Drought Reveals Large Piece of Space Shuttle Columbia Debris at Bottom of Texas Lake

NYCAviation:

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Drought Reveals Large Piece of Space Shuttle Columbia Debris at Bottom of Texas Lake

New debris from NASA's Space Shuttle Columbia was found in Lake Nacogdoches in eastern Texas last week.
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I've been wondering why they made the tank round. Seems like a waste of space, but as my lady says "NASA doesn't waste space".

also interesting is that people don't see stuff like this and discard it as regular trash, that they remembered they were in the Columbia zone (which is a massive area).

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Originally Posted by Phil D.

I've been wondering why they made the tank round. Seems like a waste of space, but as my lady says "NASA doesn't waste space".

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For structural strength and weight - if it were rectangular, the edges/corners would have to be stronger (leading to a heavier structure) to hold the pressure inside it.

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Originally Posted by Phil D.

also interesting is that people don't see stuff like this and discard it as regular trash, that they remembered they were in the Columbia zone (which is a massive area).

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I'll bet some stuff has been thrown away, but other stuff has been kept as souvenirs or to auction off some day.