http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993584

Tests have revealed that an object spotted falling from the space shuttle
Columbia on the second day of its doomed mission was (((apparently))) a
panel of protective heat-resistant tiles.

The absence of this panel would have provided a point of entry in the
shuttle's left wing for the superhot gases that investigators believe got
inside the craft during re-entry. The plasma melted the shuttle's aluminium
frame and caused the craft to disintegrate, with the loss of all seven
astronauts aboard.

Radar pictures revealed the object falling from the shuttle as it performed
a pivotal manoeuvre in orbit for a scientific experiment. Investigators have
now taken radar images of various shuttle components to try to find a match.



(((     ))) my addition

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