STS-107, Chronicle Of A Disaster Foretold?

[NineEighteen]

Forgive me if this has already been mentioned but were the crew aware/informed of the foam impact?

I realise that there appears to have been little that could be done by way of a repair but, as I recall, there were at least 5 pilots among the crew and I'd be very surprised if they didn't voice serious concerns about possible damage caused to the orbiter.

Belgique writes...

The decision by the "powers that were" not to look further into the launch event and utilise all available resources to ascertain the integrity of the craft will now pass into aviation lore as an example of expedient wishful thinking.

Were the commander and the pilot part of this decision?

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It seems I've answered my own question.

After posting the above, I visited the Johnson Space Center website and found this rather disturbing e-mail correspondence between STS-107 commander Rick Husband and a NASA official. (Note: I changed the messages around to read chronologically)

-----Original Message-----
From: STICH, J. S. (STEVE) (JSC-DA8) (NASA)
Sent: Thursday, January 23, 2003 11:13 PM
To: CDR; PLT
Cc: BECK, KELLY B. (JSC-DA8) (NASA); ENGELAUF, PHILIP L. (JSC-DA8) (NASA); CAIN, LEROY E. (JSC-DA8) (NASA); HANLEY, JEFFREY M. (JEFF) (JSC-DA8) (NASA); AUSTIN, BRYAN P. (JSC-DA8) (NASA)
Subject: INFO: Possible PAO Event Question


Rick and Willie,

You guys are doing a fantastic job staying on the timeline and accomplishing great science. Keep up the good work and let us know if there is anything that we can do better from an MCC/POCC standpoint.

There is one item that I would like to make you aware of for the upcoming PAO event on Blue FD 10 and for future PAO events later in the mission. This item is not even worth mentioning other than wanting to make sure that you are not surprised by it in a question from a reporter.

During ascent at approximately 80 seconds, photo analysis shows that some debris from the area of the -Y ET Bipod Attach Point came loose and subsequently impacted the orbiter left wing, in the area of transition from Chine to Main Wing, creating a shower of smaller particles. The impact appears to be totally on the lower surface and no particles are seen to traverse over the upper surface of the wing. Experts have reviewed the high speed photography and there is no concern for RCC or tile damage. We have seen this same phenomenon on several other flights and there is absolutely no concern for entry.

That is all for now. It's a pleasure working with you every day.

-----Original Message-----
From: CDR
Sent: Saturday, January 25, 2003 9:02 PM
To: STICH, J. S. (STEVE) (JSC-DA8) (NASA)
Cc: Shuttle Crew
Subject: RE: INFO: Possible PAO Event Question

Thanks a million Steve!

And thanks for the the great work on your part AND for the great poems! I saw the word Chine below and thought it was "China". I guess it's believeable that you might meet someone from China by the name of Main Wing .

Rick

CDR
NOTE: This is private/personal mail and not for release to media.

Even so, I'm quite surprised the crew did not wish to check the damage themselves or request a satellite photo.