Columbia Report Will Be Released August 26

Image credit: NASA

The Columbia Accident Investigation Board will hold a press briefing on August 26 and discuss its final 250-page report on the cause of the space shuttle Columbia’s destruction on February 1, 2003. The report will be made available from the CAIB’s website at 1400 GMT (10:00 am EDT) and a live webcast will begin at 1500 GMT (11:00 am EDT). The 13-member board has already concluded that foam dislodged from the shuttle’s fuel tank struck the left wing on takeoff and create a crack that allowed hot gas to enter the wing on re-entry.

ARLINGTON, VA – The Columbia Accident Investigation Board will hold a press briefing to discuss its final report on the cause of the February 1, 2003 Space Shuttle accident on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 at 11 a.m. EDT at the National Transportation Safety Board boardroom at 429 L’Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C.

Board Chairman retired Admiral Harold W. “Hal” Gehman Jr. and other board members will review the contents of the report and will answer questions from the press. The briefing is open to credentialed media only.

Only one printed copy of the report and a CD containing a .pdf file of the report will be provided to each credentialed news organization. Reporters and photographers who plan to attend the briefing are encouraged to send an email to notify CAIB Public Affairs at laura.j.brown@jsc.nasa.gov.

The report also will be posted to the CAIB website, www.caib.us, at 10 a.m. that morning. The 11 a.m. press briefing will be webcast from the same website.

The CAIB will provide a pooled, three-camera switched feed of the press briefing, with distribution on site. Still photography will not be pooled.

Questions about parking for satellite trucks should be directed to Terry Williams at the NTSB on Monday, August 25, 2003 at 202-314-6100.

Directions to NTSB Board Room: Front door located on Lower 10th Street, directly below L’Enfant Plaza. From Metro, exit L’Enfant Plaza station at 9th and D Streets escalator, walk through shopping mall, at CVS store take escalator down one level. Board Room will be to your left.

Original Source: CAIB News Release