Did NASA know there was a problem? PIC and Excerpts from an Israeli Article

Maariv ^

[yonif]

The left wing of the shuttle picture taken from the window of the shuttle.

Main Issue in the Article

Did Nasa know about this and therefore kept their silence, not telling the astronauts?

-The photo was revealed on Channel 1 of Israel. This pic was taken during an interview the Channel had with the Israeli astronaut.

[Tennessee_Bob]

Anyone know what that stove pipe sticking up there is?

[Blood of Tyrants]

Are they suggesting that NASA either didn't see this or that they ignored it? Impossible. I am sure that NASA did everything possible to determine if this was enough damage to be a problem.

[TheDon]

Did Nasa know about this and therefore kept their silence, not telling the astronauts?

From Dittemore's (sp) statements alone one can infer that to be the case.

Are these the type of threads that keep getting yanked?

[Mike Darancette]

BUMP

[yonif]

I read some more and it says that one of the leaders of the Israeli Space Agency says that the Crew aboard the Columbia was not informed of the problems, and given a chance to look at the wing with their own eyes as a result. They were told of problems only a few minutes before entering the atmosphere.

[First_Salute]

Bump.

[Lady Jag]

Thanks for the post. Indexing for later.

[John H K]

A. That doesn't look like a wing

B. The circled items look like they're scratches/debris on the inside or outside of window GLASS, not on the outside of the orbiter.

[lexington minuteman 1775]

Looks like a chimney sweeps top hat... I suspect mary poppins is to blame.Just a little tension breaking humor here.come on don't flame me.

[MatthewViti]

I think you need glasses.

[Tennessee_Bob]

They were out flying kites...up where the air is clear...

[John H K]

The wings of the Space shuttle don't have protruding cylindrical objects on them.

[error99]

sui-ping

[yonif]

More Points from the Article

1. Nasa Did not make any effort to investigate the outside of the ship for serious damage, even after seeing that panel fall on the wing. They could have used a telescope or a spy satellite to do so.

2. Therefore the shuttle could have flown to the space station and waited there for another shuttle

3. Repeat that the Columbia crew was not told of the problems, so they had no chance to investigate or try to fix them (A BIG THING)

4. Correction: The pic is a still photo from the press conference Israel had where the Prime Minister Sharon had a talk with the Israeli astronaut. This photo was revealed on Israel Television the other day.

[JudyB1938]

It's one way to post ignorant things; it's another to post an article with info of genuine concern.

It could be that the people involved had on blinders and didn't take what they saw seriously. If that is the case, procedures need to be examined to preclude future incidents of this nature. If it's not the case, then the public needs to be reassured. People are talking, and people are wondering. Keeping them in dark is not the best way to go.

[org.whodat]

Would someone tell me where the window is located, so that you can take a picture of the wing. I don't think that such a window was there.

[Future Snake Eater]

Ok, I'll say it...

What did NASA know, and when did he know it?

[TruthNtegrity]

I congratulate you on your optimism but I do not share it. If it couldn't be fixed by the crew, I can only wonder why they didn't send them to the space station until they could send another shuttle up to get them. Maybe they didn't have the fuel to get themselves into an orbit to link up, but I am more and more concerned by the photos of the damage from the foam hitting the left wing on takeoff, and the fact that the high temperature readings were from that left wing, the last transmission between Houston and the shuttle crew.

It has also been stated, over and over again, that if the heat-preventing tiles on the wing were damaged, there was no way to repair them. Extra-vehicular jaunts are usually always in the cargo bay, not under the shuttle where they can't be seen and where it just isn't safe for them to go.

Besides, they don't carry tiles to replace any lost, because every tile is specific to it's placement. But, if the tiles "zippered", one was knocked off, and then as the heat built up on re-entry, the next one, and then the next one, and so on, were removed, then the skin of the shuttle was being exposed to 3000 degrees of heat.

If there was no way for them to repair the damage, and no way for the shuttle to get to the space station, did the guys on the ground just "hope for the best" and let them come home, not really knowing if they could make it?

Did anyone do a "worst case analysis"? If you remember the movie "Apollo 13", while the crew was fighting to stay alive, the engineers on the ground were experimenting with every possible alternative, while working on a back up to that, in case even that failed. Backup to backup - as many alternatives, provided a way to get the crew home. Did they do the same for the Columbia crew? Not that I've heard.

Just for the record. I mention the movie "Apollo 13" as a reference, but I am an engineer who worked for Grumman on NASA projects, among them the LEM. Products I worked on were required to have Maintainability and Reliability numbers NINE digits to the right of the decimal point - meaning they just weren't going to fail. Less than .999999999, and a backup or two was required. There is no backup to a lost tile. It is the most vulnerable part of the shuttle.

[Jerry505]

Actually, with regards to the Shuttle being able to go to the Space Station and wait it out till another Shuttle could be sent up...it wouldn't have done them any good. This wasn't a ISS tasked mission. The Columbia wasn't equipped with the docking system that is needed to dock with ISS. Great idea, but unfortunately it wouldn't have helped.