Al Feinberg
Headquarters, Washington
(Phone: 202/358-4504)
Bruce Buckingham
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
(Phone: 321/867-2468)
|
October 14, 2003
| RELEASE:
03-332
|
NASA Moves Space Shuttle Columbia Recovery Office
NASA has moved the Columbia Recovery Office (CRO) to Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Fla. By moving the CRO from Johnson Space Center, Houston, to KSC, NASA has the storage and coordination of Shuttle debris at one location.
Although the volume of calls to report new debris has decreased, with hunting season about to begin in East Texas, where the majority of debris was found, there could be an associated increase in calls. The CRO opened April 28, 2003, and will remain operational as long as call volume warrants.
"We are still interested in retrieving any debris reported by the public," said Dave Whittle, chairman of the NASA Mishap Investigation Team and head of the CRO. "From the standpoint of those calling in, the change should be invisible. Since KSC is the storage location for the debris, and since it is still the center receiving calls about Challenger, we feel they are the right people to handle long-term support of Columbia calls," he said.
The toll-free Columbia Shuttle Material hotline is answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Anyone who finds material believed to be part of Columbia is urged to call the hotline at: 1/866/446-6603 The CRO operates the Shuttle Interagency Debris Database for data management, record retention, and mapping. The CRO will arrange for larger or potentially hazardous Shuttle debris recovery. The CRO may ask finders to ship smaller, non-hazardous objects to the office. For more information about NASA, the Columbia accident investigation and human spaceflight on the Internet, visit: http://www.nasa.gov
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