Page 3 - Human Access News Today

This leak can be shut down. >> is that fair to say, admiral, that the efforts that are taking place right now are just being made up? >> no, i dont think so. weve been in complete partnership and oversight with british petroleum. this is something nobody can do by themselves. they own the means of production at the bottom and theres no human access and everything is done in robs at a depth thats never been tried before. theres working together and holding people accountable and the first order o...

Dispersements from the air and mechanical cal skimming but the calculus on what was spill and what is out there is going to take a while to develop. but the work assumption is 5,000 barrels a day. >> the rov s are the remotely operated vehicles yourousing down there, right? >> thats correct. were work in an air where that has no human access and weve never had a spill of this significance and this complexity at this depth where everything we did had to be done through remotely operated vehicles....

Try to keep the damage to a minimum. skimming, controlled burns, plans for drilling a relief well. overseeing the entire operation is the commandant of the coast guard admiral thad allen. earlier you heard him discussing the process of using that containment dome. i also asked him how he felt about the big picture. the efforts to get oil leak under control. here is what he says. >> i have been working oil spill response since 1980, my first oil spill i was actually involved in. as we have evolve...

Over the weekend to see if we can collect the oil and pipe it to the surface. >> is it your esmitt that the gushing is still coming at, what, 5,000 barrels a day, 10,000 barrels a day? is it going up or down? whats the estimate right now? >> were using a working estimate of 5,000 barrels a day, but ive been careful since the event started not to lock in on a specific estimate, because all we know is what we see with the rovs at the bottom of the ocean and when it hits the surface theres still so...

Theres a sense here of a greater purpose and that is supporting human access to space beginning to do research and development, giving us the opportunity to go to new places and discover new things. i mean, there really is an exploration aspect to the space program that we have today and the people here are bound together to support that activity and be part of that overall accomplishment. its not just an accomplishment for people here. its really something that america should be proud of and th...

Maybe its not such a bad thing. i mean, is there a part of you, the optimistic part of you, tom, that sort of sees maybe an opportunity here for better efficiency, better safety? i dont know, nasas safety record has been overwhelmingly good. obviously weve had tragedies in the past, but what do you think about maybe the good part of this, moving more towards these private industries? >> im a big believer in commercial innovation and participation in space exploration. and nasa has already contra...

Want bp to live up to it that they are going to be made whole once the true scope of this disaster is known. >> anne, lets look at what the coast guard admiral had to say on "morning joe." weve got a problem with the wrong tape. but basically, that theyre dealing with a source of oil with no human access. people are just incredulous that they have no back-up plan. that there was no plan in place when you have something at 5,000 feet and all these assurances weve had for years and years including...

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>> were dealing with a source of oil that has no human access. everything done through remotely operated vehicle. frankly ive said on several occasions in many places its more similar to apolo 13 than "exxon valdez." >> with more on what bp is doing, ann, as you reported, in the fourth week this is half the size of the "exxon valdez." who knows how long it will keep going. >> reporter: the longer this goes on, clearly the more frustrated people are down here about the fact bp cannot plug this le...