The Columbia Disaster

[adios]

A sad event for sure. One of the initial thoughts was to compare the 86 disaster with this one. Both launches occurred in unusually cold Florida weather. Now the chief suspicion is ice on a fuel tank breaking off and hitting a wing on the underside.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...vestigation_78

I really don't know how feasible this is, could the Columbia have docked at the space station to review the damage with the naked eye if you will? If this wasn't feasible why wasn't it? Could be wrong but this would seem to be a major advantage of having a space station. Many are questioning the objectives of the space program now and the role of manned space flights. I noticed that the budget submitted by Bush has an increase in outlays for NASA. It's always bad when these disaster occur but the timing I would think is especially bad for space program advocates. Somehow I think that Bush's proposed NASA budget gets trimmed.

[Dynasty]

could the Columbia have docked at the space station to review the damage with the naked eye if you will? If this wasn't feasible why wasn't it?

The Shuttles need to bring very specific equipment in order to dock at the space station. That equipment wasn't brought with them since a docking wasn't expected. Also, docking is a very complex and difficult maneuver. It requires considerable special training which this crew didn't undergo.