Thirteen Years Ago Today

[Metal Mike]

Originally Posted by kellyhound

He took away the possibility for them to make a proper farewell to their family's imo.
or maybe some would know. Maybe could have told them an hour before re-entry so they could have had a final goodbuy to their loved ones.

60% of the shuttle has never been recovered after desintegrating.

Honestly? I think he made the right call. If nothing could be done about it, then why give the doomed crew ammo with which to torture themselves?

Humans live our entire lives aware of our own mortality, gnawed at by it at best and driven desperate and insane by it at worst. Cowardice, fear, anger, regret -- the crew of the Columbia was spared all that, and the ruination of their last moments that it would have accomplished.

[Oswald2001]

I can't blame Mission Control.

Any way they handled it, it would have still been a tragedy.

A very sad situation indeed.

[tbone79]

Originally Posted by Metal Mike

Honestly? I think he made the right call. If nothing could be done about it, then why give the doomed crew ammo with which to torture themselves?

Humans live our entire lives aware of our own mortality, gnawed at by it at best and driven desperate and insane by it at worst. Cowardice, fear, anger, regret -- the crew of the Columbia was spared all that, and the ruination of their last moments that it would have accomplished.

Me, personally , I'd want to know. I would rather stay in space and die instead of putting lives on the ground in danger from a doomed Shuttle. Maybe even pilot the Shuttle into deep space, away from Earth, so I would know it wouldn't cause harm to anyone else. I'm an odd duck, though. I'm the kind of guy that would throw myself in harm's way to help a stranger. Chivalry , in this generation , is not clearly understood..

[Metal Mike]

Originally Posted by tbone79

Me, personally , I'd want to know. I would rather stay in space and die instead of putting lives on the ground in danger from a doomed Shuttle. Maybe even pilot the Shuttle into deep space, away from Earth, so I would know it wouldn't cause harm to anyone else. I'm an odd duck, though. I'm the kind of guy that would throw myself in harm's way to help a stranger. Chivalry , in this generation , is not clearly understood..

I'm pretty sure shuttle re-entries are plotted with those kind of contingencies in mind. And you wouldn't have a pilot or crew attempt -- or receive approval from control to attempt -- to deviate from the flight plan to such a degree on what amounted to a highly educated guess. Even if they had known, that plan still would have been followed the same way because there would be no other viable options.

By informing them of a risk that wasn't entirely confirmed, control would have been placing possibly undue stress upon the crew, which could have negatively affected their performance and jeopardized the re-entry and their chances of survival.

It sounds heartless, but it's really just cold and rational by necessity.

[Teon]

By the way, the shuttle did not " explode" as it were. All astronaughts remained alive until they hit the water. Read the commission report. Really fascinating and sad read. What they didn't want you to know: http://www.lutins.org/nasa.html

[mkianni]

Originally Posted by Teon

Read the commission report. Really fascinating and sad read. http://www.lutins.org/nasa.html

The report you linked is from the Challenger space shuttle disaster from 1986.

[Steve 1]

Originally Posted by mkianni

The report you linked is from the Challenger space shuttle disaster from 1986.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[mkianni]

Originally Posted by Top Gear

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Sorry. Was I typing too loud?

[winvens]

I think Top Gear prefers Teon remain confused enough to start another silly thread in the conspiracies section.