Wayne Hale
Wayne Hale
N. Wayne Hale Jr.is a former NASA engineer. Previously a flight director and space shuttle program manager, Hale served as NASA's Deputy Associate Administrator for Strategic Partnerships prior to his retirement on July 31, 2010...
believe pieces tank
Foam will still come off the tank after we have done all of these mitigation efforts. We believe the pieces that come off will be small.
analysis discovery ground kennedy pace proving safe space tests toward work
The thing that's going to pace getting Discovery off the ground is not the work we're doing at the Kennedy Space Center. It is the engineering analysis and tests that go toward proving what we have assembled is safe to fly.
call fact perhaps pieces small solid strike
Perhaps some of the small pieces did in fact strike the orbiter but we don't have what I'll call solid evidence.
call fact perhaps pieces small solid strike
Perhaps some of the small pieces did in fact strike the orbiter, but we don't have what I'll call solid evidence.
agreed anybody asking calling complete condition display flight giving job museum near people putting quite ready station sure talking term until
So we're going to try to keep it in as near flight ready condition as we can without putting it through an OMDP so we can use those parts. Quite frankly, people are already calling us and asking us can they display one of our orbiters in their museum after we're done with it. I'm not giving anybody anything until we're all agreed the station is complete and the shuttle's job is done. In the sense that we're talking about mothballing, I'm not sure that's the term I'd use.
definitely
I definitely would not take that off the table.
appears based begin board discussion launch program window work yesterday
However, based on the discussion we had at the program board yesterday it appears that the May launch window is something we can begin to work on -- the launch window May 3 to May 23.
best choice decision engineers lowest management team
The lowest risk, the best choice and the unanimous decision of the engineers in the management team is that we should re-enter as is.
fact flight gap happened job known product time
The gap fillers, that's a product of the fact that we can see more and do a better job of evaluating. That's probably something that's happened in flight before, but this is the first time we've known about it and could take remedial action.
moving space flying
Having three operational vehicles in the fleet affords the shuttle program great schedule flexibility as we move toward flying safely and completing the international space station.
past roulette damage
The Columbia accident made us realize that we had been playing Russian roulette with the shuttle crews -- that we had been very, very fortunate in the past that the foam did not cause critical damage.
aerodynamics lines normal
The bottom line is there is large uncertainty because nobody has a very good handle on the aerodynamics at those altitudes and at those speeds. Given that large degree of uncertainty, life could be normal during entry or some bad things could happen.