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I Just saw this:

You Said:
"Imagine this scenario, uh crew, the shuttle is severely damaged and will not make it back on reentry, you only have a week of life support left, there's no way we can get to you, you can either die from lack of life support or die reentering. A horrendous situation. It was the right call, because in this situation it was definitely better to not know."

Ok,

That is not what shoudl have happened. NASA'a own Abort procedures spelled out in the Shutttle Press Kit's linked above stipulate that it is the flight crew that chooses which abort procedure is used once the Shuttle is launched. That is official NASA Procedure.

That flight crew had a right to know. It is unclear if they did or not. I have not heard, but I may have missed that.

Someone asked what me being a Pilot matters.

This is why. When I fly, I am known as Pilot-In-Command by FAA Regulations. Commander Husband was also the PIC as Shuttle Commander on this mission. Anything that happens to that ship after Launch is ultimately his decision to make.

If it turns out that the crew did not know or was not informed. That is another breakdown at NASA that would need to be remedied.

Every interview I have seen with an Atronaut has said they would have wanted to know. (Of those that were asked)

The other thing is this.

The Shuttle Press Kits are incorrect. Maybe that is the only error, maybe not.

When I fly my aircraft acts differently when I am flying alone or when I am flying with my wife and two kids.

The Combination of Columbia, being the heaviest shuttle, in combination with a LWT, being 7,500 lbs. heavier than a SLWT, means there are potentially higher forces on the Shuttle causing higher vibration and maybe loss of Insulation.

That Tank was unsafe for use, IMHO, and they should have used an SLWT at the least. But those may also have problems. But all these problems relate back to Michoud and their external tanks.

Regards,
Joe

The point is this: if the crew were faced with the choice of remaining in space until they die from lack of life support, or give reentry a try, they would have given reentry a try. Because no matter how many resources NASA used to determine wing damage, there probably would still have remained in the accessment that there was a possiblity of a successful reentry. The bottom line, the same result would have happened except with weeks(days?) of heart-wrenching drama if they had known beforehand, thus being better FOR ALL that it happened the way it did.