more Space Shuttle stuff (NY Times)

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I didn't specify a mass on the end of the rope since in my estimation none is needed. Your assumption that a rope pushed away from the shuttle would rebound may be mistaken. If the rope is inelastic it won't rebound at all. Even if it did rebound some - ie had a low but nonzero coefficient of restitution - the shuttle could move up or down in the meanwhile. By moving relative to the rope the shuttle could get a wraparound.

Per

there were two EVA-capable space suits on board Columbia and there was an airlock "through which the crew could have performed an EVA if necessary." If two astronauts on long tethers jump straight up at the same time from the shuttle and as they near the end of their tethers push apart, they will then swing out and around the shuttle.

That webpage (which I hadn't seen before) happens to mention the "Contingency ET Umbilical Door Manual Closure EVA procedure" in which you "Attach a rope [...] on the hull. The other end of the rope has a small padded mass attached. In this case, the mass is a bunch of clothes in a bag, attached to a safety tether. The Astronaut then twirls the weight around and then lets it fly so it wraps itself around the hull. If all goes well, the Astronaut grabs it as it comes around, then attaches the other end to the hull".

I don't see how this would work, due to the same objections you made, about the rope going straight out and rebounding straight back, but as I noted above, the shuttle could move or two astronauts could produce reaction forces by pushing against each other. Anyhow, the webpage also says (as part of the explanation for no tile repair kit being developed) that "the very act of throwing the bag or dragging a rope taut against the reentry surfaces are enough to damage a tile" so having a rope around could have made things worse.

-jiw

coefficient

Not likely. The velocities involved are minimal (compared to the foam insulation vector velocities during takeoff).

Armchair astronouts not withstanding the failure of the 'team' to take the requested pictures and the absence of contingency plans was what doomed those people and the mission . Heads should bloody well roll!

The political/economic focus that was revealed during the investigation should serve as a flag! Do we (the world - or those of us who care) want humanity's quest for space to end this way? I think not. After all, it is our dollars that are being spent ( hint - it is not just American resources that are being expended here) and the failures have not been engineering ones. They have been caused by the bean counters and the public relations types. Truth be to tell we should have been researching and developing better alternatives to the 'shuttle' senario. They do exist and should be given more weight. Make it a 'world' endeavour! Let's face it, it *is* a world concern.

Ken.

Exactly. If they want to fold the program, fine.

But to allow folks to die because of bureaucratic stupidity is criminal. And there's a good chance that's what's happened.

In the old days, the problem would be analyzed ten different ways, and the edict would come down from on high, nobody sleeps, nobody eats, nobody goes home, until those folks are either down safe or dead.

Jim

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Right, but if you knew that you were going to going to burn up and die on the way in, you would probably figure out something to try.

Jim

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I agree with you , Jim . I say all 11 of the saftey "people" should be sat together and filmed , and that none of them sleeps, eats, or leaves till we the *people* get the real reason that they didn't try. If I was one of those up there I would want the truth. Hey, send the video of the foam hitting ASAP to orbit and let everyone know that it could be a problem , I'm sure it would get hashed out from there. At the very least they could have said good bye and known that they just might not make it back instead of clueless. Even if there was no options they could have at least gone out and filmed the damage or got it from some other source to see exactly what kind of damage it was to learn from. Say, it made it back and had a big burnt hole , they could get an idea of what type of damage on the leading edge will turn out to be.

We should give up on maned missions and spend all that extra $ on robots to the moon , its right there compared to Mars. There should be tracks all over the Moon by now with the temperature changes from light to dark and be driven by stirling engines. Mankind has a much better chance of being on the Moon than far away Mars. I'm not saying to give up on Mars, but to basically give up on the first stepping stone is just plain stupid. Even if there where no more maned missions ever , we should concentrate on the moon and the typical deep space things as secondary till man is needed on the Moon and go from there.

What is it that can't be done on the Space Station that can't be done with robotics? Learn more that we aren't meant to be in that kind of environment for long periods of time? Do as much as possible without humans till it is absolutely needed and if you have people willing to go up there at least tell them the truth all the time. I'm sure there are some situations where you wouldn't want to overload them or set in panic, but I don't think this was one of those.

I had to beg my mom at 8 to stay up and watch the first landing on the Moon and remember wondering what was wrong with her , this is important stuff ! Man in space is great , ok we've done it , let the robots get alot more done than we can and go out there again when need be. Mankind should reach out as much as possible , but not for image and personal experiences anymore. And not because of the dangers involved its because we could get alot further for the $.

One astronaut hangs on to the edge of the bay door, the other hangs on to the 1st. It's what was availiable.