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

Interviews with Olen Bean, Greg Cohrs, and Mark Stanford. Cohrs added in an email to Jonathan Ward, “The Hemphill Management Team was filling individual resource orders for incident overhead personnel beginning late in the first week, toward the weekend. Also, during the second week, the Southern Area (US Forest Service, Region 8) Type 1 Incident Management ‘Blue’ Team had assumed incident management of the Nacogdoches Camp activities. I’m guessing that this occurred by Wednesday, Day 12, because Marcus [Beard] and I drove over to Nacogdoches to share our experiences with the Blue Team personnel in the event that it might be helpful to them. I’m not sure when the other camps (Palestine and Corsicana) had IMTs assume command, except the Great Basin Type 1 IMT in-briefed with us in Hemphill on Sunday, February 16, and assumed command of the Hemphill Camp operations on Monday, February 17.”

Keller, USDA Forest Service Role , 19.

A Type 1 “hotshot” crew is an elite, highly trained fire crew whose members always work together as a unit. A Type 2 crew is a regular fire crew made up of personnel who are available at a given time for an assignment.

NASA, Report CB-QMS-024 , 9.

NASA, Report CB-QMS-024 , 5.

James Hull email to all Texas Forest Service personnel, February 14, 2003.

Interviews with Dave King and Scott Wells.

Interviews with Mike Alexander.

“Shuttle Probe Exhausting,” Florida Today , March 3, 2003, 3A.

“More Debris to Arrive at KSC Today,” Florida Today , March 4, 2003, 2A.

Keller, USDA Forest Service Role, 44.

Texas Interagency Coordination Center, “Update—Space Shuttle Columbia Response,” internal memo, February 14, 2003.

Southwest Texas Debriefing Team, “Space Shuttle Columbia Recovery Teams: A Grateful Nation Says ‘Thank You,’” pamphlet distributed to incoming fire crews at Longview, TX, February 2003.

Keller, USDA Forest Service Role , 46.

Greg Cohrs email to Jonathan Ward.

Jerry Ross email to Jonathan Ward. The NASA astronauts who shared the “ground boss” role were Jim Halsell, Alan Poindexter, Bob Behnken, and Mike Foreman. Astronauts rotated during the recovery period to keep from getting worn out.

Greg Cohrs email to Jonathan Ward.

Interview with Gerry Schumann.

Shafer and LeConey. “Legal Issues,” 79–82. NASA reviewed 153 property damage claims and provided compensation totaling $89,407. While many claims were legitimate, many were spurious. A typical example of the latter was one man who claimed that burning shuttle debris had set fire to his fishing pier, where in fact his barbeque grill had clearly caused the damage. The largest legal claim against NASA was by Spacehab, seeking $87.7 million in damages for loss of the research double module. Spacehab withdrew the claim in February 2007. “Spacehab Drops Columbia Lawsuit Against NASA; Says Efforts Better Spent Elsewhere,” Aero News Network , February 22, 2007.

Cohrs, “Notes,” 17.

Toward the end of the search period, the Forest Service set up a temporary helicopter base at Ennis, between Dallas and Corsicana.

Jerry Ross email to Jonathan Ward.

Interview with Boo Walker.

US Navy, Salvage Report , 2–4.

Jerry Ross email to Jonathan Ward. NASA’s water search coordinators were astronauts Jim Reilly, Steve Bowen, and Keith Russell, assisted by a coast guard officer on loan to the Flight Crew Operations Directorate.

Texas Forest Service, “Situation Report Sunday Supplement: The Week in Review, April 13-20, 2003,” internal memo.

Greg Cohrs email to Jonathan Ward.

US Navy, Salvage Report , sections 2–5.

Cohrs “Notes,” 16.

“KSC Managers Visit East Texas Recovery Team,” Spaceport News (Kennedy Space Center, FL), March 21, 2003, 1.

“Primary Search for Columbia Material Passes Halfway Mark,” news release H03-117, March 25, 2003.

Interview with René Arriëns.

Gerry Schumann said that Pat Adkins was renowned for his ability to identify just about any piece of debris. The collection team occasionally amused themselves by tossing random pieces of metal, such as tractor parts, into the box. Adkins would pick them up, turn them over once in his hand, and ask, “Okay, who’s the wiseass?”

Interview with René Arriëns.

Greg Cohrs emails to Jonathan Ward.

Interview with Jeremy Willoughby; Greg Cohrs emails to Jonathan Ward. While several other searchers from the Western United States claim to have discovered the OEX box, Cohrs’s work plans from the day confirm that two Florida fire crews—Florida 3 and Florida 4—were working in the area the day the box was discovered.

Greg Cohrs email to Jonathan Ward.

William Harwood, “Recovered Data Tape in Relatively Good Condition,” article for CBS News Space Place , reprinted in Spaceflight Now , March 24, 2003, www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/030324tape/.

Texas Forest Service, “Space Shuttle Columbia Recovery Efforts,” internal memo, March 19, 2003.

Texas Forest Service, “Columbia Disaster Response 2003: NWCG Resources Mobilized Through Texas Interagency Coordination Center,” March 24, 2003.

Interview with Jim Furr.

Interview with Pat Adkins.

Kenneth Ward email to Jonathan Ward.

Interview with Boo Walker.

Christopher Freeze, “The ‘Columbia’ Debris Recovery Helo Crash, March 27, 2003,” www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/STS107-N175PA.htm.

Greg Cohrs email to Jonathan Ward.

Interview with Ed Mango.

Freeze, “Debris Recovery Helo Crash.”

Interview with Ed Mango.

Freeze, “Debris Recovery Helo Crash.”

Interview with Jeff Angermeier.

Interview with Ed Mango.

FEMA, “Space Shuttle Columbia; Emergency and Related Determinations,” news releases FEMA-3171-EM-TX and FEMA-3172-EM-LA and situation report 59, April 7, 2003.

NASA, “Columbia Recovery Visit to Nacogdoches Incident Command Site and Lufkin, Agenda for STS-114 Crew,” NASA Public Affairs Office (Johnson Space Center) internal memo, April 10, 2003.