« Happy Chinese New Year! | Main | Invisibility Cloaks and Thirsty Koalas »
February 02, 2003
Space Shuttle Columbia Tragedy
I was shocked to hear of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster yesterday morning. The space program has always been an inspiration for me, and I believe that it is a criminal mistake to limit ourselves to this one small ball of rock we're on now. This tragedy has made me think of the families of those who took a risk for the betterment of humanity, and it's also made me think of the direction of the space program.
The Shuttle's always been a bit of a beast that's had to serve too many masters. The Shuttle's main design points were set during the Nixon era, at a time when NASA's budget was under heavy pressure. In order to ensure sufficient funding to get the Shuttle developed, NASA had to beg the Air Force to back it on Capitol Hill.
An excellent history of some Shuttle design decisions is here. A notable quote from this history:
NASA needed Air Force support, both for payloads and in Congress. I told [NASA OMSF head George] Mueller we'd support the Shuttle, but only if he gave us the big payload bay and the crossrange capability, so we could return to Vandenberg after a single orbit. --Michael Yarymovych, Air Force deputy assistant secretary
The crossrange capability that the Air Force requested be added to the Shuttle has never been used, and almost certainly never will. The Vandenberg Shuttle launch facility was mothballed in 1988 after the Challenger explosion. However, the Shuttle now permanently has large delta-wings that not only reduce the payload capacity, but add to the maximum heating rate upon reentry.
Some people have used this incident to call for the complete cancelation of the Shuttle program, and the ISS with it. Although the Shuttle does have built in problems, as detailed above, I'm not sure I agree. Ending the manned space program for 10 years is too drastic a step. We must keep momentum going forwards while we make improvements to our launch capabilities. Dropping ISS at this phase of construction would be a colossal waste, much money has already been spent, and the psychological trauma of quitting a program that we've come so far in would outweigh the cost savings.
Recently, NASA has made noises about developing a next generation space plane. It may be appropriate to accelerate development of this plane. At the same time, to truly retire the Shuttle, a new heavy-lift launch vehicle could be developed.
Whatever decisions are made, we shouldn't stop moving towards the stars. It's a big universe out there.
Posted by Kathy at February 2, 2003 05:45 PM