Fly the Scary Skies

Years ago, I was on a Southern Airlines flight from Columbus, GA to New Orleans that made an intermediate stop in the Florida panhandle. It was a plane where everyone boarded through a ramp at the rear, and this was a crew change point. A he was walking down the aisle to the exit - past every seat on the plant - the pilot was muttering "Worst goddamned plane I ever flew. Never getting in another one." Made us all feel confident about the rest of the trip.

I thought of that when NASA's administrator announced that the Shuttle would be grounded indefinitely, while a crew in a Shuttle in orbit and getting ready to dock at the space station. That's not a station where you can change planes. Seems like he could have delayed the announcement at least until they got back on the ground.

Interestingly there's no mention of the grounding on NASA's Shuttle site, aside from a link to a brief statement about "foam shedding." Maybe they haven't told the crew.

I want to see us back in space. I once worked for a NASA contractor, and spent some time at the Cape. But I also heard a detailed briefing a year or so ago about the safety review in the wake of the Shuttle reentry disaster. Yes, space flight is risky. All flying is risky. But there was a "damn the torpedoes, launch the thing" culture at the agency that caused them not only to overlook potential hazards, but to continue to deny their possibility even when confronted with evidence to the contrary.

Now, after millions of dollars in studies and redesigns, there's still foam flying off the solid fuel tank. Maybe it's time to retire the Shuttle, and accelerate the development of the next generation space vehicle.