"bob haller" wrote in message
...

On Jan 29, 3:41 pm, JF Mezei wrote:
On 13-01-29 12:20, SalemHanna wrote:

But there's no way of knowing when the foam problem would have next
caused fatalities if left uncorrected,

The later part is of course the big question.

If let to its own devices, would NASA have eventually corrected the foam
problem ? They knew of it, but didn't put it in a high priority. And
while they wouldn't have retro-foamed existing tanks, they may have set
new standards for foaming new tanks which would have reduced the
problems.

Also, post assembly complete, with reduced flight rate, the odds of an
accident happening would have also gone down.

if you read wayne hales article it makes a interesting point. they
didnt image columbia because his boss thought it hopeless and had
decided its best to not tell the astronauts.....

Umm, I've been reading Wayne's blog. I don't see where he made that point.

He does admit he thought he had asked someone to inquire about imaging, the
other person recalls being asked what it would take or something like that.

He admits there was a failure to communicate there.

He also discusses the compartmentalization of information and ability to
communicate, especially with the military (most flight controllers had
allowed any security clearance they had to elapse after the DOD flights
ended).


let them live to re entry happy rather than die in orbit after running
out of air......


Again, discussed purely in the hypothetical. Unfortunately ABC news in on
article and others picked up on it made it sound like NASA officials knew
what was going to happen.


the larger issue for the future, we should always have enough back up
capacity in case of a problem. like some emergency launch supplies to
orbit capacity.



--
Greg D. Moore http://greenmountainsoftware.wordpress.com/
CEO QuiCR: Quick, Crowdsourced Responses. http://www.quicr.net