Ron Dittemore Quotations

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.

We're becoming very organized and making progress in support of each other.

We're satisfied that the necessary precautions have taken place or we wouldn't launch.

Right now, it just does not make sense to us that a piece of debris is the root cause to explain the loss of the Columbia crew. There has got to be another reason.

We are gaining evidence that this was thermal problem rather than a problem with sensors.

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.

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 is one of the most complex station assembly flights that we will conduct.

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.

The crew of this particular mission will attach the heaviest, largest and most complex piece of station hardware launched on the shuttle so far.

We're not launching with a problem. We're launching with what was a potential problem that we have cleared and is no issue.

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.

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.

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

This mission ... effectively jump-starts us back into assembling the International Space Station.

There's certainly an element of mission risk. Not safety risk, mission risk.

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.

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.