posted 10-02-2005 04:07 PM
Five-time shuttle astronaut Robert "Hoot" Gibson was here in Fort Wayne Friday evening for an event at Indiana University-Purdue University/Fort Wayne. He served as the keynote speaker for the 2005 "Opportunity Banquet," hosted by the IPFW Society of Women Engineers. 
Beforehand, he held a news conference for local media, which actually turned into a discussion with about 30 students (and with me) because nobody in Indiana's second largest media outlet apparently thought a five-time Shuttle astronaut interesting enough.
Gibson, who piloted STS 41-B and Commanded STS 61-C, STS-27, 47 and 71, spoke on a wide range of subjects, from the continuing Return to Flight efforts to his thoughts on the Vision For Space Exploration:
* On the vision For Space Exploration - Gibson expressed doubt that the Crew Exploration Vehcile now under development can really handle the number of duties it is being touted for (station crew transport, return to the Moon and flights to Mars).
"To me, that sounds like three different vehicles. And this vehicle is being designed to do it all. I'm hard pressed to see how we do that."
* On the continuing Space Shuttle Return To Flight efforts - The lessons of 51-L are the same lessons taught again by the STS-107 accident, he said. Both accidents were caused by flying outside of the shuttle's designed operating environment.
"Yet somehow, we concluded that is was safe to fly," he said. "We always got away with it befre and we succeeded."
Gibson was involved in the post-Challenger RTF, specializing in redesign of the Solid Rocket Boosters. But no matter how good the technology gets or how hard NASA and its contractors work, accidents are going to happen in the complex world of spaceflight, he added.
* On his own close calls - Gibson told students about two close calls the shuttle experienced on missions he commanded. On STS-27 (a classified DOD flight), poor communication between the Atlantis crew and Mission Control resulted in the orbiter re-entering with poorly understood tile damage. The resulting heating caused damage to the orbiter's metal stucture, a precursor to the STS-107 accident.
A requirement to transmit encrypted video of the damage during the military flight resulted in poor resolution images, convincing ground controllers that the tile damage was really just "lights and shadows," Gibson said.
"Mission Control didn't really listen to me when I told them what was going on," Gibson said.
On an earlier flight, 61-C, a broken engine sensor probe jammed open a valve. Had the launch not been scrubbed that day (the broken probe was discovered AFTER the scrub), the engine would likely had exploded at shutdown, and "blown the back end off" of Columbia, Gibson said.
* On words of advice to students interested in becoming astronauts - Gibson suggested that students first focus on finding a satisfying career path, THEN direct their energies toward becoming an astronaut.
"Let's face it, the numbers are so staggeringly against you. You don't want to go through your entire career doing something you don't enjoy because you thought it would help you become an astronaut."
* He managed to get a few chuckles from the students with remarks like this one about the fast-paced experience of the shuttle's 8-1/2 minute ascent to orbit:
"The launch is something that when you do it once, once is not enough. In 8-1/2 minutes, if I said go (right now), I'll bet you couldn't find your car," Gibson said to a group assembled in the campus' student center lounge.
Afterward, he glady signed plenty of autographs included one for me (on a 20-year-old copy of the 41-B crew photo).
posted 10-02-2005 04:07 PM
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