Reentry Video Revision
July 9, 2004
A serious error in my reconstruction video was brought to my attention by Robert Butsch. Mr. Butsch is one of the Dallas area residents who videotaped Columbia breaking up as the orbiter passed to the south of the Dallas metroplex. His videotape's NASA designation is EOC2-4-0018.
He advised me that changes had been made to the official timeline after the final graphical timeline was posted on the internet (rev. 15 of March 17 2003) and apparently just as the ESAT (early sighting assessment team) final report was going to press (early June '03). I used the various time cues that were listed in the un revised ESAT for my video's synchronization. This un revised ESAT report was then added to the CAIB final report in October of 2003 which kept me and my video astray. It can still be found in the CAIB final report to this day.
Significant changes made to the timeline appear in this appendix to the CAIB report-
http://www.nasa.gov/columbia/caib/html/VOL2.html "D.9 Data Review and Timeline Reconstruction Report"
The revision that effects my "realtime" reentry video is the shifting back in time (-18 seconds) and approximately 65 miles west for all of the visual post-LOS break up events. All Texas video acquisition times were moved to an earlier time. Mr. Butsch was instrumental in bringing about these important corrections. Probably his strongest and most easily demonstrated argument against the initial assignment of debris positions and times is the case of debris "A". NASA placed "A" at 8:00:04 CST or due south of Dallas. NASA also placed the reacquisition of video coverage at close to that same time (7:59:59 CST). You combine these two placements and debris "A" should be seen occurring just as Columbia is at its highest apparent altitude. After viewing the video you'll see that clearly was not the case. Below is a graphical explanation.
