AGENCY REDOING EARLY REVIEW THAT DISMISSED DAMAGE

bayarea ^ | 2/4/2003 | Martin Merzer, Phil Long and Sumana Chatterjee

[TLBSHOW]

CANAVERAL, Fla. - A nearly 2-foot-long chunk of debris that peeled off space shuttle Columbia's external fuel tank and struck the left wing during blastoff Jan. 16 is the most likely cause of the calamity that destroyed the shuttle and killed all seven astronauts, NASA officials said Monday.

[TLBSHOW]

``We want to know if we made any erroneous assumptions,'' Dittemore said. ``We want to know if we weren't conservative enough. We want to know if we made any mistakes.''

In an extraordinarily frank statement, he cast doubt on the NASA engineers' post-launch studies. ``When we wrote the report,'' Dittemore said, ``I'm not sure we knew what we were talking about.''

Although Dittemore said investigators had not ruled out any possible causes, it was clear that debris from the fuel tank was a central focus of their investigation.

[CWOJackson]

Today we pay tribute to seven brave people. These seven people were combat pilots, aeronautical engineers, scientists…astronauts. Many of them had been with the space program for years, for others this was the culmination of their dreams.

Within hours of this terrible disaster there were some on FR claiming that the disaster was the result of NASA’s incompetence, that the disaster was avoidable and that the cover up had already began. They have offered up memo’s, doctored photos and wild rumor as evidence.

In order to be true than we must also assume that the seven astronauts who died were fools or somehow duplicitous in their own deaths. Are we expected to believe that the knowledge of a few rumor mongers on the internet is greater then that of those who flew on Challenger?

Are we to believe that these seven astronauts were not aware of the foam problems on the shuttle program or the effects of budget cuts on the program? Are we to believe that they were foolish enough to fly a platform into space that was doomed from the beginning as some on FR claim?

If we accept their speculation then we must also assume that their fellow astronauts, walking the woodlands of east Texas looking for their remains, will not seek to discover the real cause of their deaths, but will work to cover up for NASA. Do you really believe this?

Is this what we’ve come to on FR? This doesn’t just smear NASA, it smears the seven brave people we honor today.

[xJones]

It doesn't look like NASA is trying to cover-up. At this point it would appear that no one guessed how severe the damage from the falling 2.67 pounds piece of insulation foam onto the left wing would be. This is all in hind-sight, one of those tragic things.

[BlackbirdSST]

Well, in light of NASA changing it's tune in mid chorus, wtf are people supposed to think? If they had studied the impact of "foam" on the wing, any 1st year Engineering student would have realized it hit the wing like a BRICK not a FEATHER. IT WAS INCOMPETENCE, IT WILL REMAIN INCOMPETENT, you know why? Because NO ONE will be held responsible. Isn't a Free Republic based in part on RESPONSIBILITY? From your barb's, I guess you believe everything your told, how does that parse with CONTRADICTION? As for the rest of your strawmen, the only smear going on here will be done totally by NASA themselves. Not to worry though, they get increased funding, for more of the same! Blackbird.

[CWOJackson]

You ask if Free Republic is based on RESPONSIBILITY, then say the most irresponsible things.

Do you actually believe that you and TBLSHOW know more then the astronauts themselves (and we're not talking about any NASA public relations office)?

Do you think that the seven who died were fools or duplicitous in their own deaths?

Do you think their comrades who are burying them today will cover up for NASA and have no interest in learning what caused the death of their friends?

Do you believe that there are astronauts who wouldn't go up in another shuttle tomorrow?

RESPONSIBILITY will come from them not from a hand full of government distrusting internet geeks quoting rumors and posting fake pictures.

[Fred Mertz]

``We want to know if we made any erroneous assumptions,'' Dittemore said. ``We want to know if we weren't conservative enough. We want to know if we made any mistakes.''

This is encouraging to hear.

[Fred Mertz]

A key to unlocking that mystery could lie in a few pieces of tile that may have landed in California or Nevada, or were ground to powder in the atmosphere. If they still exist, they may be the first pieces to fall off Columbia, and key pieces of evidence.

I hope they find these critical pieces of evidence.

[Wolfie]

NASA really should have a seperate "Closing the Barn Door After the Horse is Gone" department. And you're quite right, nobody will take a fall for this.

[MrConfettiMan]

I thought so too, Fred.

[MrConfettiMan]

He said the slab of insulating foam that struck the left wing was 20 inches long, 16 inches wide and 6 inches thick, considerably larger than previously suggested. It weighed 2.67 pounds, he said.

Ping. I thought you might find this article interesting.

[TLBSHOW]

bttt

[TLBSHOW]

``We want to know if we made any erroneous assumptions,'' Dittemore said. ``We want to know if we weren't conservative enough. We want to know if we made any mistakes.''

This is encouraging to hear.


That is all I want too. Truth about this.

[DoughtyOne]

Thank you for the ping. We fought like cats and dogs over the 2.67 pound claim yesterday. We'll see how this plays out.

[MrConfettiMan]

We meaning you and other freepers, not you and me. :)

[FNG]

The Challenger disater could have been easily prevented if the engineer's warnings were taken seriously. Those who overrode the engineers warnings were not held accountable. All we can do is hope this will be different.

[DoughtyOne]

I find that you have posted his about ten times across the forum. Evidently embarassing yourself on just one thread wasn't bad enough. Here's what I said to you on the other posts.

I'm just curious if you also think it's an insult to homicide, robbery, or assault victims when their family and friends exercise their God given talents to investigate who
carried out those crimes, when the police are unable to asertain who did it?  In this instance we have an agency that has two vested interests, full disclosure and the
welfare of the agency itself.  Why it would be an insult to the astronauts to make sure they weren't short-changed in the process, is beyond me.

I have seen the product of your logic before.  It's generally interesting, but seldom very sound.  Don't give up.

[CWOJackson]

Today we pay tribute to seven brave people. These seven people were combat pilots, aeronautical engineers, scientists…astronauts. Many of them had been with the space program for years, for others this was the culmination of their dreams.

Within hours of this terrible disaster there were some on FR claiming that the disaster was the result of NASA’s incompetence, that the disaster was avoidable and that the cover up had already began. They have offered up memo’s, doctored photos and wild rumor as evidence. In order to be true than we must also assume that the seven astronauts who died were fools or somehow duplicitous in their own deaths. Are we expected to believe that the knowledge of a few rumor mongers on the internet is greater then that of those who flew on Challenger?

Are we to believe that these seven astronauts were not aware of the foam problems on the shuttle program or the effects of budget cuts on the program? Are we to believe that they were foolish enough to fly a platform into space that was doomed from the beginning as some on FR claim?

If we accept their speculation then we must also assume that their fellow astronauts, walking the woodlands of east Texas looking for their remains, will not seek to discover the real cause of their deaths, but will work to cover up for NASA. Do you really believe this?

Is this what we’ve come to on FR? This doesn’t just smear NASA, it smears the seven brave people we honor today.

You find this embarassing? This is the product of your logic? I do feel sorry for you.

[TheDon]

"Ron Dittemore, the shuttle's program manager, said Monday that the engineers might have been wrong"

Seems like NASA management already has their scapegoat...

[TheDon]

"This doesn’t just smear NASA, it smears the seven brave people we honor today."

I disagree. I think it is your attitude which is smearing the crew. We must go where the evidence leads us, and not bury our heads in the sand so we don't "smear" NASA.

[CWOJackson]

I agree. We must go where the real evidence points us, not rush off to judgement based on fake photos, internet rantings and unsubstantiated press stories.