-my wife, laurel, was on the shuttle. she was a scientist primarily involved with life sciences. one day during the mission, i was reviewing the notes, and then here s this foam issue. during launch, a large piece of foam had come off the external tank and impacted the left wing. me and my colleague had this discussion of, hey, you can use a family conference to talk to laurel and find out what she knew. -oh! -you got to remember the hat you re wearing is your flight-surgeon hat, not your family hat. it would have broken protocol for me to bring up an issue to a crew member, even though it s my wife. -i remember a certain sense of relief like, it s almost over. she s almost back. -i didn t talk to laurel about the foam issue. that conference was for iain and laurel, and i was a bystander. -i knew she was going to come back. you know, i never had a question in my mind. -given the fact that you may have lost a little bit of tile during lift-off, i m wondering
almost like a parent would talk to a child about it i told you you shouldn t do this, and look what happened. i don t know how to answer that, because he was right. i mean, honestly, the only goal i had was simply just to keep him alive. i mean, literally, it s like i don t want him to get to that despondent stage where he just says, you know, i m gonna check out and join mom now. -parents, husbands, and fathers and wives gone. i was sickened, like a body blow. and so somehow, i just got my act together, and i just started talking. the tragic loss of the space shuttle columbia
on her 28th flight, the 113th shuttle mission, 16 days seemingly flawless ending with a sudden and seemingly inexplicable disintegration over northeast texas. things happened very quickly. there was a conversation, a transmission from rick husband, the shuttle commander, sort of half of a roger, if you will, that kind of thing, and it was all over. let s try to put together what we know and give you a sense of where this investigation might be headed. i felt like it was my responsibility to talk about the foam strike, to get it out there in the public. if you take a close-up here, that bipod is the place where they think a little piece of foam fell off and hit the leading edge of that wing. i talked to the folks in the control room, and i said, you know, can you cue up the launch replays?
I was sickened, like a body blow. And so somehow, i just got my act together, and i just started talking. The tragic loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia on her 28th flight, the 113th shuttle mission, 16 days seemingly flawless ending with a sudden and seemingly inexplicable disintegration over northeast texas. Things happened very quickly. There was a conversation, a transmission from rick husband, the shuttle commander, sort of half of a roger, if you will, that kind of thing, and it was all over. Lets try to put together what we know and give you a sense of where this investigation might be headed