NASA Says "No."

Two years before Saturday's Columbia disaster, NASA safety experts who were worried about damage to delicate heat tiles on the space shuttle Atlantis decided it was "prudent" to adjust its return path to lessen danger during the fiery descent.

Internal NASA documents show that, during an Atlantis mission in May 2000 (STS-101), the experts were concerned about damage to tiles on the wing.

Approximately 80 seconds after lift-off, January 16, the underside of Columbia's left wing was smacked by a piece of insulating foam which fell from the orbitor's huge orange fuel tank. Early investigations into last weekend's breakup of the Columbia as it re-entered the atmosphere have centered on the space plane's left main wheel well, located in the area hit by the chunk of foam.

The concern over the Atlantis mission in 2000 was similar, involving a slightly smaller area than the damage suspected to the shuttle that disintegrated over Texas last weekend, documents show.

If It Worked Then...

In May, 2000, Atlantis adjusted its return flight because experts noticed a 6-inch ice chunk from its external fuel tank shattered about 8 feet from one of the "elevons," along the back of the wing.

"It was prudent to take some precautions," according to NASA documents. The maneuver to pivot Atlantis to protect its right wing "increased the temperature margin and therefore reduced the potential for structural damage.""It was prudent to take some precautions," according to NASA documents. The maneuver to pivot Atlantis to protect its right wing "increased the temperature margin and therefore reduced the potential for structural damage.""It was prudent to take some precautions," the NASA documents reportedly said. The maneuver to pivot Atlantis to protect its right wing "increased the temperature margin and therefore reduced the potential for structural damage."

Ever since the Columbia disaster, NASA has maintained there was nothing that could have been done for the seven astronauts aboard Columbia if there was indeed serious damage to those tiles. But the Atlantis mission, in which the crew was instructed to make a protective re-entry, suggests there were at least options for an ailing shuttle to return safely.

NASA spokesman Michael Braukus said Friday the space agency did not consider ordering Columbia to make the same maneuver, and believes now that it would have interfered with efforts to warm Columbia's landing gear tires for a safe landing.

The tires were unusually cold because Columbia orbited the Earth for 16 days with its landing gear pointed at deep space, he said.

The damage in May 2000 to Atlantis' right wing "was not considered a safety of flight issue," NASA's documents show. Inspectors later found a gouge in thermal tiles there, measuring about 5.25 inches by 1.5 inches by one-half inch.

NASA officials have said they also concluded that possible damage to Columbia's insulating tiles didn't threaten the shuttle's safety. They based their conclusions on scientific models showing possible damage over an area about 7 inches by 32 inches larger than the damage to Atlantis years earlier.

Outside experts said it was impossible to know yet whether flight adjustments by Columbia could have prevented its destruction.

"You can yaw the vehicle to the side, you can roll the vehicle a little bit," said Steven P. Schneider, an associate professor at Purdue University's Aerospace Sciences Laboratory. He said some shuttle surfaces, such as near the fuselage or the back edges of the wings, could be better shielded during such maneuvers than others. "You can't change the trajectory too much."

A 1990 study for NASA by outside researchers said threats to the shuttle from damaged thermal tiles which protect against temperatures that can reach 3,000 degrees could be lessened by rerouting important internal systems or changing the shuttle's re-entry profile. Using that technique, researchers wrote, "it may be possible to reduce the temperature of some weak, vulnerable areas."

What The Air Force Saw...What The Computer Didn't

The Air Force told CBS News imagery from Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico was turned over to NASA for analysis. Kirtland operates powerful telescopes in Hawaii and the continental United States, including the Starfire Optical Range in New Mexico that would have been well-positioned to follow Columbia's fiery plunge through the atmosphere.

NASA confirmed Friday it received photos of Columbia from a powerful Air Force ground camera, but Dittemore who showed one of the images to reporters said it wasn't clear whether it showed structural damage to Columbia's left wing.

"All by itself, I don't think it's very revealing," he said.

Hopes have faded that NASA might get more information from data from the final 32 seconds recorded between the time Johnson Space Center's computers stopped reading the data to the point all sensors went dead. The data was too garbled to be interpreted and was largely useless, said James Gavura, director of NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System.

"There was 31 seconds (of silence) and then 1 more second of data," Gavura said.

That second could contain information on the position of the orbiter just before it began to tumble and break up, he said.

Although that second hasn't been verified as shuttle data, Gavura said it appears to have the proper signature.

FMI: www.nasa.gov