NASA Press Conference Thread

[Bronco_Buster_FweetHyagh]

steveegg writes
"""Once a shuttle enters the orbit that it did, can it still reach the International Space Station?"""

I don't know the answer. I suppose it depends on how far into orbital descent the decision is made.

"""If it can, how many Soyuz capsules are on there (if the answer is less than 4, who do you leave behind?)?"""

Who cares? The space station has MONTHS worth of supplies. And it only has ONE capsule on it.

"""If it can't, how long does it take to get a semi-warm shuttle launched (hint; Atlantis was due for a March 1 launch)?"""

Who knows what Nasa could really do if it wanted to get it done? There are also numerous possible ways to get things into orbit, not just shuttles.

"""If that shuttle can be launched in time, how do you get at least 9 people into a shuttle that seats 7?"""

Um the point of bringing the new shuttle would be to repair the other shuttle. Or, just to bring a ton of supplies to the space station so people could stay up until more return trips could be arranged.

"""Where are the replacement tiles supposed to be stored?"""

In the cargo bay of the new shuttle.

"""How is the crew going to heat the adhesive to get these replacement tiles to stick?"""

Heating torches.

---

I think you are missing the point. NASA knew that the wing had been POTENTIALY damaged during launch. They didn't even bother to go outside the ship to go look at it? That's ridiculous.

[theFIRMbss]

>...both English and Metric systems in the design and planning of the mission?

I've put up Feynman's
official Challenger notes
in a long post here:

Personal observations on the reliability of the Shuttle (by Richard P. Feynman)

[snopercod]

FOX: Human remains found.

[Terriergal]

Ugh.... that is *so* sad.

[_Jim]

They didn't even bother to go outside the ship to go look at it?

No remote manip arm on this flight ...

(It would be nice if we all knew what this crew was *trained* for and outfitted with before we all propose what NASA *could* have done ...)

[FITZ]

What's the current state of your car?

If I was taking it to outer space, I'd certainly have all those things checked.

[Bronco_Buster_FweetHyagh]

You don't need an arm to put on the space suit, and the space-walk backpack and tether.

The arm is simply for making out-of-bay repairs and accessing other objects, etc.

Astronaut + Spacesuit + Tether rope = spacewalk.

Sorry, I'm not buying it.

[Terriergal]

"We do not have the technical ability to repair tiles. This mission did not have the space arm, nor do we have the technical ability to walk outside the shit and repair tiles."

THAT WAS NOT THE QUESTION. The question was, did Nasa consider a space-walk TO EXAMINE THE LEFT WING. His answer did not directly address the question.

The answer in case you didn't get the implication sure seems to me to be "YES but we were not equipped."

[Terriergal]

"We do not have the technical ability to repair tiles. This mission did not have the space arm, nor do we have the technical ability to walk outside the shit

And just how did you make that typo? P isn't anywhere NEAR T on the keyboard. Not even on a Dvorak keyboard.

[Bronco_Buster_FweetHyagh]

Terriergal writes
"""The answer in case you didn't get the implication sure seems to me to be "YES but we were not equipped."""

I didn't get that feeling from his responses. It sounds to me like they stopped short of getting actual VISUAL confirmation of their theorizing that the launch problem didn't cause damage.

Why on earth wouldn't they get visual confirmation?

[FITZ]

The condition of my car is far less concern than the speed demons, cut offs etc., I face everytime

I wonder if a meteor could have hit the shuttle ---sometime during the night I saw a pretty large one come down and I almost was going to go outside to see if there were more.

[Terriergal]

Dunno... but if there was nothing to be done about it...?

[snopercod]

The Columbia was too heavy (being the first shuttle and structurally overbuilt) to reach the ISS, and did not have the docking equipment regardless.

God rest The Penguin.

[Bronco_Buster_FweetHyagh]

I'd love to know why my first post #129 was removed? Amazing censorship policy here?

[Cboldt]

I think you are missing the point. NASA knew that the wing had been POTENTIALLY damaged during launch. They didn't even bother to go outside the ship to go look at it? That's ridiculous.

The wings are potentially damaged at each launch (seagulls, ice from launch tank, insulation has come off launch tank at least once before, and directly on-point, analysis of damage after landing reached conclusion that magnitude of damage from insulation fall-off posed no risk of serious consequence); so the event that would trigger special examination is not POTENTIAL damage. Your tires are potentially damaged each time you drive, and failure of a tire can result in death; do you check you tires each time after you drive?

Your position might be correct, but you need to add some particulars to your argument. POTENTIAL damage is a bit vague; but we can agree that the consequences are possible death (as with damaged tires).

[_Jim]

Yes you do.

And this crew wasn't trained in that type of task/endeavor ...

I can see you are a simpleton, understanding nothing.

Good bye.

[Terriergal]

Sorry, I'm not buying it.

Better put your tinfoil hat on!

I already have mine - it wouldn't take much sabotage work to have this happen. I'd imagine the tolerances are pretty tight. Cyrano (husband) here theorizes something as simple as loosening a screw a couple turns could conceiveably cause trouble. Just screw something up on a system that takes a lot of stress coming back in, and that would be that.

And if you planted some kind of explosive (which would probably be traceable eventually) you could trigger it by radio frequency whenever you wanted to.

just thinking out loud... I don't have any leanings one way or another, but sabotage isn't something that would surprise me at all.

[FITZ]

I didn't see that post.

[Bronco_Buster_FweetHyagh]

Jim writes
"I can see you are a simpleton, understanding nothing."

Um, you are dead wrong on your facts. You do NOT need the robotic arm assembly just to walk outside the ship. Dead wrong.

You need a space-suit, and a tether. The jet-backpack helps, but isn't mandatory.

[Just mythoughts]

You are gifted!

"sometime during night I saw a pretty large one come down", then almost need to go outside to see if there were more