Allard Beutel Quotations

We're still working to get in contact with our people.

Overall, as a class, they will not be shuttle astronauts. They will be space station astronauts, testing and flying whatever is the new exploration vehicle.

It's like shuffling parking spaces in your driveway.

The program is being logical and looking at what can be done.

We are looking at that what can we do for people who had homes nearby, who want to work but don't have a home to go back to at night.

If, and only if, our further testing and analysis supports flying without a PAL ramp is aerodynamically alright to do, as our preliminary analysis indicates it would be, then the May launch window is still possible to make. If our new testing and analysis indicates we need the PAL ramp, we'll stop our shuttle processing, reassess and work the issue from there.

The data from the ongoing engineering analysis on the PAL ramp seems to be pointing in the direction of not flying with the PAL ramp for STS-121.

All I can tell you is it that it will have an impact. But how much of an impact, we just don't know yet. We're in the early stages of trying to figure all that out.

That's how they've chosen to exercise their resources. We're not allowed to do it at NASA.

They've had a couple more months to work this and after studying this problem up and down the chain they are thinking that the PAL ramp removal is more feasible than they did just a couple of months ago.