Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Panel Challenges NASA Over Shuttle Safety

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the salt-in-the-wounds dept.

Uttini writes "NASA skipped some shuttle safety improvements as it tried to meet unrealistic launch dates for the first flight since the Columbia tragedy, some members of an oversight panel said in a scathing critique. Poor leadership also made shuttle Discovery's return to space more complicated, expensive and prolonged than it needed to be."

2 of 266 comments (clear)

  1. Hey by PunkOfLinux · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They need to keep people thinking that their program is deserving of taxpayers' money. The best way to do that is to launch the shuttle, especially after something like columbia.

    They did what they with what they had; the government keeps cutting nasa funding, and THAT is what lead to columbia -- too little money, too much to do.

    --
    Show this to your friends and family that don't know what a real hacker is
    1. Re:Hey by Vellmont · · Score: 5, Insightful


      That or the space shuttle is inherrently flawed. Let's scrap the shuttle and make something better, before the next crew dies.

      The shuttle may be "flawed" as you put it. Or maybe spaceflight is just dangerous? Do we really have reason to believe the next generation craft is going to be safer? If so, how much safer? Life is risky you know. Hell, we can hardly build a bridge or a skyscraper without SOMEONE dying.

      There is one thing that's not disputed, and that is that the shuttle flights are way too expensive. The shuttle IS set to be scrapped, but we have to complete the space station before that can happen. For the moment the shuttle serves a purpose that can't be quickly replaced.

      I think they should be doing exactly what they are, and that is get the damn ISS built, then scrap the shuttle since it's purpose will have been served.

      --
      AccountKiller