[TLBSHOW]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/834673/posts?page=

[anniegetyourgun]

Sadly...even if true, there is almost nothing that could have been done once launched. I hope we can learn for the future.

[Timesink]

Jay Barbree emphasizes that there would still have been nothing that could have been done, even if the gash was that big, no matter how much of a ruckus would have been made.

[BureaucratusMaximus]

BREAKING: NBC News finds Jan 27 NASA Memo showing serious concern about tile damage!

Another prime example of big government working toward the benefit of us all.

Funded by the taxpayers of the United States of America.

[strela]

My question is: Was Columbia's crew told about this? Is it routine to tell orbiter crews about strikes on the outside of the vessel during launch? A careful review of all comms during the mission might be in order.

[July 4th]

Let's all remember it's easy to Monday morning quarterback. Could they have done something? Perhaps not, with their non-existent tile repair kit. "They knew," and "why didn't they fix it?" are not productive comments right now.

[OXENinFLA]

Is that the Wing? That doesn't look like a wing.

[JustPiper]

Were there not 2-3 delays, did the Columbia take off when it was suppose to?

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Apparent minor damage to the protective tiles on Columbia's left wing shouldn't affect the procedure for landing, entry flight director Leroy Cain said Friday. "All of the analysis says we have plenty of margin in that regard," he said.
Click here

This was from an article online before the disaster.

[ResistorSister]

Did anyone else see the FoxNews Channel report from a guy in Nevada that has video of the reentry...and there is something following the shuttle? I walked into the room at the very end of the report.

There are two bright lights in a dark sky...suddenly, the one that is following looks as if it suffers an explosion and then you can see a contrail. Did anyone else see the report who can explain it to me?

[szweig]

Yep...gash will get you into trouble every time.

[krodriguesdc]

if they knew, or even suspected, they should've informed the families instead of getting everyone there only to watch their loved ones die...

this would be inexcusable...

[Chancellor Palpatine]

.

[Centurion2000]

Seeing something like this and then knowing they tried to land it anyway ..... it's tragedy but this looks almost criminal.

[steve in DC]

My ongoing question is this:
If the tiles were damaged on take-off, and if the damage and its severity were known within moments of take-off, and if there were no in-flight method of repair to the damaged shuttle, would there have been a reasonable abort option during the take-off?

Or would there have necessarily been a boost to orbit and a reentry which was unsurvivable in any case?

[TLBSHOW]

NASA veteran warned of disaster

Feb. 2 — What NASA did and didn’t do is the question that has been worrying many space agency insiders since long before Saturday’s disaster. That growing chorus of concern has a loud voice in Houston. Don Nelson was at NASA for 36 years, part of the team for shuttle’s initial design and upgrades until he retired in 1999. His major concern has been that as the shuttle fleet aged, and the possibility of a disaster grew stronger, NASA still hadn’t designed a way for those aboard to safely escape. NBC’s Stone Phillips spoke to Nelson.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/867888.asp?0cv=CA01

[montag813]

Developing. Watch MSNBC for latest. Internal memo shows some engineers believe there was up to a 7 1/2-inch gash from the foam breakoff at launch. Memo was serious enough to go out to all NASA centers two days before disaster.

Aha! Despite all the bashing of me for DARING to question the sacred Mission Control, more and more evidence emerges of the sheer laziness and negligence of the NASA brass. Some people treat MC as the engineering Vatican, which can never be questioned. Nonsense. If it is truly found that negligence can be established then someone should do prison time for this, as should have the brass who KNEW about the Morton Thiakol warning about the Challenger "O" rings, and did nothing out of sheer arrogance.

[1Old Pro]

YOU ARE A REPORTER. What Question would you ask Sean O'Keefe about the shuttle tragedy-

[tubebender]

AsI said last night. It wiil be no surprise to me if NASA determines that this diaster was 16 days late.

[yonif]

I don't buy it that nothing could have been done. THey should at least tried other means and ways to get them back safe. Just like in Apollo 13, they tried and tried. They had at least a week. Simply sending them into Earth and crossing their fingers is a big no no.