Columbia's Problems Began on Left Wing

NYT.com ^

[Howlin]

Sounds like they were doomed from Day 1.

[HiTech RedNeck]

<grim-humor>Left wings are constant sources of trouble </grim-humor>

[HiTech RedNeck]

Was there any other craft that could have been sent out there to pick up the astronauts, if they knew this thing was going to have problems landing?

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

The current occupants of the ISS could have eyeballed the wing as Columbia flew in formation close to the station.

Future missions (if ever continued) should include tile repair kits.

Autos have been equipped with spare tires for nearly a century.

[tickles]

But if they had determined that there was a problem, couldn't they have had a couple more shuttle flights to bring home those people? In hind sight it might have been safer. sigh. But then the rush to prepare flights might have caused a problem for the new crews to.

[OReilly]

Aristeides at least 8 hours ago, reported there was a problem with the tire pressure on the left wing landing gear (which was the wing that received a hit on launch)

[Howlin]

I don't know enough about it to even offer a suggestion about that; that would make sense to me though -- if they had thought it was bad enough.

[Alberta's Child]

I read somewhere that Columbia was not capable of flying high enough to dock with the ISS due to some kind of technological impediment.

[BenLurkin]

"If a spaceship has loose, damaged or missing tiles, that can change the aerodynamics of the ship and warp or melt the underlying aluminum airframe, causing nearby tiles to peel off in a chain reaction. If the tiles start stripping off in large numbers or in crucial spots, a spacecraft can overheat, break up and plunge to Earth in a shower of hot metal, much like Russia's Mir space station did in 2001."

Looks to be the sad explanation.

[mewzilla]

FWIW, supposedly none of the things monitored by these sensors would have affected flight worthiness. While whatever happened may indeed have started on the left wing, I don't think the men I saw at the press conference were willing to draw the same conclusion the Times seems to be drawing. Something happened on the left side of the shuttle. Whether it had anything to do with the break-up or not, I don't think they know yet.

[EggsAckley]

I read in an earlier post that the repairing of the tiles in space was impossible due to the cold.

[EastIdaho]

This is probably a dumb question, but, if on reaching orbit they discovered that they could not return safely because of damage to the space craft, could they have manuvered to the space station and wait for help?

[SSN558]

"Future missions (if ever continued) should include tile repair kits."

The shuttle filghts used to have tile repair kits, for some reason the practice was discontinued.

[Gorzaloon]

Future missions (if ever continued) should include tile repair kits. Autos have been equipped with spare tires for nearly a century. But autos have four identical tires. All the tiles are different. Though epoxies will cure in vacuum, and were used as ablation shields in the early Mercury and Gemini programs, so, Yes, they could make "Blowout" kits. But someone would have to go outside to use it.

Not me, I hate heights.

[mewzilla]

There was no docking ring on board (if I heard correctly). No room. And not enough space suits, either. I don't know if NASA had a contingency plan for something like this. I would hope they had one.

[mewzilla]

Well, a commentator on ABCNews tonight said the first shuttle missions did indeed go up with tile repair kits until they stopped requiring them. If repairs were impossible, makes one wonder why they sent up those kits in the first place.

[Republic of Texas]

It wasn't the tire pressure, but the compartment where the tires are located. The heat sensor went off, which could mean the missing tiles allowed heat to get into the interior areas.

[Fiddlstix]

<grim-humor>Left wings are constant sources of trouble </grim-humor>

I, also, have a Wry sense of humor
At times like this, It can come in handy
Preserves Sanity, ya know