That's a phrase we hear a lot today -- that "everyone should have known"
about safety issues, about the fragility of the RCC, about risks that
should never be taken.

People love hind-sight...it makes them feel smarter. When looking at history
you have to turn hind-sight off and put yourself in the position of what things
were like at the time.

It's easy to simply say "NASA was stupid" with the RCC matter. It's another
matter to step back and note why NASA felt comfortable with the RCC. If it
seems NASA really did have a reason to worry about the RCC's then they were
stupid...but considering in 111 successful flights concern was never voiced
before about the RCC why would they worry? The same with the record of foam
strikes. This, in my mind is an accident that was a long time coming because of
the shuttle's design...if you followed the rules...you were still screwed.

Not the same as STS 51-L where launching with ice hanging off the shuttle stack
was against the mission rules...and considering some (like John Young) were
quoted as saying "we're going to kill someone if we keep flying like this" I
can say "this was an accident that was avoidable if you just followed the
rules."

The J mission scenario you just mentioned...yeah, its a good possiblity.
However if you take into account the idea of a PLSS and Rover failure then you
really have no point for including the Rover on the J-Missions. There is a
point where you just have to hope to God your gear works okay.

-A.L.