Perry 951

God bless them all. Hopefully Michael can find that big race track in the sky. Porsche was his other passion, as mentioned in the memorial service today.

IceShark

Yes.

AndyK

Sad. Even sadder that NASA knew about insulation foam damaging the heat tiles back in '97, according to the NY papers.

Putting men into space requires a generous budget--not penny pinching!

My .02

Travis - sflraver

What I dont get is the people saying "they should put tighter regulations on the building of space ships." Does anyone realize how many regulations, tests, steps and red tape every little part has to go through before it is excepted. My shop made some plastic pieces for special lighted buttons back in the 80's for NASA. They had $10,000 worth of tooling made, we used it to produce 20 pcs (could have produced well over 5 mill with that tooling) and they made us destroy the tooling with the "men in black" watching. Ground it right away on the surface grinder. On top of that we had to make up a first article of inspection 20 pages long.... for a button.... a $500.25 button if you count the cost of tooling.
Everything on the ship is made, not purchased. It is drawn up and produced for a hand full of pieces. From the toilets to the light bulbs. All special for NASA and to the print. Nothing is off the shelf.

How can anyone ask for more safety regulations than that.

David Floyd

They are Heros in my book.

God Speed

AndyK

Definately heros!

Also of note, if it wasn't for NASA actually designing/making all the parts for their ships, we wouldn't have a TON of modern-day conveniences resulting from the research/building.

MM951

microwave is a biggie!

Travis - sflraver

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by AndyK:
<strong>Definately heros!

Also of note, if it wasn't for NASA actually designing/making all the parts for their ships, we wouldn't have a TON of modern-day conveniences resulting from the research/building.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">When it goes as far as having to make a .5 lb rubber hammer to knock a bushing into place because all they can buy is a .6 lb one and the print calls for a spec .5 lb one.... thats going a little to far. The people drawing the prints dont think to check what is already produced and tested to see if it would work, they just make up what ever they feel like, draw it and have the NASA guys build it. Sometimes its better, sometimes its worse. I just hope this crash doesnt bring about more needlessly wasted money for more safty precautions that will only make the new shuttles less safe than they are now.

Travis - sflraver

and I am a specialist now.... go me 501 posts

Jeff928S4

Wasn't the microwave invented by some guy who walked past a tube of radiation or something and his shirt caught fire - thus learning that said beam of light/power heated things? I dunno?

I think the only reason people question Nasa's quality control is because people die. I guess people figure if someone is spending $500 on a button, that the ship should not break apart.

My prayers are with all the victims.

944S Boyeee

mouse

I find the whole thing tragic but something I think a lot of people forget is that these people were in outer space, this is a dangerous job. Astronaunts are aware of the risks involved, and do it anyway because it is what they love to do. I think it's going to be a long time before we have the means (like the x-33) to make it as safe as flying on an airplane. Until we do, accidents are going to happen.

Douglas_T

Very brave people indeed!

jim968

Very, very brave. BTW, I ran across this statistic in another forum, can't vouch for its accuracy... Since the beginning of the space program, American women have spent more on make-up than the nation has on the space program... If it's accurate, it's an interesting measurement.

I just hope that this doesn't cause the politicans to decide to kill the space program; I think that there's a hard-wired imperative in the human brain that requires that we try to explore, to find out what's over the next hill or around the next bend.

The more we do in space, the closer we get to the core truths of the beginnings of the Universe and all life, and "Are we alone here?" One look at the Hubble Deep Field is enough to give me chill bumps... dam' the Universe is a _big_ place!

Jim, "Ignorance; the final frontier...." (with a tip of the hat to whoever here first posted this one)

ahofam123

Although the crash of the Columbia was a big tragedy, at least the astronauts were able to die doing something they loved.

I think that the microwave was invented when someone was developing radar for one of the wars. He put the radar piece inside his pocket with a candy bar and a while later the candy bar was melted.

Since I will be attending Georgia Tech in the fall, I pay particular attention to its connections with Nasa. The professor that helped to design the tiles showed the newsperson that while one side of the tile was burning red with a temp. of 1000 deg. the other side was cool enough to put your hands on. Too bad the tiles weren't made to be more durable though.

MichelleJD

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by jim968:
[ BTW, I ran across this statistic in another forum, can't vouch for its accuracy... Since the beginning of the space program, American women have spent more on make-up than the nation has on the space program... If it's accurate, it's an interesting measurement.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">I wouldn't be surprised. I'll give up mine to fund NASA and keep the astronauts safe.