Originally published August 9 2005
Discovery shuttle commander sees environmental destruction on Earth
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The Discovery shuttle commander Eileen Collins has seen large portions of environmental damage to the Earth from her vantage point in space. She warns about what may happen if the situation is not rectified soon.
Her comments came as NASA pondered whether to send astronauts out on an extra spacewalk to repair additional heat-protection damage on the first shuttle mission since the 2003 Columbia disaster.
It's very widespread in some parts of the world," Collins said in a conversation from space with Japanese officials in Tokyo, including Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
"We would like to see, from the astronauts' point of view, people take good care of the Earth and replace the resources that have been used," said Collins, who was standing with Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi in front of a Japanese flag and holding a colorful fan.
Collins, making her fourth shuttle flight, said the view from space made clear that Earth's atmosphere must be protected, too.
"We know that we don't have much air, we need to protect what we have."
While Collins and Noguchi chatted, NASA officials were deciding whether a rip in an insulation blanket that protects part of the shuttle surface could tear off and strike the spacecraft when Discovery re-enters the atmosphere, possibly causing damage.
Noguchi and astronaut Steve Robinson already have done three spacewalks, including a landmark walk on Wednesday to remove loose cloth strips protruding from Discovery's belly.
After Discovery comes home, there may not be a shuttle mission for a while because NASA has suspended flights until it figures out how to stop insulation foam from the spacecraft's external fuel tank from coming loose at launch.
A briefcase-size piece of foam broke from its fuel tank and struck Columbia at launch, punching a hole in its wing heat shield.
A spokesman at Johnson Space Center in Houston told Reuters he had not yet seen the Times report and could not comment.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml