Corona688

This is true. It can be done better than NASA... unfortunately, it isn't. They're the best we've got.

And now, for my rant on this touchy subject:

Yeah, we could give up space, and the public at large wouldn't really care, as far as I can tell... but the MANNED space program serves a valuable function that an unmanned space program never can: It makes it REAL to us. No matter how many robots we send to Mars, it won't get people to care about it as much as if a living breathing human did and returned to tell about it. And I don't think that's right. The universe isn't some random piece of trivia, to be investigated, put in an encyclopaedia, and shelved; it is REAL, and it's out there. And an apallingly large amount of people don't know this, and even more don't care.

abe smith

Yeh, I hear your benign sarcasm, FB. I am aware that many folks (perhaps mostly "males") do not share my priorities.

And/but if some persons turn-on to astronomy, space exploration & All-That, let them do as Galileo did (and as other aficionaditi of other sorts of personal affections do): spend their OWN money to indulge their hobbies. (As for example, GWBUSH might go out to eliminate his well-beloved personal enemies = Hussein & Co, and do it himself w/ his OWN money.
After all if Bush is such a hero, let him heroize & carry the colors hissself.) Lindberg, for example & *the Spirit of Saint Louis*.

My own bias is that there are more important + eh "moral" ways to spend money than those my currently-illegitimate Government loves best.

Or Space explorers could persuade commercial sponsors to buy advertising as sports teams do....

If you like,Friar B., you can quote to me some-folks's Divine Lord = "The poor you have always with you." un-huh. Abe




Fortunately the Cosmos's speedy expansion is probably going to outrun & outdistance our silly efforts.... "Put another Billion
in..."
" But what if European monarchs had done that to Columbus et al?" Yeh; tell me about "Isabella the Catholic' .... Abe

Friar Bellows

My sarcasm is always benign, abe smith. There is no stab behind my smile.

Giorgia

I've been hearing in the news that there were reports issued during the flight about foam debris hitting the shuttle at lift off.

My question for those of you who are knowledgeable about these missions: would it not have been prudent/possible to send an astronaut outside to make a visual inspection of the affected wing?

Fisheye

This was one of the first questions asked after the accident. From what I remember, the answer is no.

1. It would be extremely dangerous to make a space walk to the underside of the orbiter;
2. Even if they could, there is no way to repair any damage to the tiles;
3. There's no repair kit because NASA concluded that making the trip down and trying to repair the tiles would likely result in more damage than was already there.

Starboy

I don't consider that to me much of an excuse. They may not have been able to repair the damage, but if they knew it was there they could have waited for the next orbiter. They might be alive now.

Starboy

nogods4me

Waited where for the next orbiter? IIRC they did not have the proper equipment on board to dock with the ISS. How long could they have simply orbited the earth waiting? Did they even have an EVA kit on board? How long would it have taken to gen an orbiter ready to go? Wouldn't rushing a launch for the 2nd orbiter put 2 crews at risk instead of one.

Shadowy Man

This is not feasible at all. Basically, NASA would have to have decided, somehow, that whatever damage happened on launch would result in catastrophic failure on re-entry, and thus a re-entry would not be attempted. Then, they'd have to launch another Shuttle, hoping that one did not suffer the same damage, into the same orbit, with some kind of special tools to get the astronauts out of the first Shuttle, which did not have an EVA kit on board, and then bring all of those astronauts back....

Not bloody likely.

Hindsight is 20/20 indeed...

Giorgia

Thank you for sharing your insights and giving me the digest version of what's been going on!

I did not know that EVA suits were not on board each mission. Rather seems like going on a road trip without a jack in the trunk.




I apologize for being naive, but it really bothers me that no effort seems to have been made to even try to avoid a possible crash.

So, let me ask another dumb question: couldn't they have flown Columbia to the space station, had that crew check for damage, and waited there for a rescue?

Asha'man

Nope, impossible.

They didn't have enough fuel.

To carry enough fuel to make an emergency bail-out to the ISS, the shuttle would become nothing but a flying gas can, and you would have to leave behind a few items: crew, cargo, science.

Think about launching with an extra external fuel tank. That is about how much fuel it would take to accomplish such a radical orbital change.