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From: bdw@chinet.UUCP (Bill Wisner)
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: Re: Future of the Space Program
Message-ID: <297@chinet.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 30-Jan-86 00:02:05 EST
Article-I.D.: chinet.297
Posted: Thu Jan 30 00:02:05 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 1-Feb-86 01:21:10 EST
References: <12178969201.19.DENNETT@SRI-NIC.ARPA>
Reply-To: bdw@chinet.UUCP (Bill Wisner)
Organization: The Computer Connection
Lines: 38

DENNETT@SRI-NIC.ARPA (Steve Dennett) writes:
>- What kind of escape mechanism (if any) does the shuttle have for the crew?

None. Once the orbiter gets very far off the ground, how could the crew get
out? Five miles is a long drop..

>- Will this be a setback for the space program, due to public disapproval
>  or the government's need to find (and punish) someone?

There WILL be a setback; it is inevitable. NASA will suspend most regular
activities, including even training, until the cause of the explosion is
determined. The public might set the program back even more, but it is
always hard to tell.

>- Alternately, might it lead to *greater* support of the space program
>  (e.g., if NASA presents a case along the lines of "If our budget were
>  larger, this wouldn't have happened.")?

I personally don't think that NASA would be offer a comment in such poor
taste. Also, one of the reasons NASA's budget is too small is the 
extensive safety precautions that are taken with everything they do.

>- Might this redirect (to some extent) the focus of the manned space
>  program away from the shuttle (large, complex) back toward simpler or
>  alternative launch systems?

There is a chance; but I would say that if it DID happen that way, a 
big factor would be congress -- that wonderful body of elected officials
who think they know what is best for us. This body also controls NASA's
budget -- at the whim of a majority of representatives/senators, NASA
could even cease to exist.
-- 
Bill Wisner					"All that wander are not lost."
The Computer Connection					     --- J.R.R. Tolkien
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