As the Central Texas search for material from the Space
Shuttle Columbia moved westward, the East Texas search began
nearing completion. Air operations continued last week, and
underwater searches were completed.
Search teams have completed 98 percent of the underwater
searches in Lake Nacogdoches and Toledo Bend Reservoir.
Ground teams have completed 78 percent of their primary
search area, and airborne crews finished 80 percent of their
assigned area. More than 70,000 items, weighing 78,000
pounds, about 36 percent of the Shuttle by weight, have been
delivered to Kennedy Space Center for use in the mishap
investigation.
Officials are finalizing plans to create a Columbia Recovery
Office (CRO) at Johnson Space Center, Houston. The CRO will
assume responsibility for management of recovery and
community liaison activities. The Disaster Field Office in
Lufkin, Texas, the central planning and command center for
the search, is expected to close in early May.
NASA and FEMA are working with partner agencies to close the
four Incident Command Posts and the Mobilization and Staging
Area. The U.S. and Texas Forest Services managed the
Incident Command Posts, and they are expected to close the
first of the camps in late April. Camps are located in
Hemphill, Nacogdoches, Palestine and Corsicana, Texas.
The painstaking search of the main 2400 square mile search
corridor was executed through the combined efforts of NASA,
FEMA, EPA, U.S. and Texas Forest Services. Individuals from
these organizations, aided by local authorities and
landowners, have worked long hours under arduous conditions
over difficult terrain to recover Shuttle debris.
NASA plans to maintain a relationship with the officials and
people of the East Texas communities affected by the
Columbia accident and debris search through community
outreach and education programs.
For more information about NASA and the Space Shuttle
Columbia investigation on the Internet, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov
