[SwimmingUpstream]

Dear SteveH,

[SteveH]Considering they had no way to fix tiles in space, and second, and additional weight of spacewalk equipment degraded their ability to do their chartered mission, there would have been little point to a spacewalk and considerable downside negative publicity of finding and confirming a problem out there that could not be addressed.

You seem informed, are you involved in the space program? I ask because this last paragraph of yours is an excellent example of a very dangerous culture within NASA.

The inability to repair tile damage weighs not at all in the question. If it did, then there was no point in doing any of the engineering analysis -- for there was NOTHING to be done... which is what you state in your closing words. But, of course, NASA never has suggested that there was NO OPTION to the fatal re-entry option, for there were some known options -- and perhaps others may have come to someone's imagination had NASA been aware of significant damage to the thermal protection system.

As for the weight of the EVA equipment degrading any mission... this is arsy varsy reasoning. The mission is suited to the capability of the machine and crew requirements. The payload capacity is calculated after the weight of the shuttle is calculated, so the weight of the EVA equipment ought always to be part of the calculation that LIMITS payload, not the other way around.

Lastly, ask the asronauts whether they would like to know the actual status of their spacecraft. I have, and to a man they have said they want to know -- even if that knowledge is knowledge of impending doom. And, to a man, they have reiterated one thing -- when push comes to shove the imagination is a tremendously powerful tool, unthought-of options come flowing from an enlivened imagination. We saw this in small ways during Apollo 13.

Your reply was much appreciated -- I think it pointed in spades to a problem that needs fixing before we fly again.

Kindest Regards

[KansasConservative1]

This sounds stupid but...
1. Always send up the EVU and a pilot for it.
2. Make a Mix of JB Weld (Great Stuff) with Asbestos and/or a "cut to size" group of tiles... or other fireproof stuff (better than nothing)
3. Throw it on and do a lower heat entry on that wing (if possible)

At least give them a chance...

The other thought I had was a metal cover or somthing that could sheild the tiles during launch and then either melt off during reentry or somehow ejected on orbit.



Just a thought from Kansas.

[LN2Campy]

I was a bit of a NASA buff as a youngster, and always felt that the Shuttle program was the wrong tack to take -- just as we had perfected single use rockets capable of hoisting tremendous payloads into orbit and beyond, the focus shifted to a "reuseable" craft, which isn't really all that practical as such given all the costly rebuilding needed after every launch.

The ostensible point of the Shuttle was that it could "get a lot of things and people into space" -- it really hasn't turned out as expected -- even without disasters, the simple fact is that too much of the payload of shuttle mission is the shuttle craft itself.

NASA should go back to using expendable rockets and re-entry capsules for the astronauts.

[LN2Campy]

I was a bit of a NASA buff as a youngster, and always felt that the Shuttle program was the wrong tack to take -- just as we had perfected single use rockets capable of hoisting tremendous payloads into orbit and beyond, the focus shifted to a "reuseable" craft, which isn't really all that practical as such given all the costly rebuilding needed after every launch.

The ostensible point of the Shuttle was that it could "get a lot of things and people into space" -- it really hasn't turned out as expected -- even without disasters, the simple fact is that too much of the payload of shuttle mission is the shuttle craft itself.

NASA should go back to using expendable rockets and re-entry capsules for the astronauts.

[SteveH]

You seem informed, are you involved in the space program?

Good grief, no, just a systems guy with a lot of spare time now (sigh).

The inability to repair tile damage weighs not at all in the question. If it did, then there was no point in doing any of the engineering analysis -- for there was NOTHING to be done... which is what you state in your closing words. But, of course, NASA never has suggested that there was NO OPTION to the fatal re-entry option, for there were some known options -- and perhaps others may have come to someone's imagination had NASA been aware of significant damage to the thermal protection system.

Well, sure, I don't have much problem with that. I suppose I was just trying to give the standard NASA reasoning.

Please see my first paragraph in which I point out the essential contradiction of the NASA goals. The shuttle represents a retrograde goal set (manned payload delivery). At an extreme end, imho, it ignores expensive lessons we learned using manned bombers during WWII. The main point was, and is, that the shuttle should be fully automated; the astronauts are superfluous to most missions.

If you check my posts going back in time on Columbia, you'll see that I have been consistent.