Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!accuvax.nwu.edu!delta.eecs.nwu.edu!phil From: phil@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (William LeFebvre) Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle Subject: Re: shuttle escape systems Message-ID: <1308@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 17 Oct 89 15:55:37 GMT References: <538.252A3A3B@mamab.FIDONET.ORG> <2430@hydra.gatech.EDU> <1989Oct12.021826.7915@utzoo.uucp> <2521@hydra.gatech.EDU> Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Reply-To: phil@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (William LeFebvre) Organization: Northwestern U, Evanston IL, USA Lines: 23 In article <2521@hydra.gatech.EDU> ccsupos@prism.gatech.EDU (SCHREIBER, O. A.) writes: >In article <1989Oct12.021826.7915@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes: >>ccsupos@prism.gatech.EDU (SCHREIBER, O. A.) writes: >>>I think this type of vehicle, without an escape system can never >>>be safe enough. >>Can you elaborate on why you think this? The men who know the hardware >>obviously disagree with you. > >The families of the victims, even without mentioning that >of the teacher who was not an astronaut might agree with my statement. I don't think they would. I think that the Challenger's families anger was primarily directed at the breakdown in MANAGEMENT, and NOT hardware. The families know that this is risky and that the shuttle will never be perfect or safe. But the fact that qualified and experienced engineers were adamantly saying "don't launch" and were being ignored because of political reasons is what angered them the most. I'd be pretty mad, too. William LeFebvre Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Northwestern University