Dwayne Powell Cartoon on the Columbia explosion (classless)

News & Observer (Raleigh,NC) ^ | Feb 4, 2003 | DWANE POWELL

[smith288]

I dont find it overly offensive. Its holding NASA responsible for either ignoring the debris or downplaying its importance.

The fact remains, in all reality, not a whole lot could have been done but pray to God the shuttle made it through the atmoshphere.

[chatham]

It appears right on the mark.
What I find offensive is that they don't have a backup plan for rescue in the event of an emergency.
If the photo of the damage to the wing was reviewed and the damage found dangerous to the success of the mission and the evident safety of the astronauts and there is no way to send help they should not have been sent.
A whole lot of administrative people should be fried.
They state they can't help the people in the space lab for a couple of months.
NASA seems to have more than it's fair share of Arrogance.

[robertpaulsen]

"A whole lot of administrative people should be fried."

Freudian slip?

[Fitzcarraldo]

Result of eight years of Clintonism.

[AmericanInTokyo]

asshole cartoonist. shame on 'it'

[apillar]

I don't know about classless...

I understand the cartoonists feelings every time I hear an engineer or NASA official get on TV and say even if they would have known on the first day of the mission that the shuttle couldn't reenter the atmosphere (which I don't think they did, contrary to some of the conspiracy theorys) there was absoloutely nothing they could have done but ask the crew to decide if they would rather burn up in the atmosphere or freeze / starve / asphixiate in space.

I can just picture the movie "Apollo 13" when ground control gets news on the magnitude of the ships condition and their scenarios show it is not a surviveable situation. They all get up, say "Well, Their dead!" shut off the lights in mission control and start to leave a-la William Shatner in Airplane II.

[Deguello]

The Space Station always has a emergency capsule docked for a quick exit. Note also that the Space Station has just docked with an unmanned re-supply craft.

[Fitzcarraldo]

Perhaps some will draw a comparison to Apollo 1, where astronauts burned up in a capsule filled with high pressure oxygen and flammable materials, but that is not even apt.

As long as Columbia was in orbit, conditions were fairly benign, the only constraint being consumables.

[the_doc]

But you should find it offensive. Think a little harder.

[chatham]

No , Fried is what i wrote and fried is what I meant.

[chatham]

That info makes a bigger arguement to indict the administration of NASA.

[Fitzcarraldo]

[Zaxis]

How tenable would it be for the shuttle to carry an emergency re-entry capsule on board for just this type scenario ?

[the_doc]

See #2 again.

The cartoonist is rushing to judgment. So are many FReepers.

[Deguello]

I don't have any idea of what the Shuttle is/was capable of BUT the Feds are letting on that the passenger cabin was a separate unit from the rest of the Shuttle AND that they are looking for fallen explosive bolts.

Explosive bolts are for very emergency purposes. Also, if one looks back at the 1986 explosion upon launch it will be noted that a section of the Shuttle separated from the main body with a rocket reminisce of the Apollo launches with their emergency rocket on top of the capsule.

[CyberAnt]

Did you ever see Apollo 13 ...??

During that movie, it accurately shows what dedication and perseverance the NASA people have. It was because of these pioneer minded people that they found ways around and over the problems of Apollo 13 and finally brought the ship home safe.

I firmly believe with all my heart that any NASA person would have done anything possible to have brought these people back safely. Yes, the astronauts know they are strapping themselves to a rocket in the hopes it will not become a bomb - but they know that in reality that is exactly what they're doing.

[Denver Ditdat]

During that movie, it accurately shows what dedication and perseverance the NASA people have. It was because of these pioneer minded people that they found ways around and over the problems of Apollo 13 and finally brought the ship home safe.

Fortunately for the Apollo 13 crew, the explosion occured before the lunar landing. Had it happened after the LM had been jettisoned, Haise, Lovell, and Swigert would be up there still.

Sometimes, there really is nothing that can be done.

[Aaron_A]

You want 'classless'? Here's Al Jazeera.

[anymouse]

Imagine that you are traveling at 8,000 mph+ transversing from a cold vacuum to slicing through the upper atmosphere where the drag friction of the thin air is heating up the outside to 3000+ degrees F. The quartz (foamed rock) ceramic tiles are glowing white hot. The thin air directly around the shuttle turns to a electrically charged plasma as it interfaces with the shuttle tile surfaces. And you want to jump out in a split second into that?

The shuttle is designed specifically to be an optimum way to keep itself and the crew and contents safe in a very hostile environment. There was no time for the Columbia crew to react or anything significant that they could have done differently. they didn't even have time to call down to say that they had a problem.