NASA Erred in Photographing Columbia Launch, Panel Says

Columbia accident investigators said Tuesday that NASA botched the photographing of the ill-fated launch, and urged the space agency to do a better job of filming shuttle liftoffs to detect potentially catastrophic problems.

Two sets of long-range cameras provided usable images for evaluating the blow to Columbia’s left wing from a piece of foam, but a third set that would have provided a better view was out of focus.

Sharp pictures of the 1 1/2-pound chunk of foam insulation smashing into the wing’s leading edge at more than 500 mph might have led NASA to take the problem more seriously.

The evaluation “was hampered by lack of high-resolution, high-speed cameras,” the investigators said in a statement.

While Columbia was still in orbit, the NASA engineer in charge of Kennedy Space Center’s launch data analysis team complained about the disappointing film results.

“The loss of one camera can be, and is, significant. This proved that and then some,” Armando Oliu wrote in an e-mail dated Jan. 21, five days after Columbia’s liftoff.

He said he was not sure the out-of-focus camera “would have given us the information we desire, but we certainly will not know now.”

Oliu concluded: “This is simply unacceptable from an engineering perspective.”

Columbia broke apart over Texas during reentry on Feb. 1 after hot gases penetrated a gap in the leading edge and melted the wing. All seven astronauts were killed.

In its fourth preliminary finding released in advance of its final report, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board said the long-range tracking cameras at Kennedy and the nearby Air Force station are inadequate. The panel suggested that consideration be given to using ships and planes to provide additional views.

“The space shuttle is still a developmental vehicle, and engineering data from each launch is essential to further understand the vehicle,” the board said.

The board said the camera stations have not been upgraded to reflect changes in launch patterns associated with trips to the international space station, which now account for the vast majority of missions.

NASA should upgrade the system to provide at least three useful views of the shuttle from liftoff to at least the point at which the booster rockets separate two minutes into the flight, the investigators said.

Last week, board member Steven Wallace of the Federal Aviation Administration noted that the on-board cameras that film the fuel tank’s separation from the orbiter cannot be accessed until the shuttle lands. He indicated that NASA may equip each fuel tank with a video camera to beam back live pictures of the entire eight-minute ascent.

This “shuttlecam” made its debut in October during a launch by Atlantis, but its views were obscured by debris when the booster rockets peeled away.

On Friday, the board recommended that NASA find a way for astronauts to inspect their ships for damage and make emergency repairs in orbit. In April, the investigators suggested that NASA improve its preflight inspection of wing panels and obtain satellite images of the shuttle during every flight to check for damage.

The board expects to release its final report by the end of the month.