February 1, 2003
Commander:
Rick Douglas Husband, Colonel, USAF
Pilot:
William C. McCool, Commander, USN
Payload Commander:
Michael P. Anderson, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF
Mission Specialist:
Kalpana Chawla, PhD
David M. Brown, MD, Captain, USN
Laurel Blair Salton Clark, MD, Captain, USN
Payload Specialist:
Ilan Ramon, Colonel, Israel Air Force
[Mustang Bobby has the crew picture.]
On-line Opinion Magazine featuring annoyed rumblings from the leading edge of the Baby Boom firmly tied to a reality-based world.
Established: 21 November 2004
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6 comments
So easy to forget. Thanks for the reminder.
Winter is hard on space craft, which is odd when you think of the conditions of space.
It’s not space that’s the problem usually. It’s the faulty launch systems. Nobody else to blame for that.
I wasn’t being clear. If you are designing a craft for the extremes of space, why in hell include materials that become useless at the freezing point of water? Why use adhesives and materials that can stand the stress of rocket acceleration? Why not test this stuff?
It’s as if they ran a few computer simulations and said it ought to work. Why take a chance? They don’t fix things, they patch them.
Cutting corners of course. 🙂 Launch systems don’t need to survive in space. LOL
*sigh* Everything is built to as small a budget as possible. I have thought in the past that the US Navy should be in charge of NASA Engineering, and NASA should be in charge of timetables only. The Navy’s record for designing survivable systems in hostile environments is enviable. Eg. The boomers (SSBN’s). The only time the Navy gets it wrong is when Politicians get involved. 🙂
The upper atmosphere, beginning as low as the 30 to 45K feet I flew in, was not exactly a spring day: oxygen masks mandatory above 40K and extremes of cold. The acceleration and vibration are other know factors. Those O-rings were on the edge of criminal. The whole design, with the foam on the external tank was stupid. We have better materials and designs.
There needs to be unity of command and control with anything that complicated, but everyone wants a piece of the action, and it’s safer politically to involve as many as possible in the process.