Breaking: Shuttle damage worse than expected

[malaise]

MSNBC.

[blogslut]

1. Oh dear

Please let them come back safely.

[lse7581011]

3. Godspeed Endeavor Astronauts! n/t

[WI_DEM]

2. Yeah, I heard that. I pray they will return safely

[Junkdrawer]

4. It's a flawed design, but they keep flying it anyway...

:crazy:

[Johonny]

20. Yeah

That's some great 1970s technology you got there. The point of the shuttle is to supply the international space station. The point of the space station is to be supplied by the shuttle. That's a great program.

[Blackhatjack]

5. Earlier thread with a LINK to story at MSNBC....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1573731&mesg_id=1573731

[malaise]

6. Thanks

Missed your thread.

[KharmaTrain]

7. Apollo 13 Shivers All Over Again...

And this isn't a Tom Hanks movie, folks...

I'm honestly speechless at this moment...except for that very uneasy feeling I remember having watching Apollo 13 back in '70. The difference, other than I'm a lot, lot older now, is I honestly didn't think there was any way NASA could fail...they'd just put a man on the moon and I didn't realize how serious the situation was...and the peril those astronauts were in. Today is another story...a far different NASA. I'm just hoping the ground controllers haven't been out tipping little brown ones.

[malaise]

8. I can't believe another teacher's life

is in jeopardy. Let's hope they land safely.

[KharmaTrain]

10. She Worked With Christa McAuliffe, No?

That's what I thought I heard Miles Mindbender babble the other day.

I wonder if they can use the Space Station as a lifeboat...it may be a little cramped in there, but at least that's an option NASA didn't have previously.

[malaise]

12. Yes Barbara Morgan

was actually on standby for that disastrous trip.

http://article.wn.com/view/2007/08/08/7_astronauts_including_schoolteacher_prepare_for_Endeavours_/?section=TopStoriesWorldwide&template=worldnews%2Findex.txt
<snip>
Barbara Morgan, who during lift off will be seated on the lower deck in the middle, exactly where Christa McAuliffe sat 21 years ago. Morgan was McAuliffe's backup on the Challenger, which exploded after liftoff in 1986, and she is used to the comparisons.

[frogcycle]

13. they can stay in the ss

and can use its escape module to return, if necessary

or wait for another shuttle

or repair this one

[KharmaTrain]

16. How Long Can The Shuttle Stay Up?

I can't see how they could try to re-enter if both heat shields are compromised...and a patch-up job sounds iffy as well.

If they're forced to stay in the Shuttle how long could they stay there without either food, water, oxygen and power running out?

[frogcycle]

17. they are docked with the ss

with plenty of supplies.

They could stay there for months, I suspect.

The patching process has been tested on the ground; this damage is less than previous damage in which a shuttle landed safely

[spanone]

9. Didn't NASA supposedly FIX this problem????/

[Junkdrawer]

11. They can't. The external tank is full of cryogenic fuels and sits above the shuttle...

Fundamentally flawed design.

[Johonny]

21. Sort of

There is on going testing to study the problem and understand the underlining faults that lead to the foam breaking. As well as understanding the results of impact of ice and foam on the shuttle tiles. There is to date no way to guarantee 100 % there will not be ice build up on the fuel tank, nor structural damage to the foam prior to launch.

[InvisibleTouch]

14. I'm starting to develop a superstition...

...about teachers in space.

Hope they make it home okay. I remember the Challenger disaster too clearly.

[helderheid]

15. My 11th birthday

:cry:

[hootinholler]

19. Jesus I'm freakn OLD!

:hi:

-Hoot

[soothsayer]

23. It was on my birthday, too! Bummer.

[applegrove]

18. Oh ****!

[helderheid]

22. k