Shuttle "might" not need repair?

[CNY rider]

snipped:
HOUSTON (AP) -- After days of anxiety about a gouge in the belly of the shuttle Endeavour, NASA finally got some good news: tests suggested repairs may not be needed, and the agency fulfilled a longstanding dream of a teacher talking to students from space.

Space agency managers said they were cautiously optimistic that they wouldn't have to send two spacewalking astronauts to repair the gash, which is about the length and width of a business card. A sliver of the wound penetrates through a pair of inch-deep thermal tiles, exposing a thin felt fabric that is the final barrier before the shuttle's aluminum frame.




Ummmmm OK.
So does this sound like the equivalent to finding a big crack in your steerer tube and just hoping it won't snap at some inopportune time, like when you're hurdling toward earth at the speed of sound or so......?
Just sayin.

[J.Greene]

I think the whole thing is like buying a used carbon fiber fork on ebay. There is some level of risk that is always present. Those are brave men and women atmo.

JG

[e-RICHIE]

atmo -

http://www.wonderworksweb.com/ftpfolder/Photo/pictures/image337.jpg

[CNY rider]

JFA=
Just flying along....

As in "There we were just flying along....".


I hope not.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . as to why they need to do so much pondering of what to do, considering the disasters they have already endured and the huge questions that have already been raised about their lack of dedication to safety.

News accounts I have seen indicate they have three different repair methods available onboard, abundant supplies for extending the mission duration, and they are already docked to the space station, which offers additional support and refuge if anything were to go wrong.

According to the latest AP story on the wire, "The gouge on Endeavour was not considered a threat to the crew, but NASA was debating whether to send astronauts out to fix it in order to avoid time-consuming post-flight repairs."

Huh? They are willing to risk the lives of the crew in order to save some time after the shuttle is back on the ground--if it makes it that far? Sounds to me like it's time for the shuttle commander to show that is IS the vehicle commander and say "I ain't leavin' till this has been fixed--period."

And while I'm at it--they train this teacher, Barbara Morgan, and make her wait TWENTY YEARS to go into space to give school kids a "lesson from space" and then they actually send her up during SUMMER VACATION in the month when the most folks are away on vacation anyway? Who exactly is she doing this televised lesson for? It sure ain't kids sitting in classrooms with their trained teachers there to help them interpret and learn from whatever she shows them . . .

End of rant. :rolleyes:

BBD

[BURCH]

. . .
they train this teacher, Barbara Morgan, and make her wait TWENTY YEARS to go into space to give school kids a "lesson from space" and then they actually send her up during SUMMER VACATION in the month when the most folks are away on vacation anyway? Who exactly is she doing this televised lesson for? It sure ain't kids sitting in classrooms with their trained teachers there to help them interpret and learn from whatever she shows them . . .
BBD


I am with you on this one. I have been pondering this same question. They keep publicizing the fact that Barbara Morgan, a teacher, has finally made it to space. Yet no one in the media is asking or mentioning the fact that school isn't even in right now. I read that she is doing interactive stuff with kids at a library near her old school which is minor to what could be done. It is very baffling to me. It seems like they maybe didn't want 50 million kids watching another live disaster.

I wish the courageous crew the best on their return trip.

[72gmc]

NASA: We're just going through the motions, but we do it in space.