Michael Leinbach - Bringing Columbia Home - The Untold Story of a Lost Space Shuttle and Her Crew

response to searchers, 135, 194

US Forest Service searcher camp, 173–174

worker morale, 185, 193

Nacogdoches, Lake, salvage operations, 181–182

NASA

announces failure scenario, May 1, 233

debates with FEMA on incident leadership, 92

gears up for two-month retrieval effort, 172

need to know why Columbia broke up, 171

participation in search, 103–104

politics and culture, 265

and reaching out to intelligence community, 30

requests public help with Columbia investigation, 101

NASA Accident Investigation Team, 319–320

NASA Remembrance Day, 256

National Guard

bivouacked in Hemphill school gym, 114

participation in search, 82, 103–104, 118, 124, 142

pulled from debris retrieval, 168–169

unit becomes lost, 126

National Park Service, 281

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)

debris search and retrieval, 77, 88–90

fault tree analysis of accident, 139–140

follow-up investigation, search efforts, 104

guidance for reconstruction, 207–210, 216

guidance to NASA on debris retrieval, 151

review of retrieved cassette tapes, 154–155

search helicopter crash, 198

National Wildfire Coordinating Group, 168

Native American fire crews, 120, 124, 173, 179, 191–194, 203–204

nematodes, found alive in Spacehab experiment, 228

Neutral Buoyancy Lab, 131

news media

in Hemphill, 73–74, 76, 94, 98–99, 114, 119, 132, 146

in reconstruction hangar, 222–224

nitrogen tetroxide tanks recovered, 153–154

Noguchi, Soichi, 200

nose cap, 144, 146–147

Nose Dock 6, 83, 87

nose landing gear, 183–185, 223, 261

Nowling, Jack, 254–256

Ochoa, Ellen, 45–46

Oden, Pat, 115, 128

Ojeda, Rikki, 152

O’Keefe, Sean

accident plus 1 hour, 64–65

accident plus 30 minutes, LCC meeting, 55–56

aftermath of event, 271–272

attends memorial service, 115

awaiting landing, 39

contingency plan for space flight emergencies activated, 5

debris reconstruction, 141–142

on failure to report issues, 266

leadership of, 253

lessons learned, 285

meets with families, 71

memorial services for Columbia , 155

and press at the hangar, 222–224

press briefing, 162

reaction at Shuttle Landing Facility, 46–47

speaks at memorial service, 125

thank-you dinner, Lufkin, 203–204

OMS pod, 230–231

Operation Iraqi Freedom , 189

Operation Yankee , 18

Operations and Checkout Building, 20, 57

Orbiter Experiment system (OEX) recorder, 105, 187–190, 247

Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF), 14, 267

Orbiter Project Office, NASA, 89, 165, 210

O-ring failure, Challenger , 265

Orion, 272, 287

Ostarly, Larry, 272

Palestine

air search support, 180

collection center, 90, 105, 154, 162

in debris path, 44, 160, 173, 186, 232

rodeo, 194

search camp, 202

Perry, Rick, 105, 125, 144

Pettit, Donald, 264

Phelps, Ron, 252–253

Pickavance, Adm. William, retired, 157

picnic at KARS Park, 244

plasma

and communications blackout, 42

evidence of damage by, 187, 213, 230, 232, 253, 258–259

trail during reentry, 41, 45, 55, 155, 158

penetration into wing, 27, 152, 171, 226, 230, 233, 258

Powell, Jerry, 122

power-chutes, 163

preserving the pieces, Columbia , 253–256

press at reconstruction hangar, 222–224

Proverbs 3:5, 293

pyrotechnic devices, 25, 147, 149, 153–154, 164–165, 209

radar contacts, unidentified, during countdown, 21–23

Ramon, Col. Ilan, 10, 17, 237, 293

Ramon, Rona, 201

Raney, “Brother Fred”

delivers prayers over crew remains, 97–99, 108

hears blast, 43

leads prayer for good weather, 130

meets with spouses, 201

NASA appreciation of, 132

roles in search, 135

unwillingness leaves to work unfinished, 240

Rapid Response Team (RRT)

crash investigations training, 66

deployment from KSC to Barksdale, 77–78, 81, 84–86

meets with response personnel to assess priorities, 88–90

representatives sent to Lufkin to review debris reports, 99–100

Readdy, Bill

and Contingency Action Plan for Space Flight Operations, 47, 55–57, 63–64

deploys Space Flight Awareness teams, 193

meets with crew families, 71

visits Columbia reconstruction site, 155–156

reconstruction hangar

family visits to, 247–248

layout grid and workflow, 207–210

KSC staff visits to hangar, 248–250

location of items found, 174–175

press at, 222–224

Recovery Control Center, NASA, 47

Recovery Office, NASA, 202

Reilly, Jim, 96, 142

reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) wing panels, 27–31, 33, 231–232, 246, 262, 281

repair options

kit development, 257

Request for Information, debris preservation and study, 254

rescue mission

feasibility of rescuing Columbia crew, 267–269

backup to STS-125 Hubble servicing mission, 270

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 153

retirement of shuttle fleet, 279

returning to normal life, challenges of, 239–243

Reusable Launch Vehicle hangar, 207–210

Rhode, Linda, 45, 216–218, 286

Ridge, Tom, 70

Riley, Dwight, 90–91, 94, 118–119, 287

Robinson, Stephen, 275, 292

rocket scientists, on search team, 126

Rockwell International, 212. See also Boeing

Roe, Ralph, 89, 142, 165, 210

Rominger, Kent “Rommel,” 20

Ross, Jerry

arrives at Lufkin to review debris reports, 99–100

debris retrieval, 140–141

emotional aftershock, 240

flies to KSC with crew, 17

as Flight Crew Operations representative on RRT, 85

funeral for helicopter crash victims, 198

Grand Marshal at Lufkin parade, 194

Landing Day responsibilities, 45

launch day, 20, 40

lessons learned, 283–284

operations organization needed for debris retrieval, 168

on possible debris strike, 29

refining the search parameters, 122–123

report on search-and-recovery operations, 104–105

reports in on debris findings, 147

retrieval area maps, 151

takes turn running retrieval effort with Gorie, 172

and US Forest Service staffing debris retrieval, 169–170, 174

video of breakup, 57–58

Ross, Renée, 211, 223

Rounsaville, Marc, 169

Rowles, Billy, 67, 142

Ruggiero, Mark, 130

runner networks, 144

Sabine County

Cohrs’ search plans, 125

debris search corridor, 86, 96, 107, 174

NASA forward execution post established, 104

possibility of hazardous or classified material, 76

search crew accountability problems, 129

shuttle crew module, 187–189

victory dance in VFW, 202

Sabine National Forest, 131

Safety and Process Assurance Branch, NASA, 196

safety flaws and risks, space shuttle 264–266, 271–272

Salvation Army, 142

Sam Rayburn Reservoir, 163

San Augustine County

Adkins arrives at command center, 144–145

debris, 68, 76, 154, 162

debris search corridor, 86, 107, 174

memorial marker, 280

Orbital Experiment system (OEX) recorder found, 187–189

search for crew remains, 86, 96, 107, 125, 129

satellite phones, problems with, 143

Sauerwein, Dan, 131

Scales, Tommy, 73–74

Schirra, Wally, 220

school buses pressed into service, 112

school grounds in debris path, 101, 105–106, 112, 145

Schumann, Gail, 242

Schumann, Gerry