"the #mainstream media doesn’t cover #SpaceExploration and #SpaceScience with the same questioning 🔍 rigor that they reserve for politics. People writing about #SpaceExploration are mostly cheerleaders 🥳 for the cause, rather than independent observers keeping a watchful eye 👀 on how our national monies are spent."
Since all launch vehicles are specialized - and literally #RocketScience - the #FAA believes operators are best suited to sniff out root causes and identify corrective actions. The agency estimates that in-house investigations could take the agency 10-20 times longer 🥱.
As for #HumanSpaceflight / tourism, the industry has been operating under an eight-year “learning period,” where the FAA is restricted from enacting regulations. The learning period is set to expire on 📆 Jan. 1 https://payloadspace.com/the-gao-calls-for-the-faa-to-improve-its-mishap-investigation-process/
Pictures : #SpaceShuttle debris holes, #Satellite panel hit by #SpaceDebrishttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Space_debris_impact_on_Space_Shuttle_window.jpghttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:STS-118_debris_entry.jpghttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SMM_panel_hole.jpg
'You know, there is nothing we can do about #damage to the TPS. If it has been damaged it’s probably better not to know. I think the crew would rather not know. Don’t you think it would be better for them to have a happy successful flight and die unexpectedly during entry than to stay on #orbit, knowing that there was nothing to be done, until the air ran out ?'” https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20150130-what-caused-the-columbia-disaster