Posted on 01/31/2013 8:35:29 PM PST by chessplayer
What would you tell seven astronauts if you knew their space shuttle was crippled on orbit?
It was a question that faced NASA's Mission Control considered after initial suspicions that something might be wrong with the shuttle Columbia as it was making its doomed reentry in 2003.
Wayne Hale, who later became space shuttle program manager, struggled with this question after the deaths of the Columbia crew 10 years ago. Recently he wrote about the debate in his blog, recalling a meeting to discuss the dilemma:
"After one of the MMTs (Mission Management Team) when possible damage to the orbiter was discussed, he (Flight Director Jon Harpold) gave me his opinion: 'You know, there is nothing we can do about damage to the TPS (Thermal Protection System). If it has been damaged it's probably better not to know. I think the crew would rather not know. Don't you think it would be better for them to have a happy successful flight and die unexpectedly during entry than to stay on orbit, knowing that there was nothing to be done, until the air ran out?"
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
We hhas more than one shuttle, send the other one up with a repair kit.
I would want to know and have a chance to say goodbye to loved ones before leaving orbit. Then give it a best shot getting back home.
No, not a tough decision. You tell them something is or is possibly F***ed up, and give them a chance to find a solution, and/or use every second to get something else up there to get them down.
Why? Both are death sentences and there is nothing that can be done. Those that know can either let you live in ignorant bliss or tell you of your fate. This decesion goes on 1000s of times a year with the elderly. Their loved ones know about their fate and must make the choice to tell them or let them live out their last moments with not knowing.
I definitely think they should have been told there might be a problem
Having worked on the STS for 36+ years (1975-2011), that would have been nice. Unfortunately the processing time involved to ready another orbiter in time was impossible. Even if the damage had been confirmed there would not have been time regardless of how many hours were worked. That was a real crappy day to say the least. My wife and I were watching NASA select awaiting Columbia’s return. When the twin sonic booms did not happen I told her it was going to be a bad day because they didn’t land late and they didn’t land somewhere else. Watching the controllers at JSC during the last few minutes was gut wrenching.
They got Apollo 13 home with folder covers, duct tape, and incredible hands-on flying skills. Who knows what someone might have thought up for a solution.
I was them, I'd go for the blaze of glory rather than the feeling of being buried alive.
The guy is trying to sell his book..needs to make it more dramatic than any talk of damage probably was at the time IMO..
“I think you have to tell them. What if they wanted to communicate with a friend or family member? “
Yes, what if you were denied last words to your wife?
Question: Couldn’t they send up a rescue vehicle or something?
Perhaps you have more insight into what might have been accomplished?
Apollo 13 had an intact reentry module. They just had to get it into position and tough it out without freezing or running out of O2. They had a way to get down.
It seems like some here do not appreciate just what reentry actually entails. It ain't a parachute drop.
The Columbia was the heaviest shuttle reentry ever, and into a dense winter atmosphere. There’s steps that could have been taken to give them a chance to survive.
I await your explanation for what any of that has to do with a viable reentry vehicle, and not just getting into position for reentry?
I think they’d rather have died trying than died oblivious. And, as was noted above, the shuttle might have been saved at the cost of their death by
suffocation. Maybe they’d have rather done that.
Heck, maybe an EVA to fill in the missing tiles with oatmeal... who knows. Desperate people sometimes find solutions- (though usually they make things worse in this case there was no ‘worse’).
One of the other shuttles landed safely with a hole burned through the wing so damage to the thermal system wasn't necessarily fatal.
There is a big difference between a possible problem and knowing the mission was doomed. I don’t believe NASA would have had them reenter if they knew for certain the craft would be destroyed.
It's not just my ship but my life and those I have aboard.
I would guess you are hinting at multiple atmospheric skips to slow down?
Interesting if that does work, maybe NASA was too risk-averse by then to try such an untried strategy? No one had ever done such a thing on purpose as far as I know, but a few Russions came down a good ways off from planned.
Bull $hit...
NASA lied to them. The decision makers should have to be in the position the astronauts were in.
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