I think this may be the most heartbreaking reporting to come out of the Columbia disaster:
“The communication checks continue. So does the silence. A radar station near the Kennedy center then says it is putting its radar in a “search mode.”
“We do not have any valid data at this time,” said Jones. He said there was a “blip” but it was bad data.
Then a long pause, a silence of despair. Then Cain says the final words, the phrase that marked the lack of hope: “Lock the doors.””
Space.com has this useful FAQ
NASA’s official page on the disaster investigation.
The extraordinary image of Columbia, taken when she was still over 200,000 feet up, was taken using a hobbyist’s telescope and an 11 year-old Mac.