NASA news conference~~~ Live Thread

MSNBC | 1-05-03 | Dog

[NormsRevenge]

Just tuned in the press conference, There was no ice per the NASA Ice Team. and the foam had been re-engineered due to environmental "considerations". :-|

[DoughtyOne]

Ron Dettemore just admitted they always have space suits on board so they can manually shut the payload bay. They did have teathers and he's not sure if they had the space maneuver device for space walks. He'll check.

The teathers only allow them to go as far as the payload bay. Seems to me in certain instances (perhaps if my ass depended on it), that teather could be jury rigged to allow an over the side adventure.

[NormsRevenge]

When concern over "PC" enters the Space Age, we were doomed to repeat the Challenger disaster eventually.

[Mo1]

I thought the foam was suppose to be orange/brown in color?

From what I can tell that foam he has is white

[HairOfTheDog]

I heard that discussed...

They said the the increase in drag from a less than perfect application that would be applied would create a point of drag that would dramatically increase the heating, much more than the heating from the missing tile.

[snopercod]

Now Dittamore is warning about possibility of explosive bolts in the debris

I say again: All this "it's hazardous" crap is just intended to scare away ignorant souvenir hunters. If that pyro didn't blow in a 5000 degree fireball from 207,000 feet at Mach 18, then it's not going to blow when you pick it up.

There was no radioactivity onboard (other than the smoke detectors in the crew cabin), and the contents of the potty were thoroughly sterilized in God's Autoclave.

[HairOfTheDog]

the orange might just be a coating on the outside?

[anobjectivist]

The old covering on the tanks was brown in color, the new is kind of yellowish.

[DoughtyOne]

What indication do you have that the pirotechnics couldn't have been detonated in the wheel well due to heat?

Not sufficient heat. Cannot quantify if wiring might have gotten that hot.

[HairOfTheDog]

But when you are manuevering around to the very fragile underside, every time you or your equipment clunked into the side of it, you would be doing more damage.

[DoughtyOne]

You said crew was told of foam debris. How specific was your inservice?

I did not hear firsthand. We hold nothing back. We give the commander and crew a rationalle. I believe he was satisfied with the inservice.

Did alert of debris impact. Did alert of analysis. Crew seemed okay with things.

[DoughtyOne]

That is true. So it would have to be done carefully no doubt.

[DoughtyOne]

How many meetings did you hold reviewing this the debris data?

I don't have that information. The crews meet as needed.

[DoughtyOne]

Do you have data beyond the voice cutoff?

I don't know exactly how long we have. But the 32 seconds is after the LOS.

[DoughtyOne]

Can you describe the computers tools models used to study the location and dynamics of the debris?

He's not an engineer. He plays himself off as barely puter literate. He wants time to develop that response.

[Rockitz]

That's because it wasn't foam, it was ice! I speculated that on Monday on a couple other threads.

[snopercod]

...they always have space suits on board so they can manually shut the payload bay.

I didn't know that. Thanks.

The Flight Crew Systems people belonged to another contractor (McDonnell Douglas?), and communication was never good with us USA orbiter people. We alloted them time to stow the crew module/SpaceLab, but never really knew what was being stowed. The stowage was time-critical, and they would never tell us whether they were behind or not until after it had become a problem. Usually we had to ask the SCOs to ask FCS how they were doing...

The fiefdoms at KSC were always a concern to me. You would think for instance that people like me who performed the pre-launch switchlist would be able to get a current set of panel drawings (they change on every mission). But noooooo..., we had to beg, borrow, or steal copies in order to do our job...

Ahhh, bureaucracies...

[DoughtyOne]

When evalating damage to the left wing, did you ever model the effect of boundry layer reentry?

No. They believed all flying conditions were nominal. If you'll look at the flight up until the last minute or so, it WAS perfect. (No sh-- sherlock!)

[Cold Heat]

This foam stuff is essentially the same as the stuff you can buy in a can at the Home Depot.

After it cures, there is a rust colored hue to the surface only. The stuff is like styro foam in texture and that is what it is.

[HairOfTheDog]

Dittemore does not think it was ice. The Ice expert people don't think there were icing conditions, and the way it disintigrated look more like foam.