NASA vows to find why shuttle exploded

NASA yesterday vowed to “leave absolutely no stone unturned” in an exhaustive investigation into why the space shuttle Columbia broke up on re-entry to the Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts on board.

As Americans mourned the deaths of seven of the “best and brightest” astronauts, police and soldiers fanned out across Texas in a grim and sometimes gory search for clues as to what caused the shuttle to break apart on Saturday, just 16 minutes from landing at its home base.

“We’re leaving nothing to chance. We’re looking at every piece of evidence, we’re securing all the debris and assuring we look at every possible angle of what could have caused this horrible accident,” NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe said.