Zeev's Turnips Patch-No Politics (ZEEV)

[Math Junkie]

"Barbree said all of his NASA sources had expected some drag and a small temperature increase from debris damage to thermal tiles, but that they also felt it was manageable and not a serious threat."

It's always a little scary to me when NASA folks start talking about what they feel is safe.

It also seems to me that leaving the 50-foot arm at home turned out to be a very expensive decision.

In the spy satellite photos of previous shuttle missions, how much detail were they able to get?

One of the things that pilots continually have to guard against is complacency about potential safety issues, especially when things seem to be going well. Perhaps NASA suffers from the same problem.