Ron Dittemore Quotations

It goes back to, how likely is it that you'll have a defect? Very low. And what is your test experience? Overwhelmingly positive. Then you look at your design, and your design is to be very safe. And you look at those, and it's a compelling story.

It could be indicative of a rough tile or missing tile. We are not sure yet. I don't have a smoking gun. I don't have anything that shows a root cause.

We're going to pause and reflect upon the crew of Columbia, their lives, their contributions, their memory, and although we cannot stop our investigation and the recovery effort, we will pause in this location to take the time to reflect upon their lives, their sacrifice. It's a day of remembering. It's a day of remembering our friends, and for us it's a day of mourning.

We are getting thousands of pieces of information and the teams are working through each piece deliberately.

George M. Low is a legendary figure for his vision and his role in developing our nation's space programs. It is a tremendous honor for us to accept this award that bears his name. This award reflects the dedication of a talented team of employees who give it their best every day, working as one team with NASA, to ensure the success of our nation's space exploration programs.

Teams are beginning the laborious process of looking through the data. It's going to take us some days and weeks to put it all together and make it correct.

We've done all that we can think, as far as testing in a one-G environment and simulating the effects of our (shuttle) maneuvers on the mast. But there is that element of risk that there may be something we didn't get, that we don't quite understand.

ATK has worked closely with Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Air Force to successfully transfer the remaining PRP work to our facilities. We're proud to support this vital program and look forward to performing this work in the years ahead, even as we begin to work on elements of potential future systems.

ATK has worked closely with Northrop Grumman and the Air Force to successfully transfer the remaining PRP work to our facilities.

This mission will be a milestone for both the station and shuttle as we complete a major phase of the station's assembly.