Riding Rockets Part 19

The final report of theColumbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) would read remarkably like the Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) would read remarkably like theChallenger report issued seventeen years earlier. In fact, in some key paragraphs of their doc.u.ment, the CAIB could have plagiarized the Roger's Commission report nearly word for word. The only edits required would have been to subst.i.tute "External Tank" for "Solid Rocket Booster" and "foam-shedding" for "O-ring erosion." Workplace cultural issues, including overwhelming pressure to keep shuttle launches on schedule, had, again, resulted in NASA mishandling repeated evidence of a deadly design flaw. report issued seventeen years earlier. In fact, in some key paragraphs of their doc.u.ment, the CAIB could have plagiarized the Roger's Commission report nearly word for word. The only edits required would have been to subst.i.tute "External Tank" for "Solid Rocket Booster" and "foam-shedding" for "O-ring erosion." Workplace cultural issues, including overwhelming pressure to keep shuttle launches on schedule, had, again, resulted in NASA mishandling repeated evidence of a deadly design flaw.

I have been too long removed from NASA to make any firsthand comment on those cultural issues or the leaders.h.i.+p failures they suggest. Nor can I predict whether the agency will be able to fix itself...though I see reason for hope. The shuttle team's meticulous response to the heat-s.h.i.+eld damage sustained byDiscovery on the first post- on the first post-Columbiashuttle mission (STS-114) and the agency's intention to keep the shuttle grounded until the maddeningly persistent ET foam-shedding problem is fixed suggests NASA has made safety its top priority. The question is, "Can this reinvigorated safety consciousness persist through the remaining life of the s.p.a.ce shuttle program?" It didn't last afterChallenger, as asColumbia 's loss attests. Perhaps new NASA administrator, Dr. Michael Griffin, is a leader who can keep the agency focused on safety. I pray so. There have been enough families devastated in this business, not to mention the disastrous impact on America's manned s.p.a.ce program that another shuttle loss would precipitate. 's loss attests. Perhaps new NASA administrator, Dr. Michael Griffin, is a leader who can keep the agency focused on safety. I pray so. There have been enough families devastated in this business, not to mention the disastrous impact on America's manned s.p.a.ce program that another shuttle loss would precipitate.

In Senate testimony, Dr. Griffin has said he intends to retire the shuttle by 2010, arguing, "The shuttle is an inherently flawed system." He's right. It is an outrageously expensive vehicle and lacks a viable crew escape system. A well-led and adequately funded team might still have been able to safely operate even this "flawed system," but the old NASA lacked both leaders.h.i.+p and money.

Griffin continued, "We all know that human perfection is unattainable. Sooner or later there will be another shuttle accident. I want to retire it before that can occur." His plan is to fly the shuttle a maximum of nineteen times-eighteen for ISS support and one for Hubble s.p.a.ce Telescope repair. My sympathies go out to the most junior astronauts who have been warned by NASA that they may never earn their gold pin on the shuttle because of the limited number of missions remaining. They are living what had been my greatest fear...that I would remain an astronaut in name only.

In all likelihood the craft that will replace the shuttle will be a capsule launched atop some type of booster rocket, possibly a reuseable shuttle SRB augmented with a liquid-fueled upper stage. It's back to the future. The capsule will probably accommodate a four-person crew and be more sophisticated than those of the Apollo program, but with the same type of tractor escape rocket design to pull astronauts to safety in the event of a booster failure. Future astronauts will return to Earth under parachutes.

If all goes according to Griffin's plan, on a day in late 2010, a reentering s.p.a.ce shuttle will sonic-boom KSC for the last time. For the last time a pilot will take the stick of a winged s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p and guide it to a runway landing. For the last time we will hear the call, "Houston, wheel stop." The s.p.a.ce shuttle will be history, retired at age thirty. I suspect every TFNG will be watching...and remembering. I certainly will.

Political correctness finally neutered the astronaut corps...or, perhaps, males from Planet AD have gone extinct. Several veteran NASA secretaries confided in me that contemporary astronaut parties are "boring." I can believe it. When an astronaut applicant recently called me for insight into the interview process, I was shocked to hear her say that a resident astronaut had already warned her, "Drinking alcohol is frowned upon." (No telling what the corps would say about imbibing in helium.) While I have never been one to believe alcohol is necessary to have fun, the comment hints that there is anew astronaut on the block, as good with a stick and throttle as any before but less flamboyant and more mainstream than the TFNGs. It doesn't surprise me. The current civilian astronauts were born into an America that is politically correct in the extreme and the pilots now come from a military that is more sober and religious. So, besides the males from Planet AD, maybe the wild and wooly Right Stuff astronaut-that astronaut who lives life at the edge of the envelope, be it at happy hour or in a c.o.c.kpit-has also gone the way of the dodo. astronaut on the block, as good with a stick and throttle as any before but less flamboyant and more mainstream than the TFNGs. It doesn't surprise me. The current civilian astronauts were born into an America that is politically correct in the extreme and the pilots now come from a military that is more sober and religious. So, besides the males from Planet AD, maybe the wild and wooly Right Stuff astronaut-that astronaut who lives life at the edge of the envelope, be it at happy hour or in a c.o.c.kpit-has also gone the way of the dodo.

The last TFNG reunion occurred in 1998, our twentieth anniversary. Most of the men and all of the surviving women were present. The women seemed least changed, though I'm sure makeup and Clairol had a lot to do with that. The men, me included, were showing our age with expanding waistlines, receding hairlines, and liver-spotted foreheads. A few men sported new wives, though none of those seemed to be of the "trophy" variety. They were mature and pleasant. The rest of the wives were aging gracefully but their days of giving us men a "six nipples under gla.s.s" show were, sadly, gone.

Before dinner, Rick Hauck led us in a moment of silence to remember our fallen friends, then gave a short presentation that included a recap of some of the significant history written by our group. We each received TFNG T-s.h.i.+rts bearing thirty-five small caricatures of our individual likenesses. The s.h.i.+rts also featured the past-tense headline "We Delivered." It was an update to the original 1979 TFNG T-s.h.i.+rt, which had displayed the same caricatures and the t.i.tle "We Deliver." The TFNG cla.s.s had, indeed,delivered for NASA and America. for NASA and America.

Before scattering to our hotels we posed for a cla.s.s photo. I sensed a renewed closeness in the a.s.sembly. It wasn't the Knights-of-the-Round-table closeness we had once shared-that level of camaraderie had forever ended when the first Abbey flight a.s.signments had winnowed us. But the white-hot fierceness of our compet.i.tion had been cooled by the years. We were all gold-pinned astronauts; most of us gold-plated several times over. We were all bound by an experience singularly unique in the history of man...s.p.a.ceflight. As we stood for our reunion photo, fewer than four hundred earthlings had ever flown into s.p.a.ce. Even the fraternity of those who had summited Mount Everest was more than twice as large. The exclusivity of the astronaut experience would forever be a force that would pull TFNGs together.

I occasionally run into a TFNG in my travels. I once crossed paths with Hoot Gibson in his capacity as a Southwest Airlines pilot and had cause to regret it. In the late 1990s I was a pa.s.senger on a flight he was piloting. As the jet reached cruise alt.i.tude, he announced over the intercom that "world-famous astronaut Mike Mullane was aboard and would be happy to sign autographs." To ensure my distress, he added my seat number. A line formed and a few old ladies grabbed their cameras for photos. I wanted to leap from the plane to escape the severe embarra.s.sment.Better dead than look bad.

The three TFNGChallenger widows have successfully moved on with their lives. As Lorna Onizuka shared with me, "We stubbed our emotional toes along the way, but I think we've all come through the tragedy as happy, content, and successful women and mothers." Lorna thinks it was the mothering instinct that got everybody through the worst days-each of them had to place their children first and didn't have time to be emotional cripples. "My children saved my life," was Lorna's a.s.sessment. widows have successfully moved on with their lives. As Lorna Onizuka shared with me, "We stubbed our emotional toes along the way, but I think we've all come through the tragedy as happy, content, and successful women and mothers." Lorna thinks it was the mothering instinct that got everybody through the worst days-each of them had to place their children first and didn't have time to be emotional cripples. "My children saved my life," was Lorna's a.s.sessment.

The "man repellent" factor of the astronaut-widow thankfully did not endure. June Scobee and Jane Smith remarried. Lorna and Cheryl McNair remain single but Lorna says they both have vibrant social lives. Lorna says, "I've shared my life with a special man for more than ten years." She laughs as she recounts some of the problems of reentering the dating scene as a mother of two. "When I wasn't home and a man would call, my oldest daughter would ask him if he was bald." For some reason that daughter had a "bald men need not apply" att.i.tude. Lorna's youngest daughter would ask a male caller if he smoked cigars, which was her criterion for rejection. And both daughters would tell men they had to have Mom home by the ten o'clock news. If Lorna's happy, upbeat att.i.tude is representative of the otherChallenger survivors, as she believes it is, they are doing quite well. survivors, as she believes it is, they are doing quite well.

Donna and I are approaching our sixtieth birthdays. We both weigh more, sag more, and forget more than we did in those euphoric, intoxicating early TFNG days. But life has been good...grand,really, because we have been blessed with six wonderful and healthy grandchildren. Pat and Wendy, Amy and Steve, and Laura and Dave have all given us two grandchildren each: Sean and Katie, Hanna and Meagan, and Noah and Gwyneth. While holding our first grandchild, I asked Donna, "Would you have ever thought we'd be telling our kids to have more s.e.x?" As the saying goes..."If I had known grandkids were so much fun, I would have had them first."

Donna and I also just pa.s.sed our fortieth anniversary...not wedding, but rather the anniversary of that fateful first kiss of January 3, 1965. We celebrated with a gla.s.s of wine and were asleep by 9:30P.M . We each got married for the wrong reasons, but we somehow endured long enough to fall in love. . We each got married for the wrong reasons, but we somehow endured long enough to fall in love.

The astronaut beach house is still standing and I hope it is forever preserved for future generations of astronauts. It sits on sacred ground. The spouses of theChallenger and andColumbia crews last held the love of their lives on its sands. No doubt some future crew spouses will hold dear the memory of their last beach house visit, too, for it will include a memory of the last time they embraced their lovers. It is the nature of s.p.a.ceflight that more crews will perish. Even if NASA can fix its culture, the complexity of the machines and the unforgiving environment of s.p.a.ce will claim more astronauts. crews last held the love of their lives on its sands. No doubt some future crew spouses will hold dear the memory of their last beach house visit, too, for it will include a memory of the last time they embraced their lovers. It is the nature of s.p.a.ceflight that more crews will perish. Even if NASA can fix its culture, the complexity of the machines and the unforgiving environment of s.p.a.ce will claim more astronauts.

Another place sacred to astronauts was created after I retired. In 1991 the Astronaut Memorial, funded largely by the sale of FloridaChallenger license plates, was dedicated at the KSC Visitors Center. Whenever I visit that center, I always make it a point to walk to the memorial. It consists of a large matrix of granite panels bearing the names of all astronauts who have died in the line of duty. Those names have been chiseled completely through the stone to allow mirrors set behind the panels to reflect the sunlight through the etchings. The entire panel a.s.sembly automatically rotates to follow the sun and continuously catch its light. There are now twenty-four names in the granite, the earliest being Theodore Freeman, killed in 1964 in the crash of his T-38 jet, and the latest being the license plates, was dedicated at the KSC Visitors Center. Whenever I visit that center, I always make it a point to walk to the memorial. It consists of a large matrix of granite panels bearing the names of all astronauts who have died in the line of duty. Those names have been chiseled completely through the stone to allow mirrors set behind the panels to reflect the sunlight through the etchings. The entire panel a.s.sembly automatically rotates to follow the sun and continuously catch its light. There are now twenty-four names in the granite, the earliest being Theodore Freeman, killed in 1964 in the crash of his T-38 jet, and the latest being theColumbia Seven. Seven.

On my visits to the memorial I will take a seat on a bench and stare at the four TFNG names the panels bear...Francis "d.i.c.k" Scobee, Judith A. Resnik, Ellison S. Onizuka, and Ronald E. McNair...and remember the last moment I saw them.*They were walking to a sim wearing Prime Crew smiles. It is how I will always remember them...young, happy,soaring with the knowledge they were next up. I will remember each of them in my prayers. I will also include prayers for their spouses and Judy's family. The life those spouses and parents knew also ended on January 28, 1986, but n.o.body ever etched their names on a monument. with the knowledge they were next up. I will remember each of them in my prayers. I will also include prayers for their spouses and Judy's family. The life those spouses and parents knew also ended on January 28, 1986, but n.o.body ever etched their names on a monument.

From the memorial I will walk to a nearby full-scale s.p.a.ce shuttle mock-up. Metal platforms have been installed around the display so tourists can climb up and walk through the c.o.c.kpit. I will anonymously join a group of families and watch them take photos and listen to them marvel at the complexity of the switch panels and the cramped volume. Invariably my attention will be drawn to a child among them. In his or her amazed young face I will be transported back to 1957. I am standing in my front lawn with the identical expression, watchingSputnik I twinkle through the terminator. twinkle through the terminator.

September 7, 2005 September 7, 2005 Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico www.mikemullane.com www.mikemullane.com *The panel only bears the names of astronauts who died in the line of duty. For that reason Dave Griggs and Dave Walker are not memorialized on the panel.

Glossary AB-Afterburner. The throttle position that increases the thrust of a jet engine by burning additional fuel at the back of the engine.

AD-Arrested Development. The state of many military aviators, the author included.

ADI-Att.i.tude Director Indicator. An instrument that shows aircraft or s.p.a.cecraft att.i.tude relative to the Earth's horizon.

AFB-Air Force Base.

AOA-Abort Once Around. A launch abort in which the shuttle makes one orbit of the Earth and lands in the United States.

AOS-Acquisition of Signal. A call to the crew that indicates the shuttle data stream is being received at Mission Control.

APU-Auxiliary Power Unit. A hydraulic pump on the s.p.a.ce shuttle. There are three APUs powering three hydraulic systems on the orbiter. There is nothing "auxiliary" about the shuttle's APUs. They are the primary power source for the hydraulic systems. The "auxiliary" is a holdover aviation term. It refers to similar units that back up the primary engine-driven hydraulic pumps on jet aircraft.

ASP-Astronaut Support Personnel. Astronauts who help the mission crew strap into the s.p.a.ce shuttle and who a.s.sume control of the shuttle c.o.c.kpit from a just landed astronaut crew.

ATC-Air Traffic Control. Facilities on the ground that monitor aircraft in the air.

ATO-Abort to Orbit. A launch abort in which the shuttle flies into a safe orbit after an engine failure.

BFS-Backup Flight System. A backup computer that will take over control of a s.p.a.ce shuttle. The BFS is engaged by the depression of a b.u.t.ton on the top of the commander's or pilot's control sticks.

CAIB-ColumbiaAccident Investigation Board. The board appointed to investigate the loss of the s.p.a.ce shuttleColumbia . .

CAP-Crew Activity Plan. The checklist that specifies which crew activities are to be performed at what point in the mission.

CAPCOM-Capsule Communicator. The astronaut in Mission Control who talks to astronauts in s.p.a.ce.

CDR-Commander. The astronaut who occupies the front left seat of a launching/landing s.p.a.ce shuttle and who has overall responsibility for the mission.

CNO-Chief of Naval Operations. A four-star admiral who has overall responsibility for the United States Navy.

DEFCON-Defense Condition. The status of American military forces, from peacetime (DEFCON 5) to fully prepared for war (DEFCON 1).

DOD-Department of Defense.

DPS-Data Processing System. The computer heart of a s.p.a.ce shuttle.

EMU-Extra-vehicular Mobility Unit, i.e., a s.p.a.cesuit.

EOM-End of Mission. Used in reference to the end of a s.p.a.ce shuttle mission.

ESA-European s.p.a.ce Agency. The European equivalent of NASA.

ET-External Tank. The orange fuel tank attached to the belly of a launching s.p.a.ce shuttle. It carries 1.3 million pounds of liquid oxygen and 227,000 pounds of liquid hydrogen for the three liquid-fueled engines at the back of the orbiter.

EVA-Extra-Vehicular Activity. A s.p.a.cewalk.

FCOD-Flight Crew Operations Directorate. The organization at Johnson s.p.a.ce Center having overall responsibility for crews involved in flight operations, including T-38, Vomit Comet, and shuttle flight operations. The astronaut office falls under the domain of FCOD.

FDO-Flight Dynamics Officer. The Mission Control position that oversees all aspects of the shuttle's trajectory and vehicle maneuvers from liftoff to landing.

GIB-Guy-in-Back. Military slang for the backseat occupant of a two-place fighter aircraft.

GLS-Ground Launch Sequencer. A computer in the Launch Control Center at Kennedy s.p.a.ce Center that controls a shuttle countdown until thirty-one seconds prior to liftoff, at which time the shuttle's own computers a.s.sume control of the countdown.

GPC-General Purpose Computer. One of five IBM computers that form the shuttle's electronic "heart." One of these is the BFS computer.See BFS.

GS-Government Servant. The t.i.tle of civilians working for the government. A number system, e.g., GS-9, indicates the rank of the worker.

GWSA-George Was.h.i.+ngton Sherman Abbey.

HQ-Headquarters.

HST-Hubble s.p.a.ce Telescope.

ICOM-Intercom. The system used by astronauts to talk to one another when they are in the LES or separated between the upper and lower c.o.c.kpits or between the shuttle c.o.c.kpits and a s.p.a.celab module.

IFR-Instrument Flight Rules. A term used in aviation to indicate a pilot is following the directions of an air traffic controller on the ground.

INCO-Instrumentation and Communication Officer. The MCC controller responsible for the command and data links between the MCC and the s.p.a.ce shuttle.

ISS-International s.p.a.ce Station.

IUS-Inertial Upper Stage. A large Boeing-built booster rocket used to lift satellites into their final orbits and to accelerate s.p.a.ce probes out of Earth orbit.

IVA-Intra-Vehicular Activity. Usually used as a crewmember t.i.tle, i.e., IVA crewmember. A crewmember who helps s.p.a.cewalkers prepare for a s.p.a.cewalk and monitors them while they are outside the s.p.a.cecraft.

JSC-Johnson s.p.a.ce Center in Houston, Texas.

KSC-Kennedy s.p.a.ce Center in Florida LCC-Launch Control Center. The Kennedy s.p.a.ce Center team that directs the countdown and launch of a s.p.a.ce shuttle.

LCG-Liquid Cooling Garment. A netlike long underwear worn under a s.p.a.cesuit and that holds a maze of small tubes that circulate chilled water to prevent s.p.a.cewalkers from overheating.

LDEF-Long Duration Exposure Facility. A bus-size satellite launched on shuttle mission STS-41C in 1984 and retrieved and returned to Earth by STS-32 in January 1990. LDEF carried several hundred pa.s.sive experiments to understand the effects of s.p.a.ce exposure on various materials.

LES-Launch/Entry Suit. The orange-colored s.p.a.cesuits that astronauts wear for launch and reentry. These suits would automatically pressurize if there was a cabin pressure leak.

LOS-Loss of Signal. A call to the crew that the shuttle will soon be out of contact with Mission Control. Usually the call is given in a countdown format, as in, "Atlantis, you'll be LOS in two minutes."

LOX-Liquid Oxygen.

Mach-The engineering term for the speed of sound. Astronauts wear a Mach-25 patch indicating they have traveled twenty-five times the speed of sound.

max-q-An engineering term for the point in flight when an aircraft or s.p.a.cecraft experiences the maximum aerodynamic pressure. Max-q (where the M is capitalized) is also the name of the astronaut band. Though there have been several generations of astronaut band members, the band name remains the same.

MCC-Mission Control Center. The Johnson s.p.a.ce Center team that directs a shuttle mission from "tower clear" (the moment the shuttle rises above the launchpad) until the "wheel stop" call at landing, at which time control is returned to Kennedy s.p.a.ce Center.

MDF-Manipulator Development Facility. A full-scale simulation of the Canadian robot arm and shuttle cargo bay in a building at Johnson s.p.a.ce Center.

MEC-Master Events Controller. A black box on the s.p.a.ce shuttle that controls critical events like the commands to jettison the booster rockets and the empty gas tank.

MECO-Main Engine Cutoff. The moment in a shuttle launch when the three liquid-fueled engines shut down.

MLP-Mobile Launch Platform. The "launchpad" on which the s.p.a.ce shuttle is stacked and that is carried to either Pad 39A or B by a ma.s.sive tracked crawler.

MMU-Manned Maneuvering Unit. A s.p.a.ce jet pack. An MMU has high-pressure gas thruster jets that allow an untethered astronaut to fly short distances from the s.p.a.ce shuttle.

MS-Mission Specialist. Astronauts trained for mission payload activities, e.g., using the robot arm, doing a s.p.a.cewalk, conducting experiments, etc.

MSE-Military s.p.a.ce Engineer. Department of Defense personnel flown on some DOD missions.

MSFC-Marshall s.p.a.ceflight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

NASA-National Aeronautics and s.p.a.ce Administration.

O2-Gaseous oxygen breathed by astronauts.

OFT-Orbital Flight Test. The first four s.p.a.ce shuttle flights. After these were successfully concluded, the STS was proclaimedoperational . .

OMs...o...b..tal Maneuvering System. Two six-thousand-pound-thrust liquid-fueled engines at the tail of the orbiter. These are used for the final boost into orbit, the brake from orbit, and for large orbit changes.

PAM-Propulsion a.s.sist Module. A solid-fueled rocket motor attached to the bottom of a communication satellite to lift it to a 22,300-mile-high equatorial orbit.

PAO-Public Affairs Officer. An MCC position filled by NASA's representative to the public.

PEAP-Personal Emergency Air Pack. A portable container of breathing air, which astronauts would use in a ground escape through toxic fumes.

PLBD-Payload Bay Doors. The clamsh.e.l.l doors that cover the s.p.a.ce shuttle payload bay.

PLT-Pilot. The pilot astronaut who sits in the right front seat during a shuttle launch and landing. Like the mission commander, the PLT is trained to fly the shuttle.

PPK-Personal Preference Kit. The twenty items of personal significance that NASA permits astronauts to fly in s.p.a.ce.

PR-Public Relations. Refers to all things a.s.sociated with NASA's interface with the public.

PROP-Propulsion. An MCC controller who monitors the shuttle RCS and OMS propulsion systems.

PS-Payload Specialist. A "part-time" astronaut trained for a specific experiment. PSes are not career NASA astronauts and receive only safety and habitability training on the shuttle.

RCS-Reaction Control System. A system of forty-four small rocket motors on the tail and nose of the orbiter that control the vehicle's att.i.tude and are also used in small orbit changes, e.g., during the final stages of a rendezvous or separation from a deployed satellite.

RHC-Rotational Hand Controller. The "stick" used to rotate the tip of the robot arm about a point. The CDR's and PLT's control sticks, used to maneuver the orbiter, are also referred to as RHCs.

RMS-Remote Manipulator System. The Canadian-built robot arm operated from the rear c.o.c.kpit of the orbiter. It is used to capture and release satellites, maneuver s.p.a.cewalking astronauts and cargo, and for vehicle inspections (through its end-mounted TV camera).

RSLS-Redundant Set Launch Sequencer. The software module in the shuttle's computers that controls the final thirty-one seconds of a shuttle countdown.

RSO-Range Safety Officer. A USAF officer who monitors a shuttle launch and is prepared to blow up the vehicle if it goes out of control and threatens a civilian population center.

RSS-Range Safety System. The explosives aboard the solid rocket boosters and the external gas tank and the supporting electronic equipment that would be used to blow up an out-of-control s.p.a.ce shuttle.

RTLS-Return to Launch Site Abort. A launch abort in which the s.p.a.ce shuttle returns to land at the Kennedy s.p.a.ce Center.

SAIL-Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory. An electronic lab in which shuttle software can be evaluated. SAIL has a replica of the shuttle c.o.c.kpit.

SAS-s.p.a.ce Adaptation Syndrome. s.p.a.ce sickness.