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Debris is Shuttle's Biggest Threat
Masq666 writes "Tiny rocks, paint flecks and other fragments of junk whizzing around the Earth pose the greatest threat to the shuttles and the astronauts on board, according to the preliminary results of a new NASA risk study.
Even coin sized fragments can cause great damage to a shuttle, and the damage can be lethal, if it hits the windows or the heat shield."
That debris layer is our ablative "alien shield" defense system. Bring 'em on!
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make install -not war
Why don't they just raise the shields?
Mega Maid!
I think exploding fuel tanks and foam insulation have done far more damage than any paint flecks. The biggest threat to the shuttle is management overriding safety concerns in favor of keeping schedules or to save money.
When all else fails, run.
Just wondering, because I read that since Congress actually called them out on it, they're trying to retroactively produce their risk analysis to justify the decision, and this is the kind of bullshit that sounds an awful lot like their same old "we're too scared to do anything anymore" attitude.
Software piracy is victimless theft.
Thats why your mother told you to not lick on spacerocks.
Didn't you ever see Apollo 13? Haise pees into a relief tube in one scene and then activates the urine dump, looks out the window and says "The constellation Urion..."
... but NASA transcripts sort of bear that out as well.
Later in the movie they said that they couldn't make any more waste dumps because even that small vector would serve to push them off course.
Of course, it's a movie...
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens.
actually, that's bullshit.
at the velocities they go they're not likely to bump off, big or not. big one is just going to go through your armor. your prof would have said that it's even bigger issue if you hit a wall with that speed.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
How many satellites are destroyed on a daily basis by this debris?
If something is up there 24/7 and doesn't have the problem, then I'd say the risk is currently small enough for the shuttle.
wdd
Debris is Shuttle's Biggest Threat
No, gravity is the shuttle's biggest threat.
The closer you get to the planet, the more crap there is. Some of it is really interesting crap, but it's still deadly crap.
We're still in the very early stages of spaceflight. It's still dangerous, and it will continue to be dangerous for decades to come. And debris in orbit is only a small factor. The Challenger wasn't hit by debris in space. Neither was Columbia for that matter. Should we stop going into space because of some debris? No. Should we stop going because of the other dangers? I'll tell you what, if we come to a point where the astronauts who are risking their lives, decide it's too dangerous, then I'll start to listen. After all, they're more acquainted with the exact nature of the dangers they face than any civilian or politician (John Glenn excepted).
You want to talk dangerous, go be a soldier in Iraq. That's dangerous. Why don't we outlaw wars, particularly unjustified, needless ones.
And while we're on the topic of dangerous, let's talk about automobiles? They're not a great deal safer than the space shuttle.. Why don't we actually make driving tests difficult in the U.S. and outlaw people who can't drive? That will really save lives.
Space flight is certainly not going to get safer if we stop doing it. The only way to improve is to just continue doing it and making improvements as we learn. Will some astronauts die? Of course. And they know that. It's the risk they signed up for. Why not let them be the ones to decide whether or not it's worth it.