BY JIM MANDERS
SEQUIM — A retired scientist who worked in Kennedy Space Center’s satellite operations center and who hosted astronaut William “Willie” C. McCool in his home, says experts should consider space junk in their investigation of what caused the space shuttle Columbia to disintegrate Saturday.
David E. Briggs said Monday that a minuscule piece of space junk would have been enough to cause the shuttle’s disintegration.
Briggs retired to Sequim several years ago after a 20-year career as a shift supervisor at the satellite operations control center for weather satellites with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“There’s so much junk out their, it’s difficult to miss it all,” Briggs said Monday during an interview at his home overlooking Dungeness Bay.
Robert Roy Britt, senior science writer for the Internet Web site Space.com, wrote in October 2000 that there are 4 million pounds of stuff and more than 110,000 objects orbiting the earth.
NASA officials haven’t placed blame for the crash that killed seven astronauts.
But there has been speculation a falling piece of foam, a 2 1/2-pound piece of insulation, may have damaged protective tiles on a wing shortly after liftoff.
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