| NASA STATEMENT ON LOSS OF COMMUNICATIONS
WITH COLUMBIA
A Space Shuttle contingency has been declared in Mission
Control, Houston, as a result of the loss of communication with the Space Shuttle
Columbia at approximately 9 a.m. EST Saturday as it descended toward a landing
at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla. It was scheduled to touchdown at 9:16 a.m. EST.
Communication and tracking of the shuttle was lost at 9 a.m. EST at an
altitude of about 203,000 feet in the area above north central Texas. At the time
communications were lost. The shuttle was traveling approximately 12,500 miles
per hour (Mach 18). No communication and tracking information were received in
Mission Control after that time. Search and rescue teams in the Dallas-Fort
Worth and in portions of East Texas have been alerted. Any debris that is located
in the area that may be related to the Space Shuttle contingency should be avoided
and may be hazardous as a result of toxic propellants used aboard the shuttle.
The location of any possible debris should immediately be reported to local authorities.
Flight controllers in Mission Control have secured all information, notes
and data pertinent to today's entry and landing by Space Shuttle Columbia and
continue to methodically proceed through contingency plans. | 
