Quotes by Ron Dittemore

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

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

“Were satisfied that the necessary precautions have taken place or we wouldnt launch.”

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

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

“Were becoming very organized and making progress in support of each other.”

“Soon after, we had loss of signal.”

“Theres certainly an element of mission risk. Not safety risk, mission risk.”

“Weve 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 didnt get, that we dont quite understand.”

“It goes back to, how likely is it that youll 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 its a compelling story.”