-columbia, this is cnn. how do you read me? -hey, cnn. we've got you loud and clear. -stand by, and we'll have you on the tele here very shortly. say hello to the crew of the space shuttle columbia, now traveling above the pacific at 17,300 miles an hour, 150 miles above us, waving to us. let's give you an idea of who's who. i remember interviewing the crew in space. rick husband, the commander, second mission. laurel clark... prepping for that interview, i thought about the foam strike and how to handle it. but on launch day, when i saw that...footage, i wasn't sure what to think about it. i'm not a rocket scientist, so i called to somebody who i know -- knew very well at nasa. i said, "help me understand how worried i should be for this." and he said, "oh, it's foam. it's very light material. probably doesn't cause any damage."
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?"
but, i mean, i was in mission control. i was a nasa employee. i knew about the foam strike. when there's blame that's laid out, i am right up there saying i knew. and i -- and i wish i could've done something differently. but i-i can't undo that. and it -- you can just make it better for those that follow. -i feel ashamed. so, who's guilty? i'm not just gonna say the program managers are. we're all guilty. if you don't speak up for your own system and you're the victims of this environment, we're guilty, too. -during the mission, i could have easily done a story saying, "this thing happened. while nasa is saying it's nothing, some engineers believe there may be some concern." what if i had done that?
and if somebody says, "hey, let's get better data to make a decision," why is getting better data a-a problem? but, i mean, i was in mission control. i was a nasa employee. i knew about the foam strike. when there's blame that's laid out, i am right up there saying i knew. and i -- and i wish i could've done something differently. but i-i can't undo that. and it -- you can just make it better for those that follow. -i feel ashamed. so, who's guilty? i'm not just gonna say the program managers are. we're all guilty. if you don't speak up for your own system and you're the victims of this environment, we're guilty, too. -during the mission, i could have easily done a story saying, "this thing happened.
-laurel, just to be advised, you have about two minutes of video. -to deviate from the processes and the procedures, you need to have a reason, and the reason needs data. it's not just "i have a bad feeling about this." -and i got no reply to my e-mail. my request was never answered. -columbia, this is cnn. how do you read me? -hey, cnn. we've got you loud and clear. -stand by, and we'll have you on the tele here very shortly. say hello to the crew of the space shuttle columbia, now traveling above the pacific at 17,300 miles an hour, 150 miles above us, waving to us. let's give you an idea of who's who. i remember interviewing the crew in space. rick husband, the commander, second mission. laurel clark... prepping for that interview, i thought about the foam strike and how to handle it. but on launch day, when i saw that...footage,
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?" alright. let's take a look at this launch. "look what happened a minute after launch." got this very, very slow -- look at that piece of foam right there that struck the shuttle as it came off. the question was, what did it do? ♪ i didn't know for sure. i still was the armchair analyst. but challenger was deep in our memory... ♪ ...and this was kind of a similar scenario. ♪ in the wake of challenger,