Searchers find aluminum in Nev.; unclear if pieces from shuttle

LAS VEGAS -- Volunteers looking for a large piece of space shuttle Columbia's landing gear found several small scraps of aluminum in a remote part of Nevada on Saturday, but it was not immediately clear whether they belonged to the doomed spacecraft.

"They've found several pieces of material they suspect may be from the shuttle," said Col. Matt Wallace, commander of the Nevada Wing Civil Air Patrol. He said the pieces were several inches long each and looked like aluminum foil.

Ken Dixon, search and rescue commander for the Lincoln County sheriff's office, said the debris had been digitally photographed and sent to NASA experts to determine its origin.

"We are hopeful," he said. "I can say it looks promising, but I can't say for sure."

Eileen Hawley, a NASA spokeswoman in Houston, confirmed searchers recovered five pieces that need to be examined. "We are really not sure what this might be," she said. "We need to take a closer look. It's not obvious it has anything to do with Columbia."

If the pieces are from Columbia, they would be by far the westernmost bits of debris recovered from the shuttle, which broke apart Feb. 1.

People have combed vast areas in southern and western portions of the United States, but an area near Lubbock, Texas -- some 750 miles southeast of the Nevada search site -- is the farthest west confirmed debris has been found.

The Nevada search of about 30 square miles near Panaca, about 170 miles north of Las Vegas, began Friday and was expected to conclude Monday.

A NASA official told searchers that the hilly desert and knee-high sagebrush near the Nevada-Utah state line may contain a six-foot chunk of landing gear, said Bob Williams, a Lincoln County sheriff's volunteer.

Finding the landing gear could give NASA investigators important clues about why the shuttle broke apart. The board investigating the accident has determined Columbia almost certainly suffered a breach along its wing and possibly its wheel compartment.