Something I don't understand about the space shuttle

[Colleen A.]

Since they are now once again leaning towards the debris theory, there is something I do not understand about the design of the shuttle. When this theory first came out, NASA had said that the astronauts would of had no way to see how bad the damage was or even repair the damage if they knew since the Columbia did not have the robotic arm. IF this arm would of helped save this mission (or any mission!) by giving the astronauts a way to repair exterior damage, why don't all 'models' of the shuttle come equipped with the arm?
I think that all the shuttles should have the arm as standard equiptment. This could save a mission and crew that otherwise would be doomed.

 

[Dan Murphy]

If this was the cause, damage to the tiles, they have said the astronauts still would not have had replacements, as they are individually designed for their (the tiles) specific spots on the shuttle, therefore they do not carry any replacement tiles. Additionally, no way to actually attach them.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

The arm would have only allowed the astronauts to see what damage there might or might not have been. It would not have played a part in the repairs. In addition, I do not believe that capability exists thus far to allow such a repair in space. First of all, most space walks are in the confines of the shuttle bay area, not the underside of the oribiter. Second, each tile is created for a unique position on the shuttle, so it's not as easy as switching out one tile for the other. Some other type of fix would have to be researched. Finally, tiles had been damaged on numerous other missions, even if they had seen damage and had a fix, chances are they would have thought the the risk of a space walk would have been greater than the damage done to the tile(s).

 

[minniepumpernickel]

I keep hearing a lot of different theories about what they could have done to prevent this. Like where the shuttle should have had some type of escape pod, or plan if something malfunctioned. It still seems almost unreal that something this tragic could have happened again!

I keep following the reports to see if anything is revealed in the pieces that will give them more insight into the cause.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

The escape pod is an intersting theory. However, one would have to know that there was indeed a malfunction and have a way to communicate said malfunction information to the orbiter which does not have all the information mission control does. Even then things can happen in an instant. There really is no easy fix.

 

[Towncrier]

The escape pod would add too much weight to the shuttle. It would severely limit the amount of cargo that they could carry into space. As it was, the Columbia was too heavy to make it into a high enough orbit to reach the international space station. That's why they always did low orbit activities with that particular craft.

As to the tiles. When the shuttle was originally being designed, I worked for a machine tool company that build the computer system that controlled the milling machine that made the tiles. As Dan mentioned, each tile is unique. As far as I know, no two tiles are identical. They would literally have to carry 20,000 extra tiles into space just to ensure that they had the right one.

I believe that I also heard that the Columbia was not carrying any EVA (extra-vehicular activity) suits on board. Even if they did know that there was damage to their shuttle and even if NASA could send up one of the other shuttles on a rescue mission, I don't know if they would have been able to transfer from the Columbia to the rescue ship. The lack of EVA suits is also a weight consideration. It costs a considerable amount of money to put a pound of anything into orbit.

Everything in the space program boils down to the concept of risk versus reward. Unfortunately, nothing in life is risk free. And we all got a reminder of just how risky space travel still is.

 

[Rajah]

All of this has been covered in briefings by Ron Dittermore or other NASA reps:

The Astronauts were not equiped to do a space walk under the belly of the shuttle -- they never are. Walking under the belly of the shuttle has the potential of doing more damage to the shuttle than already is there, and has a greater risk of losing the astronaut than attempting re-entry. Unfortunately, in this case, that risk turned out to be a loss. But, even if they had done the walk and found the damage, there wasn't anything they could do. There isn't a "tile fix-it kit" in existance -- tiles are examined and repaired after every mission individually. They couldn't have stayed in space to await a repair or rescue team because there wasn't enough time. They would have died due to lack of oxygen and we still would have lost them and the shuttle. They couldn't have gone to the Space Station because they were in a different orbit, not equiped to dock with the Station, and putting 10 people on 3 peoples' worth of supplies, they'd use them up very, very fast. They really only had one option, and that was to try coming home. If luck was with them, they would have made it. Unfortunately, it wasn't this time.

The arm wasn't included this time due to weight issues. It's rarely included on research missions because the point of the mission is research, not arm use. There's only so much weight that can be lifted into space, at least at a certain cost. And the arm is rather heavy.

The problem with an escape pod is the only way it could be made would be to totally re-design the front of the shuttle and put more stresses on an already-stressed structure. There's a greater risk of something that is designed to break away during an emergency instead breaking away when it's not supposed to than there is risk of having this happen again. Also, retro-fitting the existing shuttles to include the escape pod would greatly increase their weight, again limiting what can be taken up, not to mention make them less safe because you're jurry-rigging something to an existing vehicle that wasn't designed for the jurry-rigging.

It's a catch 22 in a risky business. But, even that being said, there have only been 2 major disasters (at least that I know of) in 22 years of performing this risky business (specifically the Space Shuttle). Considering all the risks involved, that's a durn good record.

 

[minniepumpernickel]

The National Space Society has launched a petition in support of the human exploration of space to counter critics who are calling for an end of human spaceflight following this shuttle disaster.

Heres the sight www.nss.org
-where space supporters can put their names.

I want the space program to continue, and hope that this petition will help!

 

[Colleen A.]

I don't think that manned space flights should be ended. I only wish there was some way for the astronauts to have the ability to repair damages.....to have some sort of input into their destinys....I don't know the answers and only pray that one can be found.

 

[Mark P.]

I consider myself a 'space junkie', more into the Apollo (lunar landing) stuff, but still fascinated by it all just the same.

No matter what design changes may occur, or what other spacecraft(s) might or will replace the Shuttle, the fact is that spaceflight will always be inherently dangerous. Probably the most dangerous thing one can do. It is terribly unfortunate that tragedies like Columbia happen, but the Astronauts and their families know the risk, and just hope and pray that all goes well.

The bottom line is that once they're out of Earth's atmosphere, there' s not a whole lot (or any) kind of repairs that can be done, especially to problably the most important element of the Shuttle, the tiles.

 

[smileybrat]

just like the others have said, even if they could have seen the damage there would be no way to repair it. it doesn't make sense to put it there if it doesn't do anything.