No. I do not hope the space shuttle blows up today or on it's return, but When Will They Learn?

What happened to all the pledges after the first shuttle disaster?

What happened to all the pledges after the last shuttle disaster?

After each tragedy, there were pledges that schedules would be damned, "safety first" would be the only criteria.

I worked as an aircraft mechanic for almost 35 years. We were pressured to keep schedule. The airlines all say that they put safety first, but it is amazing how keeping planes on schedule somehow creeps into the equation.

And there is also the human factor of the workers/mechanics/technicians. It is easy for them to get lazy. When they check a system day in and day out and it always checks ok, it is easy to skip a check one time when he is having a bad day, or rushed because of a heavy work load or just thinks that the plane is designed too well to require so many checks or checks so often.

But space shuttles are not commercial airliners. Commercial airliners have huge safety factors built in. When they are tested to destruction, they then divide or multiply by various factors in order to get allowable limits. If the manual says that a commercial airliner can only take "x" amount of stress, it can take really take 5x or 6x before it will break. If the manual says that the landing gear must be greased every 2 weeks, it probably can go 2 months without being greased.

Space shuttles, on the other hand, are designed on the cutting edge. NASA claims that if tiles are detected broken off, then they will dock at the space station and wait for a rescue shuttle. Yeah, right!! They have no method of repairing tile damage in space. Do you believe that they will leave this multi-billion $ $pace $huttle to rot in space?

Why is the schedule to complete the space station more important than the lives of the humans on the shuttle? Why can't NASA come up with a fix? What will happen to the shuttle program, the space station program, our planned trips to the Moon and Mars if the shuttle blows up today or on it's return?

I don't want to think about it, but apparently neither does NASA, BUT it is their job to think about it. Their PRIMARY JOB, I would think.

They try again today.

Let's pray for their safety.

Tired Old Man,

I heard a NASA official say "We are paid by the taxpayers to be risk takers" I dont think so! I can't even stand to watch the shuttle stuff on TV. It is too anxiety provoking. We need to keep them in our prayers, 'tis true.