I enjoy when NASA shows that they are able to do more than people are willing to credit them for. And I have no doubt this mission will be one of those. Five EVA (spacewalks), which will be the most time on EVA of any mission so far. This comes as a result of the unexpected repair to the ISS solar array on STS-120. Some of that mission's work had to be shifted so they could do the repair. But even at that, STS-120 was one of those glorious moments for NASA. The team pulled together to invent a way to repair the solar array using what the astronauts had available to them up there and the repair worked admirably. That was one of those times when the naysayers were crucifying NASA (again) and again predicting the sudden death of the ISS because of the tear in the array...not enough power to operate! This is NASA's death toll. The previous death toll was when the Russian GNC (guidance and navigation computer) on the ISS wouldn't work and wouldn't reboot. The station is going to fall from the sky! This is the end of the program and the end of NASA. But that too only allowed a chance to shine when the ISS occupants were able to wire around the problem and get the computers working until a new board could be delivered on the next shuttle mission, which was installed and works fine now, thank you.
Scare tactics? Lack of confidence? Desiring to see NASA fail, and so inspire distrust? I don't know which is the case, but each time A Problem is encountered on the shuttle or ISS, the media run for the hills kicking and screaming all the way. And each time NASA has come through and repaired the problem and the program has rolled on. Even with bits of foam still coming off the tank. The tank will never stop shedding foam. However, NASA (again) has done admirably in coming up with fixes that minimize the amount and size. NASA has done some EVA activity around potential TPS problems and made great decisions on when not to repair because it wasn't a problem. Each shuttle mission has come home safely, victoriously completing challenging missions, inventing solutions and keeping the shuttle and ISS flying...in spite of the huge lack of confidence of the media and certain sectors of the public.
NASA keeps 'em flying
Scare tactics? Lack of confidence? Desiring to see NASA fail, and so inspire distrust? I don't know which is the case, but each time A Problem is encountered on the shuttle or ISS, the media run for the hills kicking and screaming all the way. And each time NASA has come through and repaired the problem and the program has rolled on. Even with bits of foam still coming off the tank. The tank will never stop shedding foam. However, NASA (again) has done admirably in coming up with fixes that minimize the amount and size. NASA has done some EVA activity around potential TPS problems and made great decisions on when not to repair because it wasn't a problem. Each shuttle mission has come home safely, victoriously completing challenging missions, inventing solutions and keeping the shuttle and ISS flying...in spite of the huge lack of confidence of the media and certain sectors of the public.
NASA keeps 'em flying
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