1 Feb
2003
1 Feb
'03
8:37 a.m.
At 20:38 01/02/2003, you wrote:
Somewhat speculative info:
I heard on ABC news this afternoon that there had been
some external fuel tank insulation knocked off during
launch of the Columbia, and it had impacted the wing
surface or some such on I think the left side. Then
there's a report of a temperature variation in the
same wing during the early reentry period.
Although that sounds somewhat implausible (how would ABC know, when no-one
else does?), I wouldn't be entirely surprised if it was the case.
Incidentally, does anyone know if Columbia had been updated to the latest
flight s/w & h/w? I know there was work on-going to do this, but I've no
knowledge of what stage they'd got to.
The news report said that since the mission didn't
have the mech arm they couldn't inspect the wing
during the mission, but used instead video footage of
the launch to determine that there wasn't any damage.
Perhaps, unfortunately, it was worse after the
vibrations of launch?
It seems to me that maybe a little complacency might have set in. Maybe
they've landed slightly damaged orbiters before, with no ill effects.
Certainly the post-Challenger analysis was that safety procedures were less
rigorous than they ought to have been. There've been nearly a hundred
flights since then (or is it slightly more, I forget), maybe - just maybe -
someone made a wrong call based on the fact "it's always worked before".
The trouble is, even if they'd aborted the landing (before the Shuttle left
ISS presumably), what then?
I do feel for the astronaut's families, and in almost equal measure for the
future of humanity in space. We have *got* to find a better way of getting
in and out of the gravity well.
--
Cheers, Ade.
Be where it's at, B-Racing!
http://b-racing.com