Time to Shelve the Shuttle

America’s first reusable spacecraft is almost 30 years old and it is time to put these tired old machines where they belong … in a museum.

Despite my love of that bright golden plume of fire behind every orbiter at takeoff, and a thundering rumble that shakes the Earth for 10 miles around the Kennedy Space Center, Endeavor’s current problems make it clear the risks of flying these magnificent old machine are simply not worth the risks.

To me, NASA’s decision making is beginning to look too similar to FAA’s.

Right now, NASA is trying to decide whether or not to repair a gash in the external heat shield designed to protect Endeavor when it reenters the atmosphere. The shield was damaged a few days ago by a piece of ice falling off the booster just after liftoff.

NASA allowed the Columbia to begin its return trip to Earth in February 2003 with a similar heatshield affliction and that space craft and crew were lost when the shuttle disintegrated upon reentry.

In January 1986, the shuttle Challenger was also lost on takeoff killing all aboard after a main booster “O” ring disintegrated at liftoff causing that external fuel tank to explode.

After flying airplanes my entire life, I’m not so narrow minded to believe that an occasional accident should be cause for grounding a fleet, even if the accident rate is nearly two per 100 flights, a number that would have grounded any airliner or business airplane years ago.

Deja vu All Over Again

What makes me think the scientific benefit of one more shuttle flight cannot possibly be worth risking another crew has to do with the fact the right now, NASA is deciding whether or not to repair the Endeavor before reentry.

That’s right, they’re trying to decide whether or not the experience of the Columbia crew taught them enough to risk bringing Endeavor back as is.

Forget that this is the same NASA that knowingly allowed astronauts to head into space with incredibly high blood-alcohol levels, forget that the Endeavor crew has been trained to make similar repairs to the spacecraft specifically because of the Columbia accident.

NASA has to think about this before sending a shuttle crewmember on a space walk to make the repair.

And why? Because NASA’s afraid the astronauts could make the problem worse.

There’s a pretty situation to tell us about now that the agency has backed everyone into a corner.

NASA needs to give these pilots and crewmembers every chance to survive the reentry process and get home alive. Sure the repair is a risk, but doing nothing is inconceivable based upon past experience.

Perhaps if NASA grounds the shuttles once these folks are back home safely, someone at the agency can figure out why things keep falling off the spacecraft. They have had almost 30 years after all.

And maybe being forced to admit the shuttles aren’t worth the risk might make NASA think a little further ahead than their next paycheck.  

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