Ron Dittemore
Ron Dittemore
Ron D. Dittemoreis a former shuttle program manager for NASA, and is currently the president of ATK Launch Systems Group, formerly known as ATK Thiokol Propulsion, part of Alliant Techsystems, Inc...
although cannot crew location memory pause recovery reflect stop time
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.
becoming organized progress support
We're becoming very organized and making progress in support of each other.
assembly complex flights station
It is one of the most complex station assembly flights that we will conduct.
compelling design goes likely test
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.
mission space
This mission ... effectively jump-starts us back into assembling the International Space Station.
complexity extremely far gone level missions shuttle station takes
The shuttle missions that have gone to the station so far have been extremely successful. This mission takes the level of complexity up a notch.
indicative missing root rough shows smoking sure
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.
necessary satisfied taken
We're satisfied that the necessary precautions have taken place or we wouldn't launch.
evidence gaining problem rather
We are gaining evidence that this was thermal problem rather than a problem with sensors.
information pieces teams thousands
We are getting thousands of pieces of information and the teams are working through each piece deliberately.
attach complex crew hardware largest mission particular piece shuttle station
The crew of this particular mission will attach the heaviest, largest and most complex piece of station hardware launched on the shuttle so far.