[mhking]

I've seen you insisting that the flight should not have taken off from Kennedy to begin with - are you suggesting that the damage to the orbiter occured prior to launch?

If not, then what would you have proposed?

Moreover, if so, what empirical evidence has been presented that supports this allegation (as I've seen nor heard nothing that would indicate that there was knowledge of a problem prior to the flight)?

[Howlin]

Moreover, if so, what empirical evidence has been presented that supports this allegation

ROFLMAO......aren't you the dreamer.

[LPStar]

Moreover, if so, what empirical evidence has been presented that supports this allegation (as I've seen nor heard nothing that would indicate that there was knowledge of a problem prior to the flight)?

My first post on this topic. Freely admit I'm not fully informed. Nevertheless, I have a problem with the fact that there was no backup plan for safe landing if a problem occurred with the shuttle at any point prior to re-entry. The situation right now appears to be that if the tile situation had been properly analyzed, it would have been clear from Day 1 that there was no way to get the seven back alive. How can there be a safe system with no redundancies built in? Maybe it's best they had several happy days before their sadly predetermined end.