On Tue, 4 Feb 2003, Michael Motyka wrote: > Seems kindof like leaving the spare tire, jack, poncho and duck boots out of your >car to > save weight and space. It's fine except for that one day you get a flat while it's >pouring > freezing rain and there's 3 or 4 inches of slush on the ground. Overconfidence? >Playing > the odds rather than playing it safe?
Yes, they try to stack the odds in favor of safety (overly so I think), but they had quite a few tile failures that didn't end in this level of catastrophy. One more data point. > Bishop, CA wasn't it? That would be maybe 1000 miles or 4-5 minutes away from the > catastrophic breakup in E TX. More than enough time to realize you're beyond screwed. Yes. Ground control didn't tell them they noticed something wrong for 2 minutes. I don't know when radio blackout is, I think they had already come thru that part. But by the time the ground knew there was something wrong, it was already way too late. > I'm not a fan of the space program but yup, it's a bummer. When it gets privatized, we'll have personal emergency re-entry shields instead of poncho and boots. Patience, persistence, truth, Dr. mike
