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It's interesting that nearly everything that was wrong with the Space Shuttle was accurately predicted in this article. Both catastrophic breakups were essentia
by craftsman 13y ago
It's interesting that nearly everything that was wrong with the Space Shuttle was accurately predicted in this article. Both catastrophic breakups were essentially predicted (a booster failing and tile damage from falling fuel tank ice), as well as the huge cost overruns and performance shortfalls. I wonder what author Gregg Easterbrook thinks as he looks back on the Shuttle era? Having a quick glance at his article on Wikipedia, it seems he's written or said a bit more about space policy since the shuttle; I'll have to read up.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregg_Easterbrook https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregg_Easterbrook
- acqq 13y agoEven more impressive to me is that he wasn't an engineer but still made impressively technically well-informed article. I have no doubts one or more very smart and technically trained people helped him, still, it's amazing how much quality information is in one single article.
- hudibras 13y agoUnfortunately, Easterbrook is coasting on the reputation he built up from this one magazine piece from 34 years ago. It's basically impossible to read anything he writes nowadays without finding something either wrong or infuriatingly contrary-for-the-sake-of-contrariness.
- acqq 13y agoThe article I'd really like to read is about the "whistleblower" (or more of them) who gave Easterbrook all the info for that 1980 article. It would be very fitting to today's world.
- RachelF 13y agoThe problem was that NASA administrators would lose their jobs if they admitted the shuttle project was in such trouble in 1980.
- leoc 13y agoEven after the Challenger disaster people were afraid. Feynmann didn't discover the O-ring problem so much as learn about it through tip-offs from NASA insiders (something he freely acknowledged later). They'd got him onto the investigation panel because he was someone with the public stature, and of course the personality, to stick his head up and report it.