SCIENCE IN THE NEWS WEEKLY
Columbia Report, NASA's Future, An Ancient Meteorite
A NASA report cited a number of design flaws involved in the Columbia space shuttle disaster that happened nearly six years ago. Due to the poor design of their pressure suits, all seven astronauts blacked out almost immediately once the spacecraft started breaking up during re-entry, officials said. All perished in the crash.
The U.S. space agency's future is also in question, with the impending advent of a new presidential administration. The New York Times also looked at the controversy surrounding the Ares I rocket that is designed to replace the nation's aging space shuttles.
Meanwhile, several geologists reported finding evidence of something big and unusual happening in waters near the New York area around 300 B.C. They say a large meteorite may have landed in the Atlantic, generating a tsunami.