With the Columbia accident investigation largely complete, workers at the Kennedy Space Center have begun packing up the 84,000 pieces of debris from the disaster. Unlike the debris from Challenger, which was packed away into two abandoned missile silos after the 1986 disaster, the material from Columbia will probably be made available for research. It may also show up in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, but NASA hasn’t decided if it’s appropriate or not. Officials expect to have the hanger clear of debris by the end of September.
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