Now that Discovery is safely delivered to the Smithsonian, I think I can tell the story of how we nearly lost her in July of 2005, and how well intentioned, highly motivated, hard working, smart people can miss the most obvious.
It’s tough to know people who have died. Many of us knew the astronauts on Challenger and Columbia well. We had met with them daily, we had visited in their homes, we knew their families, their children. It is not an easy thing to lose a colleague; especially one who entrusted their safety to you. So don’t question whether we were motivated to prevent another loss.
....
You see, we dodged a bullet in 2005. One we should have seen coming but didn’t.
...
I think that must have been the worst call of my life...
I thought I would not be able to breath again.
I thought of Eileen and her crew and how we had probably just killed them.
I thought of all the work and time and how wasted it had been.
I had no idea how I could possibly tell the team, the world, what had transpired.
Read the rest of this compelling story at:
http://waynehale.wordpress.com/2012/04/18/how-we-nearly-lost-discovery/
It’s tough to know people who have died. Many of us knew the astronauts on Challenger and Columbia well. We had met with them daily, we had visited in their homes, we knew their families, their children. It is not an easy thing to lose a colleague; especially one who entrusted their safety to you. So don’t question whether we were motivated to prevent another loss.
....
You see, we dodged a bullet in 2005. One we should have seen coming but didn’t.
...
I think that must have been the worst call of my life...
I thought I would not be able to breath again.
I thought of Eileen and her crew and how we had probably just killed them.
I thought of all the work and time and how wasted it had been.
I had no idea how I could possibly tell the team, the world, what had transpired.
Read the rest of this compelling story at:
http://waynehale.wordpress.com/2012/04/18/how-we-nearly-lost-discovery/
