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Why is that irrational? Bcause smokeyjon has confused his opinion of what is possible, so far stretched that opinion to become irrefutable facts -- that any rescue, resupply or repair was impossible, is not a fact, it is an opinion. His own opinion. Which he raises up as fact! Rational people have a much deeper regard for truth and fact, keeping them seperate.

I will ask each of you, one final time, for this: If you claim that I am being irrational, illogical, or am pushing opinion as fact, then prove it. Present a counter argument that lays out your case. Here are facts, core to my argument, that can be obtained by even the most rudimentary search on google:

1. It was 100% impossible for another spacecraft with the capacity to carry to entire Columbia crew to have been prepped and launced before Columbia's life support was exhausted. STS is the only spacecraft in existence that can carry that many people. Shuttles take months of prep before flight; rollout procedures from the VAB to the launch pad take 1 day; a full launch coundown itself is about 4 days. Columbia was at the end of normal mission plan, leaving about 4-5 days of life support. Even IF another could have been made ready, Columbia's docking mechanism was not installed for this mission, so the crew could not have been transferred safely between ships.

2. It was 100% impossible to repair any structural damage to the thermal tiles, or orbiter itself, whether NASA knew about it or not. Both require special tools and spare parts, neither of which are carried on the shuttle. Due to Columbia's science mission, EVA gear necessary for a spacewalk was not on board, and EVAs to the underside of the shuttle have NEVER been possible anyway.

3. It was 100% impossible for the shuttle to rendezvous and dock with the ISS. Columbia's mission placed her in a much, much lower orbit than the ISS, and in a completely DIFFERENT orbit. At no time before, during, or after launch did Columbia ever have enough fuel to make it to the ISS. Again, she also had no docking mechanism installed, as it was removed for this mission to make room for science payloads.

I will not repsond to anything further from either of you that does not scientifically and/or factually address these three items. It's fruitless attempting to debate someone who refuses to accept the basic truths associated with the topic at hand. If you don't believe me, look it up. It's what algore gave us the Internet for.

2. It was 100% impossible to repair any structural damage to the thermal tiles, or orbiter itself, whether NASA knew about it or not. Both require special tools and spare parts, neither of which are carried on the shuttle. Due to Columbia's science mission, EVA gear necessary for a spacewalk was not on board, and EVAs to the underside of the shuttle have NEVER been possible anyway.

To ensure the horse is dead, I am adding this to make sure you understand that my statement is correct:

"For example, it could be that the Gehman Board -- or perhaps members of Congress -- will dictate that NASA cannot resume flights unless the space agency has a foolproof way to inspect for tile damage in orbit and repair any tiles that could threaten the mission. While technically not impossible, it would require development of new hardware that could take months to produce and some extra amount of time to train the astronauts. It also could require that every future shuttle mission must go to the International Space Station (ISS) where such an inspection could easily be made."
Source: http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sts107_month_030301.html

Like I said before, understand that when dealing with manned spaceflight, there will be circumstances and emergencies in which there is no possible solution to save a crew. As of STS-107, thermal tile failure after launch is impossible to repair. If there was structual damage to the wing, or damage to tiles underneath the wing, nothing could have been done.

1. It was 100% impossible for another spacecraft with the capacity to carry to entire Columbia crew to have been prepped and launced before Columbia's life support was exhausted. That is 100% opinion. NASA didn't even bother to study rescue options. There was, in fact, a russian capsul already scheduled for launch. That launch time/trajectory could have been altered to allow the shuttle crew to grab it, and send back at least 3 or 4 of the crew inside. You don't know jack about the actual amount of time left, their rescue options, or anything else because NASA didn't even bother to study those options. STS is the only spacecraft in existence that can carry that many people. Who cares about taking the whole crew on ONE other vessel? So send up 2 or 3. Shuttles take months of prep before flight; No, they don't. A "safe" "by the book" shuttle launch does. NASA could do just about anything it wanted to if sacraficing those safeguards. And they could have done it on a vounteer basis, allowing anyone with the guts to do it to go up. You don't know what you are talking about, pure speculation/assumtion on your part. rollout procedures from the VAB to the launch pad take 1 day; a full launch coundown itself is about 4 days. Columbia was at the end of normal mission plan, leaving about 4-5 days of life support. Again, this is just "by the book" you are talking about. They could have figured something out. They are smart people with a lot of resources. And we aren't the ONLY people with a space program. THe Russians could have sent up more capsules. Even IF another could have been made ready, Columbia's docking mechanism was not installed for this mission, so the crew could not have been transferred safely between ships. Again, you have no idea what you are talking about. Every one of the crew had a space suit. If your choice was to die, or attempt a risk space walk to get to another capsule or ship, what would you do? 2. It was 100% impossible to repair any structural damage to the thermal tiles, or orbiter itself, whether NASA knew about it or not. Both require special tools and spare parts, neither of which are carried on the shuttle. Rampant speculation on your part. IF another capsule or shuttle had been sent up, with a bunch of tiles (which are all premade and could have been taken from other shuttles or parts warehouses) it could have at least been tried. And they could have even tried other options if they had been studied. Your quickness to discount ANY possible way to fix the problem betrays your real objective. YOu want to find a way to excuse the actions of NASA no matter what the intellectual cost. Due to Columbia's science mission, EVA gear necessary for a spacewalk was not on board, and EVAs to the underside of the shuttle have NEVER been possible anyway. You are 100% completely wrong. You do NOT need EVA gear to spacewalk. You need a spacesuit and a tether. You need EVA gear for the best-possible safest-possible spacewalk. Do you even read your own words? Think about it for a minute. What is a spacewalk? Its a man, in a spacesuit, floating in orbit. Hello? Do you realize how silly it sounds to say that a shuttle crew member could not have put on their space suit, tied a rope to their suit, and crawled over to the wing, looked underneath? Good greif. 3. It was 100% impossible for the shuttle to rendezvous and dock with the ISS. Columbia's mission placed her in a much, much lower orbit than the ISS, and in a completely DIFFERENT orbit. At no time before, during, or after launch did Columbia ever have enough fuel to make it to the ISS. Do you REALLY know this? Quote your source. And, NASA didn't even other to study this option. And what about the other obvious possibility (send up a rescure pod/shuttle/capsule) fit with the option to add fuel or use other means to move the shuttle to an orbit close enough to ISS to do a transfer? Again, she also had no docking mechanism installed, as it was removed for this mission to make room for science payloads. Just because something is in the official procedure book does not mean it's necessary. It means its IDEAL. There's a huge difference. The problem is that NASA didn't even bother to study the options. And when someone like you tries to justify their failure by saying "there was nothing they could do" you just embarass yourself, and shame the memory of those dead heroes.