January 30, 1986

The Shuttle Inquiry Officials began a broad inquiry in an effort to determine the cause of the explosion of the shuttle Challenger, history's worst space disaster. Ships, planes and helicopters searching a 50-by-100-mile rectangle of the Atlantic Ocean recovered hundreds of pounds of debris that might hold clues to the accident Tuesday that killed seven astronauts. [ Page A1, Columns 3-6. ] Searchers brought back 600 pounds of debris from the shuttle. A Coast Guard cutter's commanding officer, Lieut. (j.g.) John Philbin, described a calm, sunlit sea littered for miles with fragments of the shuttle and its rockets and fuel tanks. [ A15:1-2. ]

Child health experts expressed concern yesterday about the psychological impact that the televised death of Christa McAuliffe will have on the nation's schoolchildren, who were primed to see a teacher's triumph in space but instead witnessed a mind-searing disaster. The experts were concerned that some children might experience exaggerated fears, nightmares, inability to concentrate and general anxiety about their own parents or teachers or their own safety. Many child psychologists around the country are advising parents and teachers to talk openly about the disaster to give children the chance to vent feelings that could fester, causing emotional stress. Their concerns were shared by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which is drawing up plans to bring psychological support to the nation's children through television and other means. This afternoon the educational affairs division of the space agency will convene to consider what steps to take, including the selection of specialists on children to guide the agency in measures to help repair the emotional strains they fear many children could suffer.

Everything seems to peak at Yves Saint Laurent's shows: the crowds, the excitement, even the fashions. His heart seems to be in his couture collections, as he thinks through the impression he wants to make and leaves little to chance. It is 10 years since his rich peasant collection put couture back in the fashion race -ready-to-wear had been gaining ground so rapidly it seemed that custom-made clothes were heading for the dust heaps of fashion. Even women who could afford made-to-order styles found it amusing to buy their clothes ready-made.

TWELVE-YEAR-OLD Alison Castle has parents who are clever with their hands. Using her ideas, her father, the eminent American furniture maker Wendell Castle, created the post-modern four-poster bed in her room - each of its ash and plastic laminate posts with a pyramidal top functions as a tall cabinet. Her mother, the clay artist Nancy Jurs, reinvented one of the Cabbage Patch dolls that lie at the head of the bed by dressing it in a kimono and giving it blue-black hair with bangs. Mr. Castle and Miss Jurs are artists who have furnished their house in Scottsville, N.Y., near Rochester largely by drawing on their own creations and creativity. Both are noted for work in crafts; she works primarily in ceramics, and he in wood. In the 1960's he first became widely known for his massive, organically shaped and sculptured furniture.

The Justice Department is completing a lengthy investigation into Geraldine A. Ferraro's finances and currently has no plans to prosecute her, Federal law-enforcement officials said yesterday. Mrs. Ferraro, who was interviewed earlier this month by the department, has said that the outcome of the investigation would not alter her decision to pass up a race for the United States Senate this year. One law-enforcement official knowledgeable about the case said it was ''pretty clear'' that the former Vice-Presidential candidate would be cleared of allegations involving improper campaign financing, although the official noted that leads were still being followed in the case. He cautioned that information might still be uncovered that could lead to prosecution.