LUFKIN, Texas, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- A section of space shuttle Columbia debris found recently in the Texas woods may have been part of the crew compartment, a newspaper reported Thursday.
Angelina County Sheriff Kent Henson said NASA told him the six-foot-long piece of debris was likely from the upper cockpit, the Lufkin Daily News reported. The section contained a hinged window.
A wildlife biologist found the debris in a water-runoff area in Newton County, about 120 miles northeast of Houston near the Louisiana state line.
The Columbia broke apart Feb. 1, 2003 over Texas during a return flight to the Kennedy Space Center, killing all seven astronauts. The remains of the crew and thousands of pieces of debris were recovered during an extensive search.
The section of debris will remain in the sheriff's office at Lufkin until NASA representatives from the Kennedy Space Center can pick it up. All the Columbia debris was sent to the space center where the investigation was based.
