Experts: Aging Shuttle Fleet Poses Danger

[tocqueville]

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Maybe NASA's managers still view the shuttle as the Cadillac of space technology, but they sometimes make it sound as if it were a cranky old Ford with a few too many miles on it.

Deputy shuttle manager Wayne Hale says its recent on-again, off-again electronics problem "reminds me of an old truck I own."

Delays for safety improvements have repeatedly thwarted the shuttle's comeback from the Columbia catastrophe 2 1/2 years ago. But aging components could eventually add their own setbacks and risks to flying as the shuttles near retirement in just five years, according to authorities on space travel.


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1894&e=1&u=/ap/20050716/ap_on_sc/aging_shuttles

[Spinzonner]

1. However, the history of the shuttle has shown that

the real, manifested danger is moronic 'managers' who are too stupid, arrogant, and career focused to listen to the enginners who try and tell them there are problems and dangers that need further investigation instead of focusing on the schedule.

Challenger: NASA and Morton-Thiokol admins ignored the Morton-Thiokol engineers who tried to tell them the cold weather was a danger.

Columbia: Previous incidents of insultation loss off the tank were discounted and then when the major piece fell off and hit the wing, NASA managers vetoed using military satellites to examine the shuttle for tile damage.