From: Mike Lorrey (mlorrey@yahoo.com)
Date: Sun Feb 02 2003 - 14:02:03 MST
--- Kai Becker <kmb@kai-m-becker.de> wrote:
> Am Samstag, 1. Februar 2003 16:10 schrieb dwayne:
> > 2am in australia, nothing at all on TV.
> >
> > lead news on BBC and CNN.net
>
> Very sad news. German TV shows specials about it since 16.30 MET. The
>
> Columbia was 22 years old. Has anything been modernized since '81?
All shuttles get generally rebuilt regularly, with nose to tail
inspections after every flight. The engines and pumps have been
modernised a couple times. A large amount of improvement came after the
Challenger disaster, when Feynman's committee made a long list of
recommendations.
That being said, I am actually impressed that an aircraft that flies in
such extreme performance regimes has lasted that long. It seems from
initial evidence that it only failed due to something falling off the
main fuel tank striking the left wing and damaging its heat tiling.
I sincerely hope that NASA and our government takes this opportunity to
develop not just newer shuttles, but their outright replacement. A
shuttle loss from skin damage due to things falling off the fuel tank
has been a real threat. This isn't the first time some damage has
occured, either, there have been several instances where ice falling
off the tank has struck the shuttle and caused some damage, though
never enough to cause a burnthrough like this.
=====
Mike Lorrey
"Live Free or Die, Death is not the Worst of Evils."
- Gen. John Stark
"Pacifists are Objectively Pro-Fascist." - George Orwell
"Treason doth never Prosper. What is the Reason?
For if it Prosper, none Dare call it Treason..." - Ovid
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