6 thoughts on “Oops”

  1. Things that come up when you are operating a real space operation. When program cancellation (SpaceLab) is not an option because the mission is the first priority. I think they came up with a reasonable compromise. These kind of compromises won’t be the last. With privately run programs we probably won’t hear of them until someone with knowledge, who has retired, publishes a memoir. Or, in the more unfortunate case, there is a public inquiry after an incident.

    1. I had always assumed that eventually a shuttle would go kaboom due to an SSME explosion. Had that happened I’d have been saddened but not really surprised. In retrospect, the Columbia accident harked back to it’s very first flight. When there was a lot of speculation of a ‘zipper’ effect should a single thermal tile work loose. I remember the first return was as white knuckle as was the first launch. Then it got remarkably complacent.

          1. I should add, that was not an explosion but a controlled engine shutdown due to 2 sensor failures. But an SSME anomaly nonetheless.

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