Technical Article G4 Comparing Reentry Scenarios This represents the beginning of a debris catalog for STS-107.  It will contain debris photos that have been identified as to what part of the shuttle or what component they are from.  If possible the point in the debris field where the item was found will be included.  However, there appears to be very little information cross referencing debris items and the location where they were found. Most of the photos below are high resolution and clicking on them will produce a much larger image. Fig. TA-G4-1 Fig. TA-G4-1 shows some of what has been recovered of Columbia's fuselage.  There does not appear to be any part of the fuselage large enough to have protected the OEX recorder until impact.  The OEX recorder was not designed to be a black box for shuttle crashes and therefore was not necessarily designed to survive a crash the way that the black boxes in passenger aircraft are.  It is unknown how the recorder survived the fall from 200,00 feet and rolled to a stop underneath a tree in a pasture near Hemphill Texas.   Fig. TA-G4-2 Fig. TA-G4-2 and TA-G4-3 give some idea of how violently the fuselage broke apart.  The hatch was on the left side of the shuttle which was taking the brunt of the aerodynamic forces.  Notice how the skin of the orbiter, although double walled at that location, broke away completely around the reinforced crew hatch. Fig. TA-G4-3   Fig. TA-G4-4 Fig. TA-G4-4 is one of the Columbia's cockpit windows.  Exactly which window is unknown but based on its size and shape it is probably the last window on the right side. Fig. TA-G4-5 is a larger section of front window being inspected and placed within the debris matrix. Fig. TA-G4-5   Fig. TA-G4-6 Fig. TA-G4-6 shows the largely intact nose gear of the shuttle.  Some of the last telemetry from the shuttle indicated that the nose gear was deployed just as it also indicated that the left main gear was also deployed.  This was later determined to be untrue.   Fig. TA-G4-7 Fig. TA-G4-8 Fig. TA-G4-7 and TA-G4-8 are the left and right main landing gear tires. Fig. TA-G4-9 is the right main landing gear door. Fig. TA-G4-9   Fig. TA-G4-10 Fig. TA-G4-11 Fig. TA-G4-12 Fig. TA-G4-10, TA-G4-11 and TA-G4-12 are photos the orbiters main landing gear up-lock rollers.   Fig. TA-G4-14 Fig. TA-G4-14 shows some of the fitted RCC material that has been recovered.   Fig. TA-G4-15 Fig. TA-G4-15 is part of the underside of the Columbia's left wing. Debris Fuselage Maps These E-Maps were created by the C.A.I.B. and indicates overall where the debris that has been recovered so far would go on the Columbia.  These E-Maps are tied into the debris logging databases and carry a great deal of information about each piece of debris including where it was found and when.  However, that information does not appear to be available to the public from any of the volumes in the Final Report. The table to the left contains a color legend indicating the type of debris that is shown for the Columbia at a specific location.  Some of the areas on Columbia that appear shaded are just very dense meshing.   Columbia top side view Columbia bottom view Columbia right hand view Columbia left hand view