Shuttle Columbia Investigation

By Joe Palca

Published February 11, 2003 at 12:00 AM EST

NPR's Joe Palca reports that more than 12,000 items supposedly from the shuttle Columbia have been collected near the Texas-Louisiana border. NASA officials say they're making good progress in their investigation into why the shuttle went down.

Joe Palca

Joe Palca is a science correspondent for NPR. Since joining NPR in 1992, Palca has covered a range of science topics — everything from biomedical research to astronomy. He is currently focused on the eponymous series, "Joe's Big Idea." Stories in the series explore the minds and motivations of scientists and inventors. Palca is also the founder of NPR Scicommers – A science communication collective.

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