NASA Press Conference LIVE THREAD

Fox, CNN, networks, NASA TV | February 2, 2003 | NASA

[Gracey]

Where did you work for NASA? I spent my career...Hq, JSC, MSFC, and the Cape during Apollo.

[The Great Satan]

Makes sense.

[snopercod]

Aw shucks...<scraping bare foot in the dirt> Thanks for that, it's appreciated more than you know.

[DoughtyOne]

He drops in every time Waco, Flight 800, or OKC are addressed. He knows less than anyone else discussing the issue in question and always takes the government's side. I've seen him pass off government reports for proof of one thing, upon closer inspection you find that the document is nothing but spin. Very bad spin. There is one instance I remember that was downright laughable, although I can't remember to specifics at the moment.

[sonofatpatcher2]

Re: Sleep? Have you not heard of JOLT COLA!

Last night I tried a 12 pack of Keystone Lite on an empty stomach and didn't even get sleepy. Went back on Dr. Pepper around 4 AM. I am getting a little giddy now, but no ZZZs in forecast.

[CedarDave]

Excellent thought. If that is true, I wonder if it came from that capsule that was thought to have gone into the lake on the TX/LA border?

[aristeides]

Except that the initial reports of finding a hand and an arm yesterday morning in San Augustine, TX -- as well as later CBS reports of four confirmed findings of body parts in East Texas -- seem to have been confirmed. Doesn't sound as if they were all in one place.

[Rifleman]

At that altitude and speed any damaged or misoperating control surface could cause loss of control. Aerodynamics gets weird at hypersonic speeds or so this nonexpert understands.

[_Jim]

When I worked in operations there, I tried to build some support for that kind of plan, but just got blank stares...

Where I learned a good part of my 'trade' they had a saying, a slogan: "DIRTFT". We called it "Dirty Feet". It stood for Do it right the first time.

Nice thought, but, sometimes you need a damn good back-up plan ...

[Republic of Texas]

" These guys were on their own in space. Their only option was to land. "

This fact seems lost on "Send Bruce Willis and his lovable misfits up to save them" crowd. Nonetheless, it is still an indisputable fact.

[snopercod]

I was an Orbiter Test Conductor [OTC] at the cape. Before that, the lead instrumentation engineer for Atlantis.

Now I'm just unemployed...

[Atlas Sneezed]

"Why not the other way around? Refraction."

Makes sense. Like the difference between trying to identify the sillhouette of a far aloft airplane from 10 feet under water, versus trying to identify from far aloft an airplane that rests under 10 feet of water.

[Trust but Verify]

Bingo. Best explanation of the day. Good job.

[mewzilla]

...sometimes you need a damn good back-up plan

A thought that seems to have been lost with these guys.

[Jael]

I'm not sure how that would work. The NASA guy who wrote the article says the tiles are very fragile. But if there was a problem, it probably could not of been fixed once they reached orbit. But if, as the Columbia re-entered, and IF the tiles started to peel, it MIGHT have shown up like they are saying the sensors went off. Not all at one time.

[Budge]

Like the difference between trying to identify the sillhouette of a far aloft airplane from 10 feet under water, versus trying to identify from far aloft an airplane that rests under 10 feet of water.

Exactly.

[fooman]

I thought Ron did a good job of putting some of the telemetry issues in laymen's terms.

If some of the extra data turns out to be valid that could shed further light on the order of sensor failure and may give further info on how the orbitor broke up.

[Jael]

I think they just got used to the foam blowing off, it happened time and time again.

I know they are experts, that's why I quoted the guy responsible for inspecting the Columbia. :-)

[snopercod]

ROFL!

[mewzilla]

Just out of curiosity, how do they know the tiles couldn't have been fixed in orbit. Have they ever run any experiments while they've been up there to find out?