Text 3 This line of inquiry did not begin until earlier this month--more than three months after the accident--because there were "too many emotions, too many egos," said retired Adm. Harold Gehman, chairman of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. Testifying before the Senate Commerce Committee, Gehman said this part of his inquiry Was in its earliest stages, starting just 10 days ago. But Gehman said he already has concluded it is "inconceivable" that NASA would have been unable or unwilling to attempt a rescue for astronaut, s in orbit if senior shuttle managers and administrators had known there was fatal damage to Columbia’s left wing. Gehman told reporters after the hearing that answers to these important questions could have enormous impact, since they could place in a different context NASA’s decisions against more aggressively checking possible wing damage in the days before Columbia’s fatal return. Investigators believe breakaway insulating foam damaged part of Columbia’s wing Shortly after liftoff, allowing superheated air to penetrate the wing during its fiery re-entry on Feb. 1 and melt it from the inside. Among those decisions was the choice by NASA’s senior shuttle managers and administrators to reject offers of satellite images of possible damage to Columbia’s left wing before the accident. The subject dominated the early part of Wednesday’s hearing. Gehman complained that managers and administrators "missed signals" when they rejected those offers for images, a pointedly harsh assessment of the space agency’s inaction during the 16 day shuttle mission. "We will attempt to pin this issue down in our report, but there were a number of bureaucratic and administrative missed signals here," Gehman told senators. "We’re not quite so happy with the process." The investigative board already had recommended that NASA push for better coordination between the space agency and military offices in charge of satellites and telescopes. The U. S. National Imagery and Mapping Agency in March agreed to regularly capture detailed satellite images of space shuttles in orbit. Still, Gehman said it was unclear whether even images from America’s most sophisticated spy satellites might have detected on Columbia’s wing any damage, which Gehman said could have been as small as two inches square. The precise capabilities of such satellites was a sensitive topic during the Senate hearing. Gehman believed that had its administrators known the damage to Columbia, NASA would ______.

A. have managed the rescue of the astronauts orbiting the earth
B. still have been unable to conceive of any way to save the astronauts
C. have attempted to help the astronauts out of danger unwillingly
D. have succeeded in repairing the damaged left wing of the shuttle