What if Columbia had never suffered dammage?

[ascan1984]

What if Columbia had never suffered dammage on on the launch of STS 107 and made it back to florida or edwards no problem. Would there have been another case like this eventually in which tile or RCC dammage caused the loss of a crew?

 

[mattblack]

It was RCC panel damage and not tile damage. Yes, there is a good chance another crew might have suffered the same fate 10, 15 or 20 missions further on, who can say? Best not to speculate, really: There could never be a better or worse time for a Shuttle accident to happen. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p>One Percent of Federal Funding For Space: America <strong><em><u>CAN</u></em></strong> Afford it!!  LEO is a <strong><em>Prison</em></strong> -- It's time for a <em><strong>JAILBREAK</strong></em>!!</p> </div>

 

[nacnud]

Maybe, maybe not. I think the foam loss was a known issue (from a previouse foam strike) but what the fix would have been I don't know. The plan was to fly the STS to 2020 or beyond.<br /><br />Another interesting question is whether the VSE would have happened without Columbia.

 

[nyarlathotep]

>>"Maybe, maybe not. I think the foam loss was a known issue"<br /><br />Yes, known since about 1985. It just hadn't been a big enough political issue to warrant a fix until Columbia.

 

[vogon13]

After a huge effort to prevent another accident, the very next flight after the Columbia had another big piece of foam detach.<br /><br />The accident was inevitable. It may still be.<br /><br /><br />{IIRC, the prior flight of Columbia's last, another foam strike occured on an SRB, in that case, to no effect}<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>