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Author
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Topic: rescue Mission
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Fra Mauro
Member Posts: 1586
From: Bethpage, N.Y.
Registered: Jul 2002
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posted 07-18-2003 05:25 PM
   
What doyou think the odds were of a successful rescue mission to the Columbia.
I bet there would have been plenty of volunteers fot the mission |
dtemple
Member Posts: 729
From: Longview, Texas, USA
Registered: Apr 2000
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posted 07-18-2003 07:18 PM
All I can say is that Walt Cunningham said during his book signing tour in Dallas that despite what anyone has read, there was absolutely nothing that could have been done to save the STS-107 crew. To me that rules out a rescue mission or any other ideas. |
Scott
Member Posts: 3307
From: Houston, TX
Registered: May 2001
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posted 07-18-2003 07:38 PM
Hindsight is 20/20 and I'm sure there have been dozens of problems that mission control people wrote off in good faith in the past that didn't lead to a disaster. That being said, my gut feeling is that if we had decided there was a need to rescue them, that it could have been pulled off. That's what Story Musgrave thinks, and he's a hell of a lot smarter and knowledgeable than me.
Scott |
Fra Mauro
Member Posts: 1586
From: Bethpage, N.Y.
Registered: Jul 2002
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posted 07-21-2003 08:57 PM
I think the chances were less than 50% since the pre-launch checks would have been greatly
reduced. The odds of losing another shuttle
would have been great. |
Ben
Member Posts: 1896
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: May 2000
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posted 07-21-2003 09:05 PM
If they wanted to do it, they could do it.The problem is, they would never have said "let's do it," so the chances of a rescue mission were next to nil. My two cents. |
collshubby
Member Posts: 591
From: Madisonville, Louisiana
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 07-21-2003 10:29 PM
If NASA knew about the hole in the wing prior to re-entry, but the crew did not know, and NASA did not want to launch a rescue mission, would they have told the crew?If both NASA and the crew did know about the hole, but NASA did not want to launch a rescue mission, what would the crew have thought? If the crew knew about the hole, and NASA was willing to launch a rescue mission, would the crew have wanted NASA to take that risk? Would it have been possible for Columbia to rendezvous or dock with the ISS to buy some time? There are so many “what if” questions. I think there would have been many a person in NASA wanting to launch a rescue mission, but wether the big heads would have wanted to take that risk….. If the crew and NASA knew ahead of time, and NASA did not want to launch a mission, what would that say about NASA? What would the workers of Mission Control think and feel knowing what disaster awaited Columbia on re-entry? Would astronaut want to fly for an organization that would be willing to strand them in space if crisis arose? So many questions……
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Brian Peter
astronautbrian@hotmail.com |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 07-21-2003 10:38 PM
quote:
Originally posted by collshubby:
Would it have been possible for Columbia to rendezvous or dock with the ISS to buy some time?
Well, this one can be answered: Why didn't they just dock with the ISS and do repairs?
http://www.io.com/~o_m/columbia_loss_faq_s6.html#why_not_dock_with_ISS
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Ben
Member Posts: 1896
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: May 2000
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posted 07-21-2003 10:45 PM
No, they could not have gone to the ISS. They were in a different orbit (39 degrees +/- latitude to the equator) and did not have the fuel needed to change orbits (ISS is at 51.6 degrees). |
chet
Member Posts: 1506
From: Beverly Hills, Calif.
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 07-21-2003 11:29 PM
Although rescue may not have been possible for this crew, I'd like to think Nasa would be preparing right now for just such a contingency in the future. Perhaps a modified Saturn V and CSM that could be used just for ferrying astronauts off a doomed ship. At least we know it'd be reliable (wouldn't it?)-Chet |
Cliff Lentz
Member Posts: 655
From: Philadelphia, PA USA
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 07-22-2003 09:13 AM
Had they known the extent of the damage the first day, they would have had two weeks to formulate a rescue with the assembled shuttle in the VAB. An in-air rescue would have been extremely dramatic and risky. Would They risk another Shuttle in this persuate. I hope like to think they would, but logic tells me they couldn't. STS-107 was probably left to their own means as are any future flights. |
Larry McGlynn
Member Posts: 1255
From: Boston, MA
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted 07-22-2003 04:06 PM
If Charlie Precourt has any further speaking engagements that are near anyone on this thread, then they should ask him about the chances of launching a rescue mission.I saw him in March at RI. Two things struck me during his lecture. First that the ISS would need more frequent Progress resupply flights or the ISS would have have to be powered down by December and abandoned until the shuttle is back on line. The second comment was that if NASA had known the extent of damage to the wing early in the mission, then the shuttle could have powered down to conserve consumables and Atlantis could have been hurried through prep for a rescue mission. I was very surprised by that comment. ------------------
Larry McGlynn
A Tribute to Apollo |
Rizz
Member Posts: 1208
From: Upcountry, Maui, Hawaii
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 07-22-2003 05:30 PM
Where there's a will, there's a way. |
spaceman1953
Member Posts: 953
From: South Bend, IN
Registered: Apr 2002
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posted 07-22-2003 06:58 PM
We don't have a working Saturn V to use for any rescue of anything.I knew STS-107 could not dock with the ISS but I did not know it could not rendezvous with it. Obviously, I agree with everyone that there needs to be an "escape mechanism" in the next generation of Shuttles.....but even then accidents will, for whatever reason, happen and we (even me) are going to have to accept that fact if we are going to continue manned exploration of space. Gene |
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