Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Maverick · 02-24-2003, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Giorgia

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?

Hi Giorgia,

I asked similar questions in another thread.

Here is an article I found that covered the question a bit.

No matter what the investigations show, there are no apparent credible crew survival options for the failure Columbia experienced. With the ISS out of reach in a far different orbit, there were no credible rescue options even if wing damage had been apparent before reentry--which it was not.

If, in the midst of its 16-day flight, wing damage had been found to be dire, the only potential--but still unlikely--option would have been the formulation over several days by Mission Control of a profile that could have, perhaps, reduced heating on the damaged wing at the expense of the other wing for an unguided reentry, with scant hope the vehicle would remain controllable to about 40,000 ft., allowing for crew bailout over an ocean.

Shadowy Man · 02-24-2003, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Giorgia

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.

Well, imagine being on a road trip where you were constantly on the highway driving at 250 MPH. You blow a hole in your exhaust system, but you are still driving on the highway at 250 MPH. You need to crawl out the window in the buffeting wind, and somehow manage to crawl under the the car, and try to repair the exhaust system.

There is a repair truck on another highway moving at 350 MPH in a different direction from your highway and the next intersection is out of the range of your vehicle.

People seem to forget how difficult manned space travel is. What's really amazing is how few people have actually died in the endeavour.

Starboy · 02-24-2003, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 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.

er, they have the same problem now. There are people in orbit that have to get down, but at least they are alive.

Starboy

Starboy · 02-24-2003, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 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...

I guess it depends on how visible the damage was. If they went for an EVA and saw a big gapping hole in the shield that would have settled all doubts. But if they didn't see anything major then it would still be a toss of the coin. You are right to ignore things you can't do anything about, but if you suspected something was wrong and you could at least check it out, it would be foolhardy not to.

Starboy

Shadowy Man · 02-24-2003, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Starboy
I guess it depends on how visible the damage was. If they went for an EVA and saw a big gapping hole in the shield that would have settled all doubts. But if they didn't see anything major then it would still be a toss of the coin.

I think something seriously wrong would have shown up on the spy satellite photos they take of the Shuttle.

Giorgia · 02-26-2003, 12:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Maverick
Hi Giorgia,

I asked similar questions in another thread.

Here is an article I found that covered the question a bit.

Maverick -- thank you very much!

I had started reading that thread the day after the tragedy, and thought it contained mostly speculation and hand-ringing. I did not know that the thread had evolved into a discussion of possible/impossible rescue scenarios.

I really appreciate all of the thoughtful answers here and there. You guys are the best!

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