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[Rush] Limbaugh promoted false theory that EPA regulations banning Freon caused space shuttle Columbia disaster
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| Parent(s) |
Candidate
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| Contributor | ArmyDem |
| Last Edited | ArmyDem Aug 09, 2005 06:59pm |
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| Category | Commentary |
| News Date | Wednesday, August 10, 2005 12:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Nationally syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh repeated a debunked theory that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations banning Freon and other chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) caused the February 1, 2003, destruction of the space shuttle Columbia. An independent review board investigated the Columbia disaster and found that that the accident occurred because a piece of insulating foam broke off from the shuttle's external tank during flight, severely damaging the shuttle's ability to survive the heat of re-entry. The "theory" Limbaugh promoted is that the EPA regulations forced NASA to stop using Freon in the insulating foam, which weakened its ability to stay attached to the shuttle's external fuel tank. In fact, Freon was used to build the section of insulation foam that broke off from Columbia's external fuel tank; according to the review board's report, NASA stopped using Freon to make that section sometime in 2002, after Columbia's tank had already been built.
The United States and other countries have phased out Freon and similar CFCs because they break down the Earth's protective ozone layer over a prolonged period of time.
Limbaugh brought up this theory, which he said was "going around," after a caller complained about the EPA's regulation of ammonia. Limbaugh then attacked environmental regulations, and said that he was "inclined to believe" a rumor that the "banning of Freon actually caused ... the Columbia shuttle accident," claiming: "They had to use something else to cause the foam to bond to the fuel tank, and it was not nearly as good as Freon was."
But the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB), which reviewed the accident and issued a report detailing its physical and organizational causes, found that, on Columbia, the particular section that broke off had been built using Freon, before NASA stopped using it to make that part of the external tank's insulation. |
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