this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2024
187 points (99.0% liked)

interestingasfuck

6107 readers
1 users here now

interestingasfuck

founded 2 years ago
 

On the second day of the mission, Wang floated over to his experiment and sought to activate the Drop Dynamics Module. But it didn't work. He asked the NASA flight controllers on the ground if he could take some time to try to troubleshoot the problem and maybe fix the experiment. But on any Shuttle mission, time is precious. Every crew member has a detailed timeline, with a long list of tasks during waking hours. The flight controllers were reluctant.

After initially being told no, Wang pressed a bit further. "Listen, I know my system very well," he said. "Give me a shot." Still, the flight controllers demurred. Wang grew desperate. So he said something that chilled the nerves of those in Houston watching over the safety of the crew and the Shuttle mission.

"Hey, if you guys don't give me a chance to repair my instrument, I'm not going back," Wang said.

...

So in the immediate aftermath, someone at NASA, probably within the crew office, initiated the capability of a commander to lock the hatch if he or she felt uncomfortable about a crew member. It was used frequently in subsequent missions involving payload specialists.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[โ€“] FlyingSquid 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

To be fair, we don't know very many details.

[โ€“] RealFknNito 3 points 10 months ago

Sure but it definitely sounds more like a "just give me more time" than a "I'm going to actively sabotage the mission for this."