Space Shuttle Columbia

All material is United States Government property and is critical to the investigation of the shuttle accident. Any and all material from the accident is to be left alone and reported to Government authorities. Unauthorized persons found in possession of accident material will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

On April 16,2003, NASA reported that the recovery search efforts were nearing
completion. 37% of the Shuttle, by weight, had been recovered to Kennedy Space Center (Source: NASA).

On February 12, 2003 Nacogdoches County announced 90% mitigation
of reported space shuttle Columbia material sites (Source: DailySentinel.com).

There is a new toll-free Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) hotline
to report shuttle material locations. Please call: 1-866-446-6603.

For more information and news releases from NASA,
go to http://www.nasa.gov/columbia/home/index.html

Initial reports of shuttle materials on the ground were mapped using approximated coordinates of reported Nacogdoches County locations; these points were used to calculate a Base Search Vector. In Nacogdoches County, 90% of mitigated shuttle material sites have been found within a two-kilometer buffer on either side of the Base Search Vector.

The first image map was generated within one hour of the event, which took place approximately 8:00am CST on February 1, 2003. The initial Base Search Vector was developed within the first six hours on the day of the event. Maps are also available in PDF, suitable for printing.

Debris Path Maps: Click on an image to enlarge it.
Shuttle Debris Path February 3, 2003; 3:30am	Shuttle Debris Base Search Vector February 4, 2003; 4:30am
Image Map with Base Search Vector and Two-Kilometer Buffers February 9, 2003;5:00am	Base Search Vector February 6, 2003; 11:00am
20 Kilometer Buffer with Base Search Vector February 2, 2003; 5:00pm	Attoyac Analysis February 11, 2003; 5:00pm
*Data Sources:* Center for Space Research (CSR), University of Texas at Austin Texas Natural Resources Information System (TNRIS)	*Imagery:* LANDSAT 7 ETM+; 1/18/2003 SPOT5; 12/28/2002 (Eros Data Center, United States Geological Survey (USGS))