[Eva]

The NASA official on Greta VonSustern's show said that this group of Astronauts had no training in this type of space walk and that it would have been impossible anyway without the mechanical arm to anchor them to the spacecraft.

[VRWC_minion]

I personally don't see what the training issue has to do with it. If exiting the spacecraft to repair something could have been a factor then I believe that their would have been seven volunteers who would have been more than happy to take step by step instructions from the ground.

The problem was that their was no clue that their was something critical that needed fixing.

[blackdog]

Obviously, decisions are made on mission profile, equipment, and assets based on a limited menu. Perhaps that is the 900 lb. gorilla we are wrestling? These experiments or these space suits......This animal test or this remote camera to scan the outer hull.......This extra crew member or ten more days of oxygen and supplies......

We are used to being prepared for anything in this country based on our technical ability. The thought of not having seatbelts if we want anti-lock braking, or no back seat if we want a trunk, or no air conditioning if we want a radio is the train of NASA reality. I did not realize that a program of thirty years still had such narrow parameters such as those that existed. Remember all that duct tape and baling twine off the cuff survival methods we used on that Soviet Space Station we were sharing with the soviets? I remember fires, computer failures, air supply failures, ice coating the interior, toilets not working, and we came, we saw, we conquered, and we survived.

I guess I realize that each new space launch poses a completely different table of variabilities. I guess I am learning a lot.

I know we loathe CNN here on FR, but I really do miss that guy John Halderman who passed away a few years back. A good guy who posessed a lot of knowledge as a reporter and he really loved explaining space missions to us. A big loss to us as well.