Quote:A terrible error that cost three brave men their lives. NASA seems to be more worried about public image than safety these days. How many more people will have to die before the engineers are put back in charge?
I really think that 2 of the 3 NASA disasters were simply accidents. There was one that I believe could have been prevented (STS-51-L
Challenger) but as you said, NASA was worried about its image and decided to take a risk that the engineers told them not too. They felt they had gotten away with it in the past and would continue to do so. Unfortunately, itn caught up to them on the most watched launch of the program.
With both Apollo 1 and the STS-107
Columbia mission (who's anniversary is also within the week), were simply accidents that just occassionally happen during that kind of work. Both had design flaws, Apollo 1's biggest problem was an inward opening hatch (that couldn't be instantly opened). Combine that with the flamible atmosphere and a disaster hit. When the fire started, the instant buildup of pressure inside the spacecraft would have made the hatch impossible for any man to open (assuming White had even managed to get it unlocked before perishing). Design flaws were also a problem with the Space Shuttle's foam. There had been small impacts in the previous 112 launches but nothing that ever indicated that a large chunk would come off and do serious damage. Again, they were wrong.
I guess my point is, that with both Apollo 1 and
Columbia no mission protocal was broken. The disaster simply happened due to an unfortunate string of circumstances. With
Challenger mission safety rules reguarding launch temperature were broken and that was the direct cause of the explosion.
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