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In reply to the discussion: Deputies shoot man in his front yard He was getting cigarette out of his mother's car [View all]Savannahmann
(3,891 posts)We're human. We're made with flaws. It's the nature of the universe. I meant no insult towards engineers, I used the story, which was listed as such, as an example of one of those oh yes moments that we all have when the obvious is pointed out to us.
Everyone has them. Everyone misses that which is right in front of them at some point of our lives. Because none of us are perfect. If we were perfect, we would not be men we would be gods. I don't think we're quite ready for that, as a species. Give us another million years or so, and we'll see.
ON EDIT: I just remembered something I wish I had put in. So I am. NASA Engineers are hardly idiots. They are among the brightest of those in the field of Materials and Rocket Science. They do math in their heads that I couldn't do on my computer. But when Challenger blew up, only a few understood why it had happened. It was the limits of the materials, and those limits were such that a launch in those conditions was akin to Russian Roulette. You might win, but if you're a loser, you lose everything.
When Columbia burned up on reentry, it took some time before the truth was known, because the instinctive understanding was such that it overshadowed the Engineering and laws of physics. They saw the impact of the foam on the left wing, and their experience told them that it was foam. Your car doesn't blow up when you run over a Styrofoam cooler, why would the Shuttle.
Only later, when they used an air cannon to test the idea, was the truth finally known by all. The foam was not only the cause, but had in essence doomed the flight. Only a very risky rescue scheme would have worked to save the crew, but nobody believed it was needed, because what danger does a little foam represent?
These are smart and experienced Engineers. Not idiots. Educated to understand their chosen fields. I don't blame them, because again, we are all human. We make mistakes, and we try very hard to learn from them and never make the mistake again. I could list example after example. Nobody is perfect, and we all miss things.