Columbia: The Investigation

Note: This story will be updated as new information is available.

On This Site • Columbia Remembered • The Crew of Columbia's Last Flight • Space Shuttle Timeline • How Do You Become an Astronaut? • How Does a Space Shuttle Launch? • How Does a Space Shuttle Land? • What Happens on a Shuttle Mission? • What Do Astronauts Eat in Space?

Elsewhere on the Web • Statement from Columbia Crew's Families • Email sent by Astronaut Laurel Clark on January 30 • President Bush's Speech on February 1 • How Space Shuttles Work • Virtual Astronaut

NASA and other federal officials continue to work round-the-clock to find the cause of the explosion of space shuttle Columbia. The latest important announcement has been the recovery of the shuttle's flight data recorder, the equivalent of an airplane's "black box." Officials hope that they can learn much more about what caused the accident from this data recorder.

Searchers found the discovery heartening, especially since most of what they had found so far had been of little value in discovering the cause of the explosion. Depression and frustration had begun to set in for some of the searchers, and the discovery of the "black box" gave them new hope and new determination.

It was found in Texas, in a heavily wooded pine stand surrounded by 3-foot thorn bushes. The recorder could hold temperature and aerodynamic information about the shuttle. Officials are not sure whether they can recover information from the magnetic recorder, but they are certainly willing to try.

With the astronauts buried, an investigation still ongoing, and a nation at war halfway across the world, the search for the cause of the Columbia explosion continued, with searchers continuing to piece together the tiny pieces of an enormous puzzle.