS-107, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, resulting in the death of all seven crew members. Debris from Columbia fell to Earth in Texas along a path stretching from Trophy Club to Tyler, as well as into parts of Louisiana.
At about this time, the Orbiter shed a Thermal Protection System tile, the most westerly piece of debris that has been recovered. Searchers found the tile in a field in Littlefield, Texas, just northwest of Lubbock.
8:59:15 (EI+906) – MMACS informed the Flight Director that pressure readings had been lost on both left main landing-gear tires. The Flight Director then told the Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) to let the crew know that Mission Control saw the messages and was evaluating the indications, and added that the Flight Control Team did not understand the crew's last transmission.
8:59:32 (EI+923) – A broken response from the mission commander was recorded: "Roger, uh, bu – [cut off in mid-word] ..." It was the last communication from the crew and the last telemetry signal received in Mission Control.
8:59:37 (EI+928) – Hydraulic pressure, which is required to move the flight control surfaces, was lost at approximately GMT 13:59:37. At that time, the Master Alarm would have sounded for the loss of hydraulics and the crew would have become aware of a serious problem.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0234128/releaseinfo
IMDb
The Internet Movie Database
Release dates for
Lone Star Moonlight (1946)
Country Date
USA 12 December 1946
RED STORM RISING [ RACKETEER INFLUENCED AND CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS US Title 18 ]
Tom Clancy
PRINTING HISTORY
G.P. Putnam's Sons hardcover edition / August 1986
Berkley mass-market edition / August 1987
Page 640
USS INDEPENDENCE
Quite a change from the last time, Toland thought. The Air Force had an E-3 Sentry operating out of Sondrestrom to protect the fleet, and four of their own E-2C Hawkeyes were also up. There was even an Army-manned ground radar just coming up on Iceland. Two Aegis cruisers were with the carriers, and a third with the amphibious force.
"You think they'll hit us first, or the 'phibs?" Admiral Jacobsen asked.
"That's a coin-toss, Admiral," Toland replied. "Depends on who gives the orders. Their navy will want to kill us first. Their army will want to kill the 'phibs."
Jacobsen crossed his arms and stared at the map display. "This close, they can come in from any direction they want."
They expected no more than fifty Backfires, but there were still plenty of older Badgers, and the fleet was only fifteen hundred miles from the Soviet bomber bases: they could come out with nearly maximum ordnance loads. To stop the Russians, the Navy had six squadrons of Tomcats, and six more of Hornets, nearly a hundred forty fighters in all. Twenty-four were aloft now, supported by tankers while the ground-attack aircraft pounded Russian positions continuously. The battleships had ended their first visit to the Keflavik area and were now in Hvalfjordur - Whale Bay - providing fire support to the Marines north of Bogarnes. The entire operation had been planned with the likelihood of a Russian air-to-surface missile attack in mind. There would be more vampires.
