Shuttle Worries

Been watching videos on a NASA feed of both the recent _Discovery_ mission and the preparations to launch _Atlantis_. Both look very worn. I know that NASA administrators have been consciously deciding *not* to repair minor problems discovered after stacking, but this looks more like long-term neglect.

_Discovery_ I didn't get a good look at until it arrived at the ISS so, yeah, it would be a bit battered from liftoff. But what I saw of _Atlantis_, which is still being made ready for launch, was even worse.

Now, I'm not making a detailed inspection. I'm just noting things in the feed. I doubt very seriously the people working on these vehicles would allow something critical they found go unreported, and doubt something critical which was reported wouldn't be repaired before launch. But given the mistakes made previously by NASA managers (Remember _Columbia_, where managers actively worked against finding out just how bad the damage was?) and the possibility of human error, I worry about what could be missed, or reported and dismissed as inconsequential by people without technical training who are in decision-making positions. (With _Columbia_, the managers flowcharts listed tile damage as a turnaround interval problem, not a safely problem, so they openly dismissed the engineers warnings that the Shuttle could be lost on entry as irrelevant. And then defended their decisions before the accident review panel, stating the engineers never used the specific term which would have told them the problem was serious. A term in their manuals but not in those of the engineers.)

These are old craft. IIRC, _Discovery_ is past it's projected lifespan (though not number of missions). They will be retired soon. You would think all those involved in Shuttle missions would triple-check to ensure nothing goes wrong. And correct even the appearance of problems.

For those who think I'm just a worrywart, I voiced similar concerns for at least three years before _Columbia_.

Novel Excerpt

Tinkering a bit on a novel with the working title _Deep Space_. Cayle is a human engineer in charge of improving human defenses. Peersh is a member of a species uplifted by the Vig, the oldest extant civilization. She was in charge of a multi-cultural effort to defend the Vig homeworld against a mysterious menace, since the Vig no longer maintain conventional defenses. Here's a recently-written excerpt:

"I do have one question," said Cayle. "What would the Vig have done if we had failed?"
"I asked," said Admiral Peersh. "I was told 'a non-causal loop will be engaged.'"
"And that means?"
"I've learned not to ask."