The Space Shuttle Columbia in better times.

When it comes to space shuttles, the poor, doomed Space Shuttle Columbia has more in common with the fatally-flawed Challenger than its retired bretheren Discovery and Atlantis.  After Columbia’s explosion in 2003, parts rained down across the plains of Texas, and some, but not all, of the parts were recovered.  However, those parts recovered just got a little more prominent.  A four-foot water and power tank from Columbia was discovered in Lake Nacogdoches in east Texas thanks to drought.

“It’s one of ours,” said Lisa Malone, a NASA spokeswoman.  The part will remain in Lake Nacogdoches until NASA can come up with a plan to remove it.  “We’re looking into whether we’ll send a team out or local authorities can.”

Until then, warns Sgt. Greg Sowell of the Nacogdoches Police Department, don’t mess with NASA’s property.  “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.”

The Columbia broke apart upon reentry on February 1, 2003.  NASA’s Space Shuttle fleet has since been retired.

Tags: Space Shuttle Columbia, Columbia disaster, Space Shuttle explosion, NASA, East Texas, Columbia debris found in east Texas, Lake Nacogdoches, Nacogdoches, Texas, Lisa Malone, Columbia, space shuttle disaster, pieces of exploded space shuttle found in Texas lake, Sgt. Greg Sowell, Nacogdoches Police Department

I’ve never had a problem eating food from a gas station.  Just two weeks ago, I ate a couple of hot dogs purchased from a gas station.  They were delicious.  That’s not the first time I’ve eaten gas station food, and I doubt it will be the last.  There’s nothing like a fun food novelty. […]

Commissioner Roger Goodell gathered 32 NFL owners for one big question.  One of the league’s most wanderlust-stricken franchises is looking to move again.  The Oakland-Los Angeles-Oakland Raiders, tired of gutting it out in a run-down stadium, were once again looking for greener pastures.  Only the Miami Dolphins refused to cooperate.  With a vote of 31-1, […]

In 2006, an injury to Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe opened the door for an undrafted free agent by the name of Tony Romo to take the helm of America’s Team and lead the Dallas Cowboys to an early playoff exit.  Bledsoe went from starter to afterthought in a season.  Now, the circle continues […]

For 89 years, Oscars has never had a major mistake.  The last few Oscars might have had a few flubs, but at least they never got the most important category of the night wrong.  Well, that’s now changed, all thanks to OG Bonnie and Clyde legends Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.  When Faye Dunaway called […]

Tom Brady has been wildly successful, if controversial.  He’s the first quarterback ever to win five Super Bowls and only the second player to do so after Charles Haley.  Unlike Haley, Brady won all his Super Bowls with the same team, the New England Patriots.  The only thing that seems to be able to stop […]

Ben Affleck, no matter what you might think of him, is a talented actor and director.  He’s got the goods, but he’s smart enough to know when he’s in over his head.  All along, since he took on the mantle of Batman, he’s had his eyes on writing, directing, and starring as the Caped Crusader. […]

In May, students for the for-profit American College of Education were running into some problems.  Their access to email accounts and course information was locked down by Google, who had disabled their accounts.  The reason why?  A fired IT worker for the American College of Education locked the school out of their Google cloud account. […]