[ale] OT: Space Shuttle Columbia

[Jeff Hubbs]

On Tue, 2003-02-04 at 22:23, James P. Kinney III wrote:
> Jeff,
> 
> I think you may be misunderstanding just how awful the tiles are. There
> are 20,000+ on each shuttle and no two are the same. Repairing any on
> the ground is a difficult process that takes weeks with a good jig
> system to support them while the cement sets. The cement is unapplyable
> in space. Temperature and pressures are wrong. The stuff has to cure
> under the right conditions.

Like I said, I know it's no walk in the park and I know no two are the
same.  *THAT* cement may well be unapplyable in space, but recall that
solutions were found to problems like rotating shaft lubrication and
photographic film.

> 
> Part 2:
> 
> Emergency escape process is not possible at certain points in the take
> off and landing. Altitude, speed, air pressure, temperature, all
> conspire at that near the pad and near the top and near the reentry burn
> phase to make any escape mechanism possible.
> 
> Now let me clarify possible: Within the constraints of the current
> shuttle system shape and lift and flight parameters, and emergency
> escape pod or parachute or something, just isn't possible to retrofit
> and still have it be useful at all. It must be born in mind that the
> shuttle is not a NASA design, it is a Congress designed system. The
> Congress critter played politics and shouted down the engineers. NASA
> never wanted a fleet of these things. They wanted only 1 for
> experimental testing of concepts. 

I'm not suggesting a bailout at hypersonic speed but emergency landings
may have been called for (well, perhaps turning into a conventional
bailout in the end if it looked like there was just no solution to get
to a suitable strip).  

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