Posted on 06/30/2006 2:34:55 PM PDT by Cagey
Key NASA officials who oversee the agency said they don't believe the shuttle is safe for launch, according to a Local 6 News report.
E-mails sent to NASA's administrator from the agency's inspector general's office obtained by the Orlando Sentinel said they didn't believe shuttle Discovery should launch without more work to prevent foam insulation from breaking off the external fuel tank.
NASA already had a "no go" for flight from the agency's top safety official and chief engineer. However, NASA managers went ahead and gave the "go for launch" for Saturday.
Meanwhile, NASA declined Thursday to release documents from a critical safety meeting where managers debated whether to go forward with the shuttle launch.
Local 6 News partner Florida Today and The Associated Press asked the agency to release records from the Flight Readiness Review meetings under the Freedom of Information Act. The records outline the safety issues raised during the June 16-17 meetings at Kennedy Space Center.
'The question that we have at this point is that last year, NASA was able to release the documents that were used during their flight readiness review -- which is the meeting where the decision is made to go forward with launch," Florida Today's John Kelly said. "This year they have decided in the face of the same request to deny release of the records."
The newspaper immediately appealed the decision to NASA Administrator Mike Griffin. AP is assessing the situation.
Liftoff is scheduled for 3:49 p.m. Saturday.
I'm afraid it's time to put the old horse down.
I agree.
Agreed. However, it sounds like there's a few cowboys at NASA that can't give up that horse.
Nothing is safe, not even rolling our of bed. If NASA throws money at safety then it does need to be put down. If NASA works to minimize hazard and maintain a certain risk level then OK, the demotic masses, the d'masses are too ignorant to understand such niceties.
If the risk is below 10%, by means go ahead.
Space exploration was never supposed to be safe.
Hello??? Major tile displacement last time out. Seems like this is just another spin of the roulette wheel. This is a time where the media in my opinion plays an invaluable role of diseminating the internal discussions. I want to see the probability analysis. If it goes bad and the unmentionabale happens the agency will be shut down for good.
LIFE....AINT...SAFE...
Get over it and LIVE!
prisoner6
Listen to the damned warnings and put this machine to bed.
We should have been starting on the replacement for the Shuttle years ago.
I wish more people would just accept that mounting people onto massive explosive rockets and shooting them into a vacuum is always going to be slightly riskier than, say, riding a motorcycle. If we failed to explore because of risk of death, we'd all still be in AFrica, and take a look around over there and see where that would get you.
Refusing to release the documents on the safety meetings isn't exactly going to inspire a whole lot of confidence.
Which they're certainly entitled to do. If they're right, they deserve a raise and a promotion. If the flight is flawless, however, they deserve to be fired.
I'm afraid you're right. These people are paid to evaluate safety so I believe they should be listened to.
What's wrong with the astronauts? Are they so oblivious to the warnings? Are the warnings from people who know or just think they know? If there is a known risk, seems quite simple to me - NO GO. If all this means there are foolhardy incompetents at the helm, shut the whole thing down and spend the money catching and deporting the illegals. And a big chunk of $ to really protect all our borders.
Florida Today is the local communist rag here on the Space Coast. Extremely liberal in it's editorials and reporting.
The paper wouldn't even exist if it weren't for the space program. Yet, it has made NASA bashing it's life's work, it seems.
In the past, on the day of a launch, the paper would headline some NASA scandal or another.
I wouldn't read it if there were an alternative local paper.
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