Discovery: To Crash or Not to Crash?

I don't like putting 'bets' on these types of things, but I have a feeling it'll have big problems on re-entry.

The media is making everything sound like an extreme problem of course and the shuttles are really showing their age, but I will say "Not to Crash"

There's talk of a fourth space walk now. They found a damaged blanket near the cockpit window. It has expanded and is out of shape. The fear is taht it will detach and impact farther back on the orbiter on reentry.

[edit on 3-8-2005 by Zaphod58]

Only if the tiles give way..and that too, right at the initiation of re-entry, will the shuttle be in trouble..
My money's on a perfectly executed re-entry..really..
NASA hasn't spent close to 1 billion USD not only on just making sure that foam don't fall off... Most of that money's gone into re-entry...
Discovery's gonna be fine...

[edit on 3-8-2005 by Daedalus3]

They'll be fine, they're just making sure no little mistakes add up to a big one. They probably could've brought it back fine w/o any repairs at the ISS.

Don't worry so much, and have some faith. If disaster does happen, it's far from the end of NASA...perhaps a break from manned missions.

I will not partake in ghoulish predictions.

I do not like however that NASA with it's BILLIONS, has a man in a weightless environment, travelling at thousands of mph around the planet with a MAKE-SHIFT HACKSAW attempting repairs.

Hopefully not... It wouldn't be good with an other disaster for NASA...

That is true, the media as far as the US media (it's all i know), tends to blow everything out of proportion and make it worse then it really is. i am starting to think they're going to make it just fine now. Actually i'm just trying to tell myself that because i know i'm probably wrong about them crashing.

They seem to be doing things more tediously this time, repairing and all of that. Although, that's why they're up there right now isn't it? To test the ways they can repair the shuttle and that sort of thing?

Originally posted by periwinkle blue
I do not like however that NASA with it's BILLIONS, has a man in a weightless environment, travelling at thousands of mph around the planet with a MAKE-SHIFT HACKSAW attempting repairs.

lol, yeah I thought that was funny, They have all these finely tuned machines.....and a hacksaw.

But the good news is they didn't have to use the hacksaw.