>They were all alive until they hit the water. I
>forget how many Gs it
I have a hard time believing that she was able to undo
her restraint system, given the incredible G-forces
during the tumble towards the surface. Secondly, the
cockpit hull would have been breached during the
explosion and the loss of pressure would have put them
into rarified air. The pressure suits would have
needed to be operational for them to retain
consciencness--and the majority of the systems would
have failed at the onslaught. After the first 30
seconds that cockpit should have been spinning in
excess of 100rpm.
I think the idea of putting a science teacher in space
(I knew of her well, as a teacher-friend of mine was
one of several standbys) was and is a wonderful idea.
A civilian in space isn't the problem--she didn't
cause the explosion. Had the explosion not happened,
NASA would have successfully completed a major PR move
that would have moved the development of the space
station up ten years.
The explosion was so tragic, but so was the 707 crash
in Newfoundland, just a few short days prior, of
American military personnel returning home from tour
of duty. It was so sad that it got "upstaged" by the
Space Shuttle. These were American Heros just as much
as the NASA crew.
Imagine, if the Challenger disaster didn't happen, the
sense of false safety would have prevailed and the
next disaster could have happened with a hundred
people.
Ken N.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Auctions - Buy the things you want at great prices.
http://auctions.yahoo.com/
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|