On the second day of the mission, Wang floated over to his experiment and sought to activate the Drop Dynamics Module. But it didn’t work. He asked the NASA flight controllers on the ground if he could take some time to try to troubleshoot the problem and maybe fix the experiment. But on any Shuttle mission, time is precious. Every crew member has a detailed timeline, with a long list of tasks during waking hours. The flight controllers were reluctant.
After initially being told no, Wang pressed a bit further. “Listen, I know my system very well,” he said. “Give me a shot.” Still, the flight controllers demurred. Wang grew desperate. So he said something that chilled the nerves of those in Houston watching over the safety of the crew and the Shuttle mission.
“Hey, if you guys don’t give me a chance to repair my instrument, I’m not going back,” Wang said.
…
So in the immediate aftermath, someone at NASA, probably within the crew office, initiated the capability of a commander to lock the hatch if he or she felt uncomfortable about a crew member. It was used frequently in subsequent missions involving payload specialists.
“I want to finish my shit” “No” “Okay I’m not coming back until I finish my shit.” “Oh my god he’s lost his mind!”
Instead of just thinking the guy was determined to complete what he went to fucking space for they just went right to the whacko conclusion.
If I’m ever in space I’m going to be extra wary of any behavior that makes someone as not a team player. Preferably we would have no eccentricities and we would just go up and come right back without learning anything.
What am I saying. I don’t know shit. I just would never put myself in that situation.
To be fair, we don’t know very many details.
Sure but it definitely sounds more like a “just give me more time” than a “I’m going to actively sabotage the mission for this.”