[FPSPACE] BBC Horizon "Guide to the Space Shuttle"...could the Columbia have been saved?

[Peter Pesavento]

On the local PBS station this evening they showed the BBC Horizon special
"Guide to the Space Shuttle."

 

One thing completely jumped out at me (besides the error claiming that
Salyut 1 was still up in space until Mir, when they intended to mean a
series of Salyut stations), was a short clip of our own fpspacer JimO, when
they were talking about the Columbia disaster.

 

The scenario that was explored was that if NASA had decided to investigate
the impact of the external tank insulation on the orbiter wing while the
mission was still on-going, and had they had some way of looking at it (they
showed a terrestrial telescope somewhere..perhaps Palomar, perhaps something
else), found out that the wing was compromised, could NASA have saved the
Shuttle Columbia.  They also brought up having a rescue mission by another
Shuttle, or have an astronaut do a spacewalk to look at the bottom of the
craft..

 

Now they had this very short clip of JimO appearing to say that Columbia
could've side-slipped its way through re-entry and possibly survived, where
the right side of the Shuttle could've borne the brunt of the re-entry (I
believe it was the left wing that had the damage), and possibly could've
saved the Shuttle from breaking up.

 

JimO, do you believe that this scenario is viable (the documentary was
issued in 2010)?  That they could've side-slipped (the term used by JimO in
the video clip I believe was "crabbed") in?  Was there more to your
interview JimO that they left out?

 

Does this sound viable?  Does this sound do-able?

 

I am putting this out there to those who may know more about this.  Because
that would have had to have been at least a good long while (not mere
seconds or mere minutes, like two or three or even ten) to engage this
proposed side-slip..

 

I find the suggestion by JimO interesting, but I don't know whether it
could've possibly have been a viable method.  Hence this inquiry to the
assembled.

 

Hold forth with your opinions.  I am willing to read what others think.

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