Close Call for Space Shuttle STS-27 in 1988

STS-27 (Atlantis) launched on Dec. 6, 1988. This was the second Shuttle flight since the Challenger disaster. A piece of insulation from the tip of the right-side solid-fuel booster broke loose after 85 seconds into the flight and damaged about 700 protective tiles. This was a classified mission. Information was not released to the public and there was an information transfer snafu that lead NASA engineers to think 'no big deal.' The astronauts on board, including Robert Gibson, thought 'we are going to die.'

Does any of this sound familiar? This was almost 18 years before the Columbia disaster. NASA apparently didn't learn much from this incident. If the fate of Atlantis had resulted in the loss of the crew and vehicle, then it is likely that Congress would have ended the Space Shuttle Program.