Age Wasn't a Cause of the Columbia Disaster

During a press briefing on Friday, investigators ruled out the age of the space shuttle

Columbia

as a contributing cause to its destruction. With the most recent foam test, which knocked a large hole in sample shuttle wing panel, the force of the impact would have broken through, even if the panel was brand new. Investigators believe the hole in

Columbia

was smaller than the one in the test panel; otherwise it would have broken up much earlier upon re-entry.