Is the Shuttle Safe to Fly?
June 30, 2006 — -- It's been more than three years since the space shuttle Columbia broke apart over Texas, killing its crew of seven.
In the time since, several commissions have recommended changes and billions of dollars have been spent on shuttle modifications.
As NASA prepares to launch another shuttle this weekend, however, the agency is still struggling to rebound from the Columbia tragedy.
There are internal conflicts at all levels at NASA over the safety of flying a space shuttle again. The shuttles were never meant to fly for more than 10 years, but replacements were never built as NASA funding got bogged down in the policy debate over the U.S. role in space.
Discovery first launched in 1984 -- 22 years ago.
The intensity of the latest debate surfaced at the flight readiness review two weeks ago, when Bryan O'Connor, NASA's top safety officer, and chief engineer Chris Scolese both voted to scrub the shuttle mission because they were concerned about foam coming off the tank and hitting the shuttle.
Who would have thought a four-letter word -- foam -- would become such a problem for NASA?
Dangers caused by dislodged foam have plagued recent shuttle missions, and some believe there is still reason for concern.
Foam from an external tank punched the hole in Columbia's wing, causing it to disintegrate over Texas. A hat-shaped piece of foam came off during Discovery's launch last year. It missed the shuttle, but caused the shuttle fleet to be grounded for a year until NASA could come up with a solution.
NASA administrator Mike Griffin believes the agency has solved the problem.
"The piece of foam that brought down Columbia is no longer there. It doesn't exist on the machine. The piece of foam that did not harm Discovery last August -- but which did come off -- is no longer there," he said.
Griffin believes this shuttle is much safer than any previously flown, and he recognizes there may be no more chances if problems continue.
"Given our history now with this shuttle, the future of the shuttle depends on every single flight. We cannot have any more bad flights on the shuttle," he said.
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