4-13-05
Collins & Pinch ch. 2

Space shuttle:
build a reusable vehicle--because surely it will be cheaper
more capable and more versatile: work could be done while the shuttle was in orbit, you could bring things back down, able to land different places...
makes a space station possible
routine access to space

actual result:
better access--space telescope, space station, repairing Hubble space telescope
turned out to need a lot more maintenance between flights
it's not cheaper than existing boosters
it didn't turn out to be possible to build an operational vehicle without an experimental one first
budget cuts led to changes in design that increased costs

what was the mistake made that led to the Challenger accident:
pressure to keep to a schedule
they know there are safety risks but have designed a redundant system, felt they had seen it worked
they haven't had the money to create an improved second generation shuttle

this book:
the managers did listen to the engineers
they did a lot of testing but couldn't agree whether the tests were accurate
there was a lack of hard evidence to not launch--the engineering argument was weak