Discovery Liftoff Tomorrow

Conversation started by Echoes...but not the ones I hear.

Like my brother, I too remember 28 January 1986. The date is engraved in my brain as deeply as those who lived through the day that JFK was assassinated (which happened before I was born) or more recently, those who lived through the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 (which are also deeply engraved). Seventy three seconds after liftoff, Challenger was transformed by a massive explosion of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen into a sick twisted claw in the blue Floridian sky: "a major malfunction".

Space flight is inherently risky. But then again, so is any endeavor that takes man outside his natural environment: ships and boats sink and airplanes crash. Our lives are finite, and they will all end by some means at some time. Sally Ride knows the inherent risk of space flight and she's experienced that risk. She's flown on two space shuttle missions: STS-7 and STS-41G (both on Challenger). However, she's also familiar with the NASA culture, and therefore, I respect her statements about echoes. As a taxpayer and a fan of space exploration, I wish she hadn't heard those echoes.

Tomorrow, Discovery once again will carry astronauts to space after the loss of a space shuttle, an investigation, a manned space flight shut down, and fixes. Five men and two women will take Discovery to space. But unlike after the Challenger disaster, there was no way this time to test if the fixes will work. Unlike after the Challenger disaster, launch will go off without a hitch in spite of repeated malfunctions this time.

NASA says it has a plan to retrieve the astronauts if Discovery is damaged like Columbia, which claimed the lives of the seven astronauts: Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark, and Ilan Ramon (the first Israeli astronaut). The plan is to launch Atlantis, ditch Discovery, and bring the astronauts home from the International Space Station, which they will use as a refuge, on Atlantis. However, it seems exceedingly risky to me to try to bring home the astronauts on the sister shuttle of Columbia (which was destroyed over Texas) and Discovery (which will have similar damage to Columbia if the plan is implemented. It seems to me, if NASA wanted to have a backup plan, they would have the Russians have a Soyuz capsules ready to retrieve the astronauts.

The astronauts have a passion for what they do. They (and I) believe it has value to the human race, and they do it in spite of the risks, of which they are aware. My prayers are with them as they complete this mission. I also hope that NASA will come up with a better way to ensure the safety of some of the world's best and brightest scientists.

Chris said he couldn't remember the names of the Columbia astronauts. I have to admit that I didn't remember the names of the STS-51 (other than McAuliffe)or the STS-107 astronauts, but like Chris, their sacrifice will not soon be forgotten by me.