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Today Marks 50th Anniversary of Fatal Apollo 1 Disaster (nasaspaceflight.com)
schwit1 writes: NASASpaceFlight.com reports: "Fifty years ago Friday, the first -- but sadly not the last -- fatal spaceflight accident struck NASA when a fire claimed the lives of Virgil 'Gus' Grissom, Roger Chaffee, and Ed White during a training exercise at Launch Complex 34. The accident, a major setback for the struggling Apollo program, ushered in the first understanding of the 'bad day' effects of schedule pressure for spaceflight and brought with it words and reminders that still echo today." The article provides a very detailed and accurate look at the history and causes of the accident, as well as its consequences, which even today influence American space engineering. Are there any Slashdotters who were old enough to remember the incident? If so, we'd love to hear your take on the disaster. Where were you when the news broke and how did it affect you and the country at that time...?
Actually, yesterday (1/27) was the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire. Today (1/28) is the 31st anniversary of the Challenger disaster. I know the story was probably posted yesterday and took a few hours to get through the queue, but BeauHD should have edited the headline to reflect that.
RIP to the men and women of both tragic missions.
Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
Continuing this sad tale, we saw the loss of a launch because of faulty O-ring design caused by small, but significant, warpage from the weight of the vehicle resting on its side during the O-ring installation.
That's not what caused the O-ring failure, and the vehicle was attached vertically in the VAB, well after the SRBs were fully assembled and mated to the tank. The temperature at launch was below freezing, and about 25 degrees lower than any previous launch. The O-rings lost most of their flexibility due to the cold and failed to seal the joint as a result.
And then, there was the loss during re-entry from another vehicle because of icing issues - even though NASA had a waiver to continue using freon for de-icing which would have eliminated this problem, but changed to a different, less effective, but MORE Politically Correct compound. Granted, the actual icing issue didn't cause the loss, but the ice build-up and the impact of the ice-chunk DID result in another senseless, tragic loss.
The Columbia accident wasn't caused by ice either - it was a block of insulating foam that broke off from the tank and struck the orbiter. Very little ice ever formed on the external tank due to the insulation.
Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
And then, there was the loss during re-entry from another vehicle because of icing issues - even though NASA had a waiver to continue using freon for de-icing which would have eliminated this problem, but changed to a different, less effective, but MORE Politically Correct compound. Granted, the actual icing issue didn't cause the loss, but the ice build-up and the impact of the ice-chunk DID result in another senseless, tragic loss.
Yeah, this is where you go off on your on ranting, you start chasing the "Politically Correct" issue, when even if it was the cause, the more likely explanation would be that some other compound was cheaper to drop in, and the whole problem was one they'd been ignoring for years anyway. But you, you have to believe somebody was being "Politically Correct" which translates into "Somebody who cares about something that makes me feel bad about myself for not caring" instead of any real meaning.
Really gotta' love the bureaucrats, since they prove that normal humans can overcome even the worst of humanities faults and self-centered stupidity, and STILL succeed in the efforts to expand our frontiers.
Kinda' reminds me of the 'PC correct' idiot in purchasing that order bio-friendly cat litter for the packing of nuclear material - that caused the loss of the only long-term storage facility in the US because it ruptured - which WOULDN'T have happened if the idiot had just continued to use plain clay litter.
Wrong again, it wasn't political correctness, though it is telling that you attribute the problem to that, even though more likely, it was simple technical ignorance AND cost efficiency, and no different than when they reused decades old bombs in Vietnam, or decades old gunpowder on the Iowa.
Man, scapegoating "political correctness" IS the new "politically correct" way to do things, or is it the old way? I can't remember.
You also blame the bureaucrats, when actual and proper bureaucratic regulations would have lead to examining the choices and not randomly filling the waste casks with what fit the ostensible requirements. Much like proper regulations would have prevented the 16-inch guns on the Iowa from being improperly fired.
I suppose it's better than blaming the nearest black guy or homosexual. Or homosexual Jewish black guy.