CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The Columbia Accident Investigation Board will release their final report to the public on Tuesday, Aug. 26, as previously scheduled, officials said Thursday.
The final report, expected to be about 250 pages and divided into 11 chapters and three appendices, will be available on the CAIB web site at 10 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) at
.At the same time, printed and CD-ROM versions of the report will be informally presented to the White House and Congress by board members in Washington, and to the families of the Columbia astronauts in Houston.
Tuesday's release of the summary report will be followed in the weeks to come with other volumes that will include such material as supporting information and transcripts of the public hearings.
Board chairman Harold Gehman previously said he didn't believe the report would include any dramatically new information about the cause of the Feb. 1 loss of the shuttle and its seven astronauts.
The report is expected to blame a piece of insulating foam falling from the external tank and striking the left leading edge of Columbia's wing during launch as the technical explanation for what triggered the disaster during re-entry.
The report also is expected to criticize NASA's mission management processes and cite what has become known as "NASA's culture" as a contributing cause of the tragedy.
Five interim recommendations already released have dealt with both technical and procedural things NASA should change before resuming shuttle operations.
Gehman is scheduled to host a press conference to answer questions about the report at 11 a.m. EDT (1600 GMT) Tuesday.
NASA is still finalizing their public affairs plans for the report's release, but it is possible that NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe will release a statement Tuesday afternoon and then stage a press conference Wednesday after they have had time to read the report.
NASA's human spaceflight managers then will discuss their return to flight plans as soon as Thursday, followed the next week by their formal release of a return to flight implementation plan.
Finally, that will set the stage for a meeting in early September in Houston by the Stafford Covey Task Group that is independently overseeing NASA's response to the CAIB report.
advertisement
