posted 08-02-2011 12:19 AM               

Nacogdoches authorities have located what is suspected to be material from Space Shuttle Columbia in the northern end of Lake Nacogdoches.

"The lower water level has exposed a larger than normal area on the northern side of the lake," said NPD Sgt. Greg Sowell. "A large round object became visible, and it is very possible that it is part of Columbia."

Officials with the Nacogdoches police took pictures of the object, described as being 4-feet in diameter and full of mud, and sent them off to NASA...

"We want to remind everyone that the rules are the same as they were back in 2003. If this object is indeed a part of the shuttle, it is government property, and it is a criminal offense to tamper with it," Sowell said.

Credit: Nacogdoches Police Department

It appears that this may be a cryogenic hydrogen (H2) tank from Columbia's Power Reactant Storage and Distribution (PRSD) system.

Here's a photo of the tanks that were recovered as of one year after the accident as photographed inside the Vehicle Assembly Building archive.

posted 08-02-2011 12:01 PM               

The Nacogdoches police informed NASA of the find and sent pictures for identification. NASA engineers who work on the shuttle's PRSD systems were able to confirm the tank came from Columbia.

"One of the guys had been here more than 30 years and recognized it, and said, 'That's one of the tanks,'" Malone said.

The piece was one of 18 tanks on the orbiter that stored supercold oxygen (O2) and hydrogen (H2). The spherical tank, about 40 inches (1 meter) in diameter, will eventually be shipped back to Kennedy Space Center, where NASA stores all the collected debris from Columbia in a climate controlled repository found on the 16th floor of the center's 52-story Vehicle Assembly Building.

Credit: Nacogdoches Police Department

See here for discussion of the discovery of unrecovered shuttle Columbia debris.