On 28 Sep 2003 11:39:41 -0700, (Stuf4) wrote:

From Michael Grabois:
On 25 Sep 2003 20:52:33 -0700, (Stuf4) wrote:

From crew photo caption:

"The core group for the next shuttle mission renames unchanged: from
left, Soichi Noguchi, commander Eileen Collins, Steve Robinson and Jim
Kelly. But the three other slots have been emptied to to make room for
those with specialized skills needed for the flight's new
responsibilities."

Of course, the other three slots were emptied because the Expedition 7 crew (or
at least 2/3 of them) are already on the Space Station and 114 won't be a crew
rotation mission, YOU STUPID ****!

As with the original caption in question, I am having difficulty
following the logic behind that statement (amidst the anger). Please
check your facts.

OK, let's check the facts.

1. "STS-114 was to have been the seventeenth station flight (ULF1). It would
have carried the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and carried out a
crew rotation (replacing the ISS EO-6 crew of Bowersox, Budarin, and Pettit
with the Malenchenko, Kaleri, and Lu."
http://www.astronautix.com/flights/sts114.htm

2. Because the shuttle was unavailable, the EXP-6 crew of Bowersox, Budarin,
and Pettit took a Soyuz down.

3. Because the shuttle was unavailable, Malenchenko and Lu launched on a Soyuz
and became the EXP-7 crew. Kaleri will fly on a later mission.

Thus, the other three slots on STS-114 (Collins, Kelly, Robinson, and Noguchi
remain on the mission) opened up to whoever will be assigned.

Is that too difficult for you to grasp?


My understanding is that crew size for -114 is being limited due
primarily to safety concerns.

Whatever it is, you don't understand. At least two crewmembers will be added to
the 114 crew (at least one experienced EVA and one RMS crewmember).

Let's not forget that in the aftermath
of -51L, NASA didn't fly anything more than a crew of 5 until the
1990s!

In launch order:

STS-61A - Crew of 8 (incl civilian PS x3)
STS-61B - Crew of 7 (incl civilian PS x2)
STS-61C - Crew of 7 (incl member of Congress)
STS-51L - Crew of 7 (incl schoolteacher)

STS-26 - Crew of 5
STS-27 - Crew of 5
STS-29 - Crew of 5
STS-30 - Crew of 5
STS-28 - Crew of 5
STS-34 - Crew of 5
STS-33 - Crew of 5
STS-32 - Crew of 5
STS-36 - Crew of 5
STS-31 - Crew of 5
STS-41 - Crew of 5
STS-38 - Crew of 5

NASA didn't launch a crew larger than 5, nor was another civilian
payload specialist launched into orbit until *13* flights (!) after
Challenger.

There was no space station to confuse the issue back then.

In the immortal words of Dan Aykroyd, "Jane, you ignorant slut."

Let's look at what the manifest would have been post-51L, and the number of
crewmembers for those with full crews assigned:

61E Astro 1 7 crew (payload became 7-crew STS-35;
original crew moved to STS-28 and 35)
61F Ulysses 4 crew (payload became 5-crew STS-41;
original crew moved to STS-26)
61G Galileo 4 crew (payload became 5-crew STS-30;
original crew moved to STS-30)
61H comm sat 7 crew (payload cancelled; some of
original crew moved to STS-29)
62A DOD 7 crew (DOD payload; most of
original crew moved to STS-27)
61M TDRS 6 crew (payload became 5-crew STS-26?;
original crew disbanded)
61J HST 5 crew (payload became 5-crew STS-31;
original crew moved to STS-31)
61N DOD 6 crew (DOD payload; most of
original crew moved to STS-28)
61I LDEF 6 crew (payload retrieve moved to STS-32;
original crew disbanded)
61K EOS/ATLAS 8 crew (payload became STS-45; some of
original crew moved to STS-45)

That's an average of 6 crew per flight. The larger crews were reduced
post-Challenger because the missions were cut back from the "let's do
everything" to "let's do one thing" and they didn't need as many crewmembers.
As the pre-Challenger backlog emptied out, they were able to do the longer
research missions that required Payload Specialists and bigger crews.

For you to simply quote the number of crewmembers without context is
disingenuous - and par for the course for you.

What was that about "lies, damn lies, and statistics"?