My heartfelt prayers go out to the friends and families of the astronauts
killed today.
This bit of speculation is thanks to my husband: upon launch, a piece of
insulation flew off and struck the Space Shuttle. It seemingly did no
damage at the time, but may have opened a hairline crack in the
heat-resistant tiles of the wing, where it hit. One of the last
transmissions from Columbia noted a problem with tire pressure. The
proposed crack would have been right over the well where the tires rest
while not being used. The events would have transpired thus: Crack in tiles
allows excess heat in to tire well. Tire responds to extreme heating by
blowing out or excessive expanding, further weakening the stressed tiles and
wing at that point. Further weakening of wing results in catastrophic
failure upon reeentry.
Ron, last fall you put out a call for civilian NASA ambassadors. I would
like to apply, even though the deadline is past. NASA is going to need all
the advocates it can get after this latest disaster. Manned space flight is
going to be set back in the US to pre-Mercury standards; there are hundreds
of well-meaning but ignorant or apathetic individuals who don't want money
spent on space flight.
Tracy Latimer
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