Geography student's work broadens search for Columbia shuttle debris

By Larry Wood

Using her skills in spatial analysis, a graduate student in USC’s geography department mapped out a plan for more efficient recovery of debris from the space shuttle Columbia this spring.

Tara Koman, whose specialty is Geographic Information Systems (GIS), spent two weeks in March in the Palestine, Texas, area providing maps for searchers looking for shuttle debris. After studying the density of the recovered items, Koman determined that debris would more likely be found farther north of the original search area: a significant finding that altered the recovery mission in her area.

“This was a big deal because NASA was spending approximately $1 million a day to do this search, and [ends up listening to] suggestions from a little graduate student,” said Koman, who was completing an assistantship with the U.S. Forestry Service in Columbia when the Federal Emergency Management Agency requested a GIS specialist.

When she arrived in Palestine, Koman was the only GIS-trained person there. She plotted features of the landscape, such as swamps or pastures occupied by Texas longhorn bulls, that were potential hazards to searchers.

In the evenings, Koman talked to crew leaders about how much of their search areas had been completed and updated maps to plan the next day’s operation.

Every few evenings, astronauts from NASA made presentations to keep searchers motivated. At one presentation, Koman asked Alan Poindexter, a shuttle pilot, if any spatial analyses had been done of the debris data.

Poindexter was curious but noted that some information about recovered items was sensitive.

“I told him I didn’t need information about the data, just the latitude and longitude coordinates,” Koman said. “He sent me location data on significant items, which NASA engineers thought were linked to the left wing—the problem area that might have led to the shuttle breakup.”

Koman examined the data and created a model to determine the density of recovered debris.

“I did some statistical calculations and modeling procedures that showed me the better likelihood of finding specific left-wing parts was in a certain area above the search line,” said Koman, who showed her finding to Poindexter.

“I said, ‘It might be a good idea to adjust the search area to go farther north.’

Poindexter listened, and the astronaut began sending Koman more information about recovered shuttle items.

“That information allowed me to show searchers the best place to look for particular parts as defined by the model,” Koman said.

After a week of Koman’s daily updates, NASA added one nautical mile to the two-mile search area already above the search line in the Palestine area.

“It was incredibly rewarding for me to speak with the guys who were coming out of the field each day,” Koman said. “They would say, ‘We found 100 items here and 50 items here.’ Before they might come in and say they’d found five items.”

Koman will graduate this semester and begin USC’s geography Ph.D. program in the fall. The contacts she made in Texas could lead to future work.

“The Pacific Northwest Management Team of the Forestry Service expressed an interest in my helping with wildfires this summer,” she said. “It’s just a great thing to have on my resume, a wonderful experience.”

05/03