Re: Nasa announces night launches back soon, rescue shuttles temporary

From: Terrell Miller (millerto_at_bellsouth.net)
Date: 08/04/04 

Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2004 08:27:28 -0400

sounds like NASA has learned *nothing* from either the Challenger or
Columbia accidents. Same old same old, schedule pressure trumps anything
else. In the months after Challenger NASA released the revised flight
mainfest, and it was basically the same as the pre-51L manifest except the
dates were pushed back, the Vandenberg missions were removed, and the
orbiters adjusted. But they *still* were planning the same unreachable
flight rate.

Exact same thing here. Exact same slippage of safety standards and
acceptance of out-of-tolerance conditions that ultimately led to Challenger
and Columbia.

I guess they are gambling that there simply will not be enough flights left
on the manifest this time to have another LOCV accident.

It's time NASA's manned spaceflight program goes bye-bye. We get it. 

-- 
Terrell Miller
millerto@bellsouth.net
"Brian Gaff" <Briang1@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:JK3Qc.1074$4B6.11176121@news-text.cableinet.net...
> One wonders if it might not be better to pay the Russians for some spare
> Soyuz systems instead, and send them up empty to dock one at a time to
> evacuate the bulk of the crew, and leave one or two behind to look after
the
> Shuttle until it can be fixed.
>
> My feelings are here that all of this mess has been caused by the eggs in
> one basket syndrome, and the inability to see that their craft cannot last
> forever. They should have been  flying a replacement by now if the powers
> that be had  thought it through and got it funded.
>
> Anyway, I suppose its still the only game in town.
>
> Brian
>
> -- 
>
> Brian Gaff....Note, this account does not accept Bcc: email.
>  graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
> Email: briang1@blueyonder.co.uk
>
____________________________________________________________________________
> __________________________________
>
>
> "bob haller" <hallerb@aol.com> wrote in message
> news:20040804062515.18151.00000966@mb-m03.aol.com...
> >
>
http://www.floridatoday.com/news/space/stories/2004b/spacestoryN0804SHUTTLE.htm
> >
> > CAPE CANAVERAL-- NASA plans to have a rescue shuttle ready for just the
> first
> > two post-Columbia missions. After that, they might go back to business
as
> > usual.
> >
> > If the first two flights make NASA confident the safety fixes to the
> shuttles
> > are working, agency managers said they might determine it's no longer
> necessary
> > to have a rescue vehicle on standby for future missions.
> >
> > "After that, we will take a look and evaluate . . . and see where we
need
> to go
> > from there," said John Casper, a former astronaut now leading NASA's
> effort to
> > implement recommendations made by the Columbia Accident Investigation
> Board.
> >
> > When Discovery blasts off on the first return-to-flight mission, as
early
> as
> > the spring, NASA says Kennedy Space Center will be ready to launch
> Atlantis on
> > a rescue mission within 45 days. On the second flight, a rescue shuttle
> will be
> > ready to go within 58 days.
> >
> > That's the amount of time that engineers estimate there would be food,
> water
> > and working life support systems aboard the International Space Station
to
> keep
> > a larger crew of 10 people alive if the shuttle somehow becomes stranded
> there
> > on one of the first two flights.
> >
> > Safety changes, such as reducing the amount of external tank foam debris
> > battering the orbiters' heat shields, will be tested on those flights.
> >
> > "We need to understand the fixes that we've done we need to understand
how
> well
> > the systems work," shuttle program manager Bill Parsons said.
> >
> > Having a rescue shuttle on standby never was a requirement before
Columbia
> > because the agency was confident it was flying a reliable vehicle,
Parsons
> > said. If the safety modifications work as planned, engineers and
managers
> may
> > regain confidence that a rescue shuttle is not necessary.
> >
> > That's not the only post-Columbia change that might only last two
> launches. A
> > requirement to launch during the daytime so that tracking cameras can
get
> clear
> > images of possible debris strikes also may go away after the first two
> > launches, NASA has said.
> >
> > Getting rid of those two requirements would be a big boost to meeting
> President
> > Bush's directive to finish building the space station and retire the
aging
> > shuttles by 2010. Doing so will require flying four to six times per
year,
> a
> > rate that was difficult to meet prior to Columbia.
> >
> > They dismissed suggestions by people inside and outside the agency that
a
> > rescue can't be pulled off, however. "We know it's do-able," Parsons
said.
> >
> > Contact Kelly at 242-3660 or jkelly@flatoday.net
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > HAVE A GREAT DAY!
>
>
> ---
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