WASHINGTON -- Hard copies of the long-awaited Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) final report are going to be very hard to come by for a while.
Like the release of the latest Harry Potter tome, demand is expected to outstrip supply, at least in the early days.
Only 100 copies are to be produced for the intitial press run, making the report to be handed out Tuesday a very limited edition indeed.
And with copies already promised to the White House, Congress, NASA, the families of the Columbia astronauts and credentialed media, CAIB officials are starting to worry they might not have enough to go around even that rather short distribution list.
Last second production problems meant that the multi-volume report made it to the printer later than planned. Its expected to be finished in time for its announced Tuesday release, but chief CAIB spokeswoman Laura Brown said Friday shes worried she might not have enough hard copies to go around.
"Im only going to have 100 [copies] and Im concerned thats not going to be enough," Brown said. "We are literally carrying it back on an airplane."
To find a printing house that could turn out the initial press run in just a few days, the CAIB turned to what Brown described as a "secure facility" in the Western United States.
A NASA source said the report is being printed at a U.S. government facility outside Seattle. Once finished, the source said, the precious volumes will be flown to Washington, D.C. on a NASA-owned airplane. Brown would not comment on who is flying the report to Washington. She also said the CAIBs decision to print the report way, way outside the Beltway had nothing to do with the boards desire to keep the report under wraps until its official release at 10 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) Tuesday.
"Thats not to keep it secure," Brown said. "We needed a facility to do a quick turnaround at a reasonable price to the government. That piece of it has nothing to do with security, but we are going to great lengths to keep it secure. My pledge to the press was to keep it as secure as possible so everyone is on a level playing field."
Brown also disputed word that NASA would be getting an electronic copy Monday night so that they could prepare it for a prompt release via the agencys website come Tuesday.
"They are not getting it Monday night, thats absolutely false," Brown said. "Were giving it Sean OKeefe at 10 a.m. Tuesday morning. Im not giving it to the [NASA] webmaster before I give it to Sean OKeefe."
Brown said since putting out a press release Thursday announcing the reports released, she has been flooded with requests for hard copies of the report.
Her advice to interested parties not already on Tuesdays distribution list: Read it on the web.
The report will be available at http://www.caib.us and later in the day Tuesday at http://www.nasa.gov.
Copies of the report in the form of ink on paper and electronically on CD-ROM eventually will be available for the general public to purchase from the Government Printing Office, but that's still several weeks away.
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