<<The trouble is, if they *did* see the damage, the country would have been subject to a very painful 'death watch' as they stayed in orbit.>>
Not necessarily. Numerous launchers, including several ICBMs could deliver payloads to the Columbia's orbit in a pinch to extend its mission. Eventually, another shuttle could have been readied, or a Russian launch site been moved south for a rescue mission. A lot of Apollo 13 type engineering would have been needed to make things do things they weren't designed for (doing EVA's in cabin space suits, for instance), but I think it could have been done. With lives at stake,it certainly could have been tried. If a repair kit could have been devised and delivered, the Shuttle itself might have been saved, providing cost justification as well as humanitarian justification. --Best, Gerald _______________________________________________ ERPS-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.erps.org/mailman/listinfo/erps-list
