I am impressed with Ron Dittemore, NASA Shuttle Program Manager

[Dan Murphy]

I am watching the NASA news conference, being held a Cape Canaveral, on C-Span. He is the one who is the main spokesperson, answering many questions and making some general statements. He has been the focus guy since yesterday AM with the media. I am thoroughly impressed at his openness, honesty and knowledge of what is going on, keeping in mind that the event happened only about 36 hours ago. I was also impressed with the questions from the press at the conference, really all of them sensible as well as sensitive.

Flight Crew Operations Manager, Bob Cabana, is also at the news conference. He spoke briefly at the beginning of the conference and seemed on the very edge of breaking down in tears when speaking of the lost astronauts and their families, and his job of informing each of them of their losses yesterday. A very sensitive person I see there.

Just some personal obervations.

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[Val]

These individuals are so open. They are factual and straightforward, but it is obvious how difficult this is for them. I can't imagine the feeling of sitting in mission control and realizing you have "lost contact" with close colleagues/friends. It is even more impossible to have to face grueling reporters just hours after such an event. My heart goes out to all of NASA! What a terrible tragedy and a huge loss of research and some of the best and brightest scientists of our generation.

 

[cinlee3]

I agree Dan. I was also impressed by the questions asked by the press.

 

[CRB#33]

I agree with you Dan. He is very, very good at what he does. I noticed how calm and patient he was yesterday when he was asked the same question (in different ways) many different ways.

He definitely knows how to do his job well.

 

[wdw4us]

does anyone know what those letters "MG " stand for on their patch?

denise

 

[Kallison]

I felt bad for him after the initial hours, it really looked like he was going to lose his composure a few times, but he didn't and I agree with your assessment of his performance in front of the cameras. What a tough job.

 

[ncligs]

He did an excellent job in a very stressfull situation.

 

[TennVolTony]

He has a tough job ahead of him. Our cable system carries the NASA Channel here and he has been on non-stop. He knows his stuff. I'm impressed with him.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Originally posted by wdw4us
does anyone know what those letters "MG " stand for on their patch?

denise

I think it may stand for the Microgravity in Freestar Microgravity Research Mission, the type of scientific mission it was.

 

[BCVOwner2002]

I agree. He has done a remarkable job under extreme pressure. I could not imagine having to face the media and answer so many difficult questions. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families but also to those at NASA who are working around the clock to solve this terrible tragedy. Annmarie

 

[JamesD]

Denise it is not the letter m before the g on the patch, it is the greek letter mu. The letter mu, which as a prefix is referred to as micro, represents a unit of measurement on the order of one millionth of a gram. Which means they were doing experiments on very, very small amounts of material and how they behave in zero-gravity.
As a proud member of the NASA family for almost 30 years, I can tell you that another accident of the shuttle fleet is almost more than we can bear. Personally, I was devestated, and I am afraid for the future of the agency.
May God bless the crew of Columbia and their families!

 

[SplshMtn99]

Completely agree with Dan's oberservations.