ain149e1@merrimack.edu (02/27/90)
HELLO! I'D BE CURIOUS TO KNOW PEOPLE'S OPINIONS OF THE MOVIE "CHALLENGER" THAT AIRED SUNDAY NIGHT ON ABC. I THOUGHT THEY DID A GOOD JOB OF SHOWING THE CONCERN THE PEOPLE AT MORTON THIOKOL(SP?) HAD ABOUT LAUNCHING IN THE COLD, BUT I THINK THEY DID A LOUSY JOB IN SHOWING NASA'S RESPONSE. I WISH THEY HAD ALSO SHOWED SOMETHING ABOUT THE BLAST, HOW THE CREW CAPSULE FOR THE MOST PART, SURVIVED INTACT. I BELIEVE (PERSONALLY) THAT THE ASTRONAUTS SURVIVED THE BLAST, BUT DROWN WHEN THE SHUTTLE HIT THE WATER. KEVIN
henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (02/27/90)
In article <18626.25e9591a@merrimack.edu> ain149e1@merrimack.edu writes: >... I BELIEVE (PERSONALLY) THAT THE ASTRONAUTS SURVIVED THE BLAST, BUT >DROWN WHEN THE SHUTTLE HIT THE WATER. No, actually, they were killed by the impact when the cabin hit the water. They were *probably* unconscious from hypoxia, although that is not certain. It is virtually certain that they were neither killed nor fatally injured by the breakup itself. (Technically there was no "blast"; the shuttle did not explode, it disintegrated.) (This isn't just personal opinion, it's what the NASA medical/forensic report concluded.) -- "The N in NFS stands for Not, | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology or Need, or perhaps Nightmare"| uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu
john@newave.UUCP (John A. Weeks III) (02/28/90)
In article <18626.25e9591a@merrimack.edu> ain149e1@merrimack.edu writes: > I'D BE CURIOUS TO KNOW PEOPLE'S OPINIONS OF THE MOVIE "CHALLENGER" THAT AIRED > SUNDAY NIGHT ON ABC. I THOUGHT THEY DID A GOOD JOB OF SHOWING THE CONCERN > THE PEOPLE AT MORTON THIOKOL(SP?) HAD ABOUT LAUNCHING IN THE COLD, BUT I THINK > THEY DID A LOUSY JOB IN SHOWING NASA'S RESPONSE. Anyone know if the Morton Thiokol / NASA discussion the night before the ill-fated launch used real dialog? As a space fan, I used to think that NASA was totally at fault for not listening to Thiokol. After seeing "Challenger", I'm not so sure anymore. Thiokol looked very disorganized and unscientific when they were trying to convince NASA not to launch. I am still disappointed that NASA (managers) did not recogize that booster leakage could lead to a mission failure. They seemed to know that there was a problem with booster leakage, but they were not worried enough about the problem to stop launching. -john- -- =============================================================================== John A. Weeks III (612) 942-6969 john@newave.mn.org NeWave Communications ...uunet!rosevax!bungia!wd0gol!newave!john ===============================================================================
henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (03/04/90)
In article <61@newave.UUCP> john@newave.mn.org (John A. Weeks III) writes: >I am still disappointed that NASA (managers) did not recogize that booster >leakage could lead to a mission failure. They seemed to know that there >was a problem with booster leakage, but they were not worried enough about >the problem to stop launching. The best way to avoid this would be to occasionally fly with a passenger, picked at random from among NASA and contractor managers. Then we wouldn't hear any of this nonsense about "take off your engineering hat and put on your management hat". Unfortunately, there are no plans to do that. Moving (ex-)astronauts into management is not nearly as good, but at least NASA has managed to do some of that. -- MSDOS, abbrev: Maybe SomeDay | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology an Operating System. | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu
bbanzai@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU (Gary J Ehrlich) (03/06/90)
In article <61@newave.UUCP>, john@newave.UUCP (John A. Weeks III) writes: > > Anyone know if the Morton Thiokol / NASA discussion the night before the > ill-fated launch used real dialog? > Yes, the dialogue is in fact similar to what actually took place. I have read the ROgers Commission report, which covers the content of the teleconference very well (as is to be expected). Specifically, the line "My God Thiokol, when do you want me to launch? April?" DID actually occur. I'm not sure about the exact wording of the rest. I suggest obtaining a copy of the Rogers report if you are interested in more information -- Gary J. Ehrlich bbanzai@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu