Mutt
02-02-2003, 12:19 AM
MISSION 'WAS DOOMED'
The space shuttle Columbia was "doomed" from launch, a leading British scientist has claimed.
Professor Andre Balogh, of London's Imperial College, told Sky News he thought the spacecraft had effectively been crippled on take-off.
At the time, 16 days ago, a piece of protective foam was seen to have come loose as the shuttle left the ground, striking the shuttle's wing.
The damage done to the wing, said Prof Balogh, was "just there and waiting to destroy Columbia".
The flight, he said, "was doomed from the launch".
He told Sky's Jeremy Thompson it was clear to him that this was the cause of the shuttle breaking up under the rigours of re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.
"The thermal protection was breaking up and failing and that failure was due to the impact that happened on launch," he said.
Pressed by Jeremy Thompson, Prof Balogh said he was satisfied that NASA had been fully aware of the problem and had, in all probability, known all along it was fatal.
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,3000...2238534,00.html (http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-12238534,00.html)
The space shuttle Columbia was "doomed" from launch, a leading British scientist has claimed.
Professor Andre Balogh, of London's Imperial College, told Sky News he thought the spacecraft had effectively been crippled on take-off.
At the time, 16 days ago, a piece of protective foam was seen to have come loose as the shuttle left the ground, striking the shuttle's wing.
The damage done to the wing, said Prof Balogh, was "just there and waiting to destroy Columbia".
The flight, he said, "was doomed from the launch".
He told Sky's Jeremy Thompson it was clear to him that this was the cause of the shuttle breaking up under the rigours of re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.
"The thermal protection was breaking up and failing and that failure was due to the impact that happened on launch," he said.
Pressed by Jeremy Thompson, Prof Balogh said he was satisfied that NASA had been fully aware of the problem and had, in all probability, known all along it was fatal.
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,3000...2238534,00.html (http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-12238534,00.html)