i did that on the airbus 380 and they are the right people to be doing this analysis. so forensic analysis they re looking for. what will it could tell us is whether or not this came off as a result of hitting the water first or if it came off in midair. if it came off in midair, it can tell us a couple things. if the analysis we ve seen from the independent group and from australia saying that the airplane did an incredibly steep rate of descent, it could have gone transsonic, causing flutter on the trailing edge of this wing and it looks like it happened because the trailing edge is pretty rough. so those are the things we re looking at first. right. the back end is all cut up there and the front end is smooth. larry, let me ask you, if there had been an explosion, would residue still exist on that wing flap at this point? i seriously doubt you would find explosive residue. but you might find evidence on the surface of that structure
now en route to france for investigation right now, the front, the back, what it potentially means. well, the front you notice has not that much damage to it, which would tell me it was taken off the wing before the wing hit the water. if the wing hits the water and this is installed, it s going to collide with the back of the wing. the momentum will cause damage to the front. it was torn off before the wing hit the water. whether that was in air from the possibility of an extreme speed see, what happens, wolf, if it s an extreme speed, is you get a transsonic, the airport is not going over the speed of sound, but the wind over the top is, so you can get the flutter, and you would sigh the back of the wing is very damaged, trumpled and pieces torn off. that would be indicative of a rapt flutter and shaking apart.
vehicle now going transsonic. there will be a sonic boom up and down the space coast now. after passing 45 seconds into the flight. coming up a 0 seconds, mark a 0 seconds, maximum dynamic pressure in the vehicle. altitude now passing 7 nautical miles. passing the one minute mark. going faster than even the friday night traffic on the long island expressway. the delta is off and we ll keep you updated on its progress. there is word that many small businesses have serious reservations about president obama s health care overhaul. and it comes as the supreme court prepares for hearings on it. we will get a live report on that and what it will mean. plus, students and parents know all those textbooks can really weigh down your backpack. how about textbooks on your ipad? the future may be here. t doesn t
performance. in the bucket reducing stress on the shuttle as it goes transsonic for the final time. everything running perfectly. she s programmed over. everything p she s headed up the eastern seaboard. stand by, daytona beach. here comes the farewell flight of atlantis. atlantis, go at throttle up, no daction, dpdt. no action on dpdt. the call from cap com our colleague jim ober. no action required. jim olberg in mission control reporting she s now 46 miles off daytona. 17 miles high. 16 miles down range from the kennedy space center. one minute 40 seconds into the flight. atlantis flexing its muscles
performance reducing pressure on the shutting as its goes transsonic for the final time. engines revving up standing by for the throttle call. atlantis, go at throttle up, no action dp, dt. throttle up, no action on dp, dt. tha call from barry willmore, instrumentation only, no action required. atlantis now 15 miles in altitude, already 16 miles down range from the kennedy space center 1:40 into the flight. atlantis flexing its muscles one final time.