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Hundreds of piece of debris from the space shuttle Columbia have been gathered from the crash site and transferred to Florida

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In a special hangar at the Kennedy Space Center technicians then sort the debris according to type

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Every piece has to be assessed and correctly identified

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A life-sized outline of the shuttle has been mapped out, covering the floor of the hangar

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Technicians then lift the pieces into position

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As each new piece of debris is put in place the giant jigsaw starts to take shape and a picture begins to emerge

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But it is a painstaking task for the experts, who have to rely on computers to aid their analysis

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It is a task which is expected to take many months