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| THE 113TH MISSION When the space shuttle Columbia was launched, there had been controversy around the aging fleet at NASA. When the film of the launch showed debris hitting the shuttle, some worried about the ceramic tiles falling off the heat shield. The film wasn't analyzed until the next day, when it was concluded that there was no serious problem, and that even if there was a problem there was no way to repair it in space. The flight progressed normally until reentry, when temperatures on the outside of the shuttle soared, and a catastrophic breakup occurred, scattering debris over several states. NASA was criticized for a reckless disregard for safety, but they blamed budget cutbacks and layoffs for employee malaise and rising fear at the agency. Overconfident managers ignored employees at the test range who had warned of dangerous flaws. Test range staff estimated the probability of failure of the mission at one in 25; administrators estimated 1 in 100,000. The key problem was lack of funding-when NASA had too much to do with too little money, the safety budget was cut. The space program was shaken to the core. Nevertheless, space travel is understood to be dangerous work. Canadian astronaut Roberta Bondar emphasizes that space pioneers have chosen to follow their spirit and soul, despite the inevitable risks. To view the selected video, a password is required. Refer to page 125 in your textbook and use the first word appearing in the main text column as both 'username' and 'password' (case-sensitive) when prompted. Click to View "The 113th Mission" The free RealPlayer plug-in is required in order to view the videos. If needed, the plug-in can be downloaded from Real's website. QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
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