[ale] OT: Space Shuttle Columbia

[Jeff Hubbs]

On Tue, 2003-02-04 at 18:19, Dow Hurst wrote:
> I've been wondering about this myself.  Why couldn't an abort been performed?  Or, like your saying, using the ISS until a EVA could be figured out?
> Dow

Good questions.  If they knew that the tiles were damaged too badly to
land safely WHEN THEY WERE DAMAGED, then, yes, time to pull the red
handle!  If I remember the launch profile correctly, they would have
been looking at either a Cape runway landing or a water ditch.  The
problem is that there is now no way to know how damaged the tiles are. 
I can imagine something where they thread a network of optical fibers
through the tiles at significant cost and tedium through each tile -
that would give a near-instant picture of surface damage

As Matt indicated, it may have been difficult to rendezvous with the ISS
but I have to ask, was it REALLY impossible??  Could it have been made
more possible through the mission design?  Would a simple change in
launch timing - like, an hour or two one way or the other - have made a
difference?

What if the lab module in the payload bay were jettisoned, thereby
lightening the Orbiter by who knows how many tons?

The Orbital Maneuvering Syetem (OMS) engines are no slouches - they're
used to de-orbit.  How different could the inclination have been, seeing
as the ISS is made of pieces that came from the very same Orbiter?  

It comes down to this:  Why didn't they 1) Assess the damage
DEFINITIVELY 2) Plan the mission with an ISS rendezvous contingency (for
the benefit of EITHER crew) 3) Try to modify re-entry 4) Paint the ET
when they KNEW it was shedding insulation on ascent?

- Jeff

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