Posted by Sir Four at 10:22am Aug 4 '05..we get far along in development of replacement technology. I personally doubt that there would have been a problem on re-entry had they not done repair work. I can't imagine this is the only flight which had some fibers sticking out. They just never scrutinized the thing before -- never even had a camera to scrutinize with! They are being overly-cautious after the last disaster.
The shuttle is the pride of the American space program, the result of vast amounts of investment of capital and human brainpower. It has got to be far cheaper and wiser to keep them going than to halt all flights indefinitely until a new technology is developed. Spend what it takes to resolve these issues so they don't happen again. Definitely set to work planning a shuttle replacement, but keep the birds flying in the meantime!
The shuttle is the pride of the American space program, the result of vast amounts of investment of capital and human brainpower. It has got to be far cheaper and wiser to keep them going than to halt all flights indefinitely until a new technology is developed. Spend what it takes to resolve these issues so they don't happen again. Definitely set to work planning a shuttle replacement, but keep the birds flying in the meantime!
Well, we should keep it going at least until.. - Sir Four