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The Shuttle's Achilles Heel: Ideology
TheFactIs.org ^ | Aug. 1, 2005 | Duncan Maxwell Anderson

Posted on 08/04/2005 6:26:28 PM PDT by SamuraiScot

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To: SamuraiScot

The shuttle will be visible over Japan ( where I be anyway ) at 5 a.m. Saturday morning . I plan on being outside to check it out ...The last space shuttle I saw was the Columbia passing over New Hampshire in 1995 ...We all know what eventually happened to it ...Perhaps I shouldn't look ?


21 posted on 08/04/2005 6:56:38 PM PDT by sushiman
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To: burzum

You are correct.


22 posted on 08/04/2005 6:56:52 PM PDT by Diva Betsy Ross (Code pink stinks!)
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To: burzum

Yeah, I knew that about the horizontal beams. I can swear I saw an asbestos explanation. Or it was someone speculating.

Anyway, asbestos isn't the boogy-man enviros make it out to be when used properly. It's the removal that will get you.


23 posted on 08/04/2005 7:00:18 PM PDT by Fledermaus (I wish those on the Left would just do us all a favor and take themselves out of their misery.)
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To: Swordmaker

Okay, I thought the second tower used it but when banned they were at a far lower level.

I guess I really need to watch those documentaries again befor making further comments.

Memory ain't what it used to be! lol


24 posted on 08/04/2005 7:01:31 PM PDT by Fledermaus (I wish those on the Left would just do us all a favor and take themselves out of their misery.)
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To: KevinDavis
Ping!


I thought you might want to see this..

Which by the way, is more of the same...:-))
25 posted on 08/04/2005 7:05:24 PM PDT by EsmeraldaA
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To: SamuraiScot

"For the sake of environmental "friendliness," NASA had stopped using Freon in the production of the tiles"


This story is BS. It wasn't freon used in the tiles, but freon used in the insulation of the liquid fuel tank. Enviromentalism may be to blame, but not regarding tiles


26 posted on 08/04/2005 7:08:03 PM PDT by Figment
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To: SamuraiScot

bump


27 posted on 08/04/2005 7:11:01 PM PDT by RippleFire ("It's a joke, son!")
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To: Paradox

"Therefore, this entire article is, um, Freon-free Fecal Matter"

Poorly written, but the ET has been noted to cause problems. It's strange that NASA refuses to address this issue. Instead the NASA "experts" tell us the Shuttle is safe to launch after 2.5 years and hundreds of millions of dollars in studies. Yet, almost immediately after the launch the shuttle was grounded again for the same problem NASA refuses to address.

Next time NASA loses people because of the foam... NASA will be the "Freon-free Fecal Matter".

Holtz
JeffersonRepublic.com


28 posted on 08/04/2005 7:13:28 PM PDT by JeffersonRepublic.com (Visit the Jefferson Republic for a conservative news portal.)
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To: SamuraiScot

http://corner.nationalreview.com/05_07_31_corner-archive.asp#072064

HIGH COLLINS [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
NASA guy writes in:

It sounds like the mission commander on this critical return to flight needs to stop making up politics from window gazing and should instead keep her mind on the mission. She's making it look like the commander of a shuttle that is currently being inspected and repaired in space has nothing better to do than give us sixth-grade bromides from low earth orbit. Which may be accurate, but isn't a flattering public image for her or for the human space flight program.


29 posted on 08/04/2005 7:17:07 PM PDT by spycatcher
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To: SamuraiScot
People I know at JSC LOVE Eileen Collins. I have a friend who has been training astronauts at JSC for 16 years and he says she is one of the finest people he has ever known.

I'm not sure exactly what she meant by what she said about "taking care of the Earth" but I'm positive about what I've heard people say about her.

30 posted on 08/04/2005 7:17:25 PM PDT by isthisnickcool (Get all the incumbents out of politics!)
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To: isthisnickcool

Perhaps she wanted to have a black-draped portrait with a legend under it "Take care of the Earth", if in the chance she doesn't make it back, G-d forbid. The statement sounds to me like the subconsciuos talking in subtle analogy or foreboding.


31 posted on 08/04/2005 7:21:57 PM PDT by bvw
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To: burzum

I would like to correct your understanding of fire insulation on steel structures. The fire insulation is sprayed on all structural steel members in a building to a 2 to 4 inch thickness. After the solvent evaporates, the structural steel frame is essentially encased in fireproofing. Asbestos is by far the best fireproofing material since it's a rock and it will withstand a welding torch (which melts steel)with ease. The newer materials are nowhere as good. The twin towers fell because the heat melted the steel structure and the the weight of the remaining building above it collapsed on it and started a chain reaction of failing structural steel like a house of cards. The probability is very high that the towers would have survived if the steel did not melt. The damage to the structural frame due to the aluminum airplane hitting it was relatively minor; compared to the damage caused by burning fuel. Asbestos spray-on fireproofing would have prevented that from happening.


32 posted on 08/04/2005 7:40:32 PM PDT by balticbeau
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To: isthisnickcool

"I'm not sure exactly what she meant by what she said about "taking care of the Earth" but I'm positive about what I've heard people say about her."

Im sure it means just that. And replace resources like trees after you cut them down to prevent the erosiions you can see from orbit. Taking care of our planet does not mean your Al Gore or an environmental nutter. Just use common sense. That is where the environmentalists wackos lose everyone, and when the attack the United States and republicans.
Earth is all we have as home for 6 billion humans for now. It is a precious oasis in the vast unimaginbly soul crushing vacuum of space. We do need to think about this stuff. Unfortunately just a simple remark brings up so many political implications these days.

digressing...

Im not surprsied the media botches NASA stories. Ive watched them botch them since 1981. Its not that hard to get the story right, they just do not take the time to understand the technology. I have come to expect it.


33 posted on 08/04/2005 7:45:22 PM PDT by Names Ash Housewares
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To: Paradox
"Sorry, but this guy is confused, there are thermal TILES on the orbiter, and there is foam insulation on the external tank. NOT the same thing. Therefore, this entire article is, um, Freon-free Fecal Matter."

An understandable error. He fails to understand that it is the change in foam formula that weakened the tank insullation, causing it to be prone to breakage, and that the resultant tumbling debris is the proximate cause of the tile problem.

34 posted on 08/04/2005 7:53:42 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (Atheist and Fool are synonyms; Evolution is where fools hide from the sunrise)
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To: SamuraiScot
But for some reason, NASA has not put Freon back into its tile formula,

There never was any Freon in the tiles. It was in the foam applied to the external tank. If you are going to call yourself TheFactIs.org, it would be nice to get the facts straight, don't 'cha think?

35 posted on 08/04/2005 7:59:10 PM PDT by El Gato
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To: buccaneer81
"The architects had designed for a Boeing 707 to collide with one tower. But not at 560 mph."

That's true, the 707s originally traveled at up to 700 MPH, but were slowed down by political correctness. They were also somewhat denser as projectiles, thus more capable of causing damage than current models.

36 posted on 08/04/2005 8:03:13 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (Atheist and Fool are synonyms; Evolution is where fools hide from the sunrise)
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To: balticbeau
After reading your comment I went and reviewed the NIST Executive Summary (Draft) (note: large PDF) for the WTC Collapse Incidents. One item that I noted:
The WTC towers would likely not have collapsed under the combined effects of aircraft impact and the extensive, multi-floor fires, if the fireproofing had not been dislodged or had been only minimally dislodged by aircraft impact.
It seems to me that you are right about the insulation, but wrong about the saving ability of asbestos. The investigators appear to have come to the conclusion that insulation provided would have saved the towers if it wasn't dislodged. I doubt asbestos insulation would have been less dislodged. In fact, the Draft Recommendations make no mention of replacing the insulation in buildings with asbestos nor can I find any mention of asbestos in the collapse document. So my conclusion that the inferno was the main cause of failure has to be slightly altered. The buildings probably wouldn't have collapsed due to the inferno alone, nor the airplane hit alone. Both the dislodging of insulation and the inferno were required.
37 posted on 08/04/2005 8:21:45 PM PDT by burzum
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To: Swordmaker
This guy has his facts a bit garbled but the basic thesis is sound

I know the issue he is trying to get at, but he mangles it so badly, that this essay is useless.

38 posted on 08/04/2005 8:24:28 PM PDT by Paradox (John Bolton: "How am I supposed to live without U(n)".)
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To: burzum

You have no clue as to the fireproofing of asbestos. You do not know what you are talking about because it seems you are to young to understand asbestos. The only thing wrong was people smoking and inhaling fibers.

Refer again to Balticbeau.


39 posted on 08/04/2005 8:52:43 PM PDT by cdubya
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To: cdubya
Yes, asbestos is fireproof. Doesn't do much good when it is dislodged as the NIST report states. The insulation put on the supports was for fireproofing (according to the NIST report). The NIST report does not claim that it combusted.

I have no clue of the fireproofing of asbestos? You are 180 degrees off. Working in geology (before I joined the Navy) and on Navy ships, I am very familiar with the properties and hazards of asbestos (in particular, steam pipe lagging). I also know that some of the artificial replacements are just as bad. This doesn't change my argument that if you dislodge the insulation (be it asbestos or a replacement), it does no good.

40 posted on 08/04/2005 9:13:19 PM PDT by burzum
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