[spectre]

Heard a report yesterday, ONLY once, but it's worth repeating.

The report said that the Astronauts could NOT have done a space-walk, because they weren't trained to do so, and it wasn't that type of a mission.

But here's the important part. Person said that the outside of the Shuttle was smooth, with no handles for the Astronaut to hold on to while trying to make a repair. I was under the impression he was referring to the "Tile Area". The handles on the outside of the shuttle were expensive to install it's not "cost effective". IOW's they USED to have handles, so the Astronauts wouldn't float off into orbit.

Anyone else care to comment on this? And please, forgive my ignorance on this subject...if I didn't state this in a more cognizant way.

sw

[Mamzelle]

I have also read there were no EVA suits on board. Since it costs $20K per pound to transport cargo by Shuttle (Russians spend about $5K), every ounce counts, so they wouldn't have left EVA suits laying around just in case, given how precious is the real estate.

[Dave S]

Person said that the outside of the Shuttle was smooth, with no handles for the Astronaut to hold on to while trying to make a repair. I was under the impression he was referring to the "Tile Area". The handles on the outside of the shuttle were expensive to install it's not "cost effective". IOW's they USED to have handles, so the Astronauts wouldn't float off into orbit.

There are no handles and I doubt there ever were. On a ship that is traveling at speeds of mach 18 or greater you dont want something that is not aerodymanically smooth sticking out. It will cause drag and thus more HEAT.

[oldcomputerguy]

Space walks are often or only done with the robot arm
as a tether. The robot arm was not installed for this flight.