[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.

[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.

[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.

[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...

[mewzilla]

Could you check your FReep mail when you get a chance? (I left my asbestos unmentionables at the cleaners.)

[Xenalyte]

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."

Refreshingly straight talk, or unbelievable admission? What say y'all?