Columbia and NASA News

Posting in Liberal News because it has more readership.

The real analysis starts when they admit that when an over five-square-feet section of insulation weighing over ten pounds slams into the shuttle while they are going over Mach 2 they have a serious problem.

Some other analysis would involve looking at the single identical fuel tank they have left and deciding how such a large segment of insulation could have torn off. A clue is the recent redesigns of the insulation to get rid of the popcorn problem where small pieces were falling off as well as making the foam more environmentally friendly.

The impact was the start of a chain of events that lead to the failure. Next events in the chain were probably more tiles coming off around the jagged edges leading to a burn through that damaged either a hydraulic line, structural member or electrical control system.

This is what they want to know but I think that is of lesser concern than just stopping bricks from hitting the tiles at mach 2. Once you solve the insulation problem falling off problem the other problems could still be studied while you have the fleet in operation. This is all just my opinion, of course.

As to the future:

After Columbia disaster, China reaffirms commitment to space

Years of research went down with Columbia

The implications of grounding shuttle missions - Jane's Civil Aerospace

Critics Question Shuttle's Role in NASA

US, Russia Pledge to Keep Space Station Operating - VOA

Russia Now Needs Cash to Keep ISS Aloft - Moscow Times

NASA Dismissed Advisers Who Warned About Safety -NYTimes

Future of the Shuttle Program Is Linked to Space Station's - NYTimes