How did personnel involved in the recovery effort describe the appearance of the debris scattered across the landscape?
Answer
Finding "shattered glass" across the landscape
The extreme violence of the breakup, characterized by immense aerodynamic heating and dynamic pressure at high speeds, meant that the shuttle disintegrated into countless small pieces. Personnel tasked with the grim recovery effort across East Texas and Louisiana noted this pulverized nature. They described the scene metaphorically as finding 'shattered glass' scattered across the terrain, emphasizing the scale of fragmentation and the difficulty in collecting wreckage that was both small and mixed with the natural environment.
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