Hutchison Trying to Keep Shuttle Alive By Questioning Soyuz’s Safety Record
Hutchison plans appeal today to save NASA’s shuttle
Houston Chronicle
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison plans to invoke an argument of astronaut safety at a Senate hearing today by showcasing in-flight irregularities suffered by two Russian spacecraft in the last 2½ years as a reason to extend space shuttle operations beyond November.
Soyuz spacecraft encountered difficulties when one or more explosive bolts failed to detonate during successive spacecraft re-entries in October 2007 and April 2008, leaving instrumentation and propulsion modules attached to the spacecraft and potentially endangering the crew as the capsule plummeted toward Earth, said an ex-NASA official now serving as a senior adviser to the Senate.
In both cases, the Russian pilot maneuvered the Soyuz spacecraft into a different position to take advantage of the Earth’s onrushing atmosphere to tear away the attached modules 55 miles above the Earth’s surface.
But the maneuver put the Soyuz spacecraft into steeper descents known as “ballistic re-entry†that subjected crew members — including U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson — to higher than normal G forces on descent and sent the spacecraft more than 200 miles off target.
NASA spokesman Mike Curie said the Russians conducted a thorough investigation into the two incidents, shared their findings with NASA and took appropriate corrective actions. NASA “independently performed high level checks to help ensure that the Russian conclusions were viable,†he added. “NASA is satisfied with the scope and depth and the changes made as a result of Russia’s investigation,†Curie said.
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2 responses to “Hutchison Trying to Keep Shuttle Alive By Questioning Soyuz’s Safety Record”
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I watched the hearing today and she spewed such crap. She said she wouldn’t hear arguments that the Soyuz is safer because NASA engineers don’t have the access they need to certify it. Screw that, Soyuz hasn’t had a fatal accident since 1971, and the only accidents since then avoided fatality by virtue of Soyuz’s safety systems.
Yeah, I was especially annoyed by her claims. She seemed especially risk averse and misrepresented a host of things.
I’m almost as annoyed the Bolden. He needs to focus on a clear message and find a way of repeating it. This is a very simple approach, but you wouldn’t know it.