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In reply to the discussion: Mars?? [View all]

lapfog_1

(30,450 posts)
12. do not tell me about the Space Shuttle disasters
Tue Jan 21, 2025, 03:46 PM
Jan 21

and act like "acceptable loss" is OK.

KC or Kalpana Chawla was a friend and "internal customer" of mine while I worked at NASA. She had an office 3 doors down from me. We were all so proud when she joined the astronaut core.



And her death, in fact ALL of the Shuttle disaster deaths, were entirely preventable.

The Space Shuttle was a goddam prototype that never should have been put into routine service. Everybody that worked on it knew that. It was Gemini to the Apollo project ( and even Apollo suffered a disaster that caused NASA to re-engineer a lot of things for the later Apollo missions ). The Shuttle suffered from a lack of funding to re-engineer and solve the issues that WE FUCKING KNEW ABOUT before Challenger... never mind Columbia.

The multi-segment SRBs with the O-rings that failed were never in the original design. A different firm located on the east coast was selected to produce single segment SRBs that could be shipped to Kennedy via the intercoastal waterway, ONE FUCKING SENATOR ( Orin fucking Hatch ) would not approve of a budget for NASA until we changed to use Morton Thiokol and the segmented SRB because they had to ship the segments on rail cars from Utah. Everyone knew it was inherently unsafe. And some of the blame goes to NASA management for allowing this.

As for the Columbia disaster, we already knew that ice formed on the external tank during fueling... and that the ice would break and hit the tiles on the shuttle during launch. There were many proposals to solve this issue but again, Congress would not give us the funds to fix it nor would NASA management pause operations. So my friend and co-worker died.

I am all for Space exploration... I could have made much more money than I did working for NASA. But I wanted to serve my country like my father and brother before me only I was born with a heart condition that prevented me from my dream of being a submarine captain in the Navy, I was even selected by Bob Dole ( of all people ) to go to Annapolis before my heart condition was discovered.

Recommendations

1 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

Mars?? [View all] Greyhead Jan 21 OP
Hope the eggs and housing up there are super cheap. meadowlander Jan 21 #1
I would think we could cancel all space programs multigraincracker Jan 21 #2
How would that recoup the quarter billion Elon spent getting Trump reelected? meadowlander Jan 21 #3
No. Wherever and by whomever this was said (I guess Trump), it's complete bullshit. muriel_volestrangler Jan 21 #4
at this point we do not yet have the technology lapfog_1 Jan 21 #5
Over a thirty year period, the Space Shuttle flew 135 times and had 2 total losses with 14 fatalities. WarGamer Jan 21 #9
do not tell me about the Space Shuttle disasters lapfog_1 Jan 21 #12
No, no, no... I was arguing the opposite WarGamer Jan 21 #14
Challenger loss is what inspired me to work for NASA lapfog_1 Jan 21 #18
While you are 100% correct Wiz Imp Jan 21 #13
It's just another Musk scam. dalton99a Jan 21 #6
The next launch window is November 2026... WarGamer Jan 21 #7
but lets not send people. lapfog_1 Jan 21 #15
+100... robots and unmanned rovers. 8K video rolling and invite the WORLD to watch. WarGamer Jan 21 #16
Muskrat hopes to make a fortune,... magicarpet Jan 21 #8
I'm sure he's on a cost plus plan. Greyhead Jan 21 #11
If God wanted us to be on Mars he would have put us there - (Insert sarcasm thingy here) tulipsandroses Jan 21 #10
Actually God does want some of us to be trans lapfog_1 Jan 21 #17
It's a ridiculous prediction and it would be a suicide mission. Oopsie Daisy Jan 21 #19
Send them the Matt Damon movie "The Martian" milestogo Jan 21 #20
Will it be a Tesla Cybertruck? Will it have a rifle rack in the back window? Trump Stickers? Ping Tung Jan 21 #21
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