Jul 13, 2003 - During a press briefing on Friday, investigators ruled
out the age of the space shuttle Columbia as a contributing cause to
its destruction. With the most recent foam test, which knocked a large
hole in sample shuttle wing panel, the force of the impact would have
broken through, even if the panel was brand new. Investigators believe
the hole in Columbia was smaller than the one in the test panel;
otherwise it would have broken up much earlier upon re-entry.