Shuttle

[BonosSaint]

So far looks good. Keeping fingers crossed.

 

[greeneyedgirl]

I'm so happy

 

[the rockin edge]

There was some concern among US space agency (Nasa) officials after several pieces of debris appeared to fall off the external fuel tank shortly after lift-off.

"About two minutes and 47 seconds, give or take, we saw three, perhaps four, pieces come off," said Wayne Hale, the shuttle programme manager.

He added that it was unclear whether the objects were insulating foam or "something else", but said it was too high to cause damage to the craft.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5146866.stm


if that was insulation it could be a problem on re-entry.

 

[BonosSaint]

Oh, shit. I left soon after the launch. Double crossed fingers. Was that the part that disengages from the shuttle?

 

[BonosSaint]

They seem pretty secure the foam didn't damage the shuttle this time. Hoping that's the case. It was very pretty to watch the launch.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Mass. native is NASA's 2d black woman in space

By Cristina Silva and Michael Levenson, Globe Staff | July 5, 2006

In her hometown of Pittsfield, Stephanie D. Wilson was a quiet, wiry girl who ran track, played the clarinet in the high school band, and made the National Honor Society. Her classmates predicted she would go far, but few imagined just how far that distance would be.

Yesterday afternoon, the Boston-born and Harvard-educated Wilson blasted into orbit aboard the NASA space shuttle Discovery from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, bound with six other astronauts for the International Space Station. The smooth liftoff marked the first space shuttle flight in nearly a year, and the first-ever manned launch on Independence Day.

During the 12-day mission, the crew will deliver supplies and evaluate new safety procedures, and at least two space walks are planned.

As they awaited the much-anticipated launch, former friends, teachers, and classmates at Taconic High School in Pittsfield expressed amazement that one of their own had realized a starry-eyed childhood dream.

``We all have our professions and here she is, an astronaut," said Judith Giardina . ``We just think it's great."

Giardina said that although Wilson was known as very bright, she was still shocked when she heard the petite girl she graduated from high school with was headed for outer space.

It is Wilson's first trip into space, becoming the second black woman to take part in such a NASA mission.

Barbara Finn , 81, Wilson's fourth-grade teacher , was one of four Pittsfield elementary school teachers who was invited to the launch in Florida.

``She's just a wonderful kid and full of life and very focused, always has been," Finn said. ``She was just an all-around good student, the kind of student any teacher would love to have."

Wilson, 39, graduated from Harvard College in 1988, and received a master's degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas in 1992. She then went to work for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., before being selected for NASA in 1996. After two years training at the Johnson Space Center, she qualified for flight assignment as a mission specialist, according to the NASA website.

In a preflight interview on the NASA website, Wilson said she was thankful for the support of her friends back home. ``The people there are very excited, and they've been very supportive of me," she said. ``I hope to have a chance, during our postflight appearances, to go back and thank the people there."

Life in Western Massachusetts helped spark her interest in outer space, she said in the interview.

``Well, I grew up in a small town in Massachusetts and all of the stars were very visible at night and so, I just looked up at the heavens and I thought it would be a nice way to fulfill my interest in space."

 

[A_Wanderer]

The 1970's design isn't going to last much longer.

 

[U2DMfan]

I agree Wanderer.
Quite possibly the smartest people on planet earth, using technology from the late 70's in possibly one of the most risky endeavors of humankind (albeit maybe useless at this point).

It's amazing no more than two of them have met a tragic end.

They need to scrap the fucker.

 

[BVS]

I agree as well. It amazes me that NASA uses the American thinking of "if it ain't broke don't fix it". It's a dangerous mode of thinking...

 

[trevster2k]

I agree, the shuttle is ancient technology. I am amazed that no advancements have been made in space technology considering the interest in it.

Didn't the initial investigation into the Challenger explosion figure that there was something like a 1 in 25 chance of it exploding?

 

[silja]

They seem pretty secure the foam didn't damage the shuttle this time. Hoping that's the case. It was very pretty to watch the launch.

Did you see the launch live? That pretty cool. I saw a launch (Endeavour, STS-100 as I recall) back in 2001 and what I remember most is being amazed at how loud it was - particularly the subsonic bursts.

 

[BonosSaint]

No, just saw the launch on TV. I'm jealous you got to see one live.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

AP - 3 minutes ago

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle Discovery and its crew of six landed safely Monday, wrapping up a successful mission that put NASA back in the space station construction business. Discovery touched down on the Kennedy Space Center runway around 9:14 a.m. EDT.

 

[BonosSaint]

Sigh of relief and pleasure.

 

[silja]

Sigh of relief and pleasure.

 

[nbcrusader]

I agree as well. It amazes me that NASA uses the American thinking of "if it ain't broke don't fix it". It's a dangerous mode of thinking...

I wonder if we would have ever made it into space using our expectations today. Examine one of the original Mercury or Gemini capsules, and you realize that you could probably take it apart with tools from the average toolbox – very simplistic, fragile equipment.

 

[shart1780]

OMG it blew up!

 

[BVS]

OMG it blew up!

Is this some attempt at humor, or do you have some inside that no one else does?

 

[angelordevil]

OMG it blew up!

That's a very lousy comment...get some sense.


The shuttle may be outdated, but what a "beautiful ship," to quote Radiohead. Everything about these missions amazes me to no end. I'm glad I picked today to start my vacation...I was glued to the screen this morning, watching the reentry. I'll actually be a little sad when the last shuttle mission wraps up.

 

[shart1780]

I'm sorry... I just have a completely horribe sense of humor

 

[BVS]

I just have a completely horribe sense of humor

Well this we agree on.

 

[A_Wanderer]

I'll be happy to see the advent of a space elevator

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

 

[angelordevil]

I love this picture from one of the space walks...a bit of Canadian content, as well, with the Canadarm extending out into space:

Not sure if it was this guy, but one of the astronauts was quoted as saying, "I'm in a dream; nobody wake me up."

Space...

 

[U2DMfan]

I'll be happy to see the advent of a space elevator

That idea is a great one.
Maybe conceivable but not realistic, but who cares, it would be awesome.

They were actually cooking this one up which is my suspicion why Wanderer brought this up. How cool would that be?

 

[U2DMfan]

I wonder if we would have ever made it into space using our expectations today. Examine one of the original Mercury or Gemini capsules, and you realize that you could probably take it apart with tools from the average toolbox – very simplistic, fragile equipment.

Some truth in that, no doubt, but we're talking about NASA not only using the best technology available but at least technologies discovered/invented within the last two decades. The basic design outline for the space shuttle is about 30 years old, give or take, factor in the risk and the results and I think the expectations for success vs failure are about right.

The program that got us into space in the 60's kicked expectations in the balls and never looked back. These days there is an expectation that the current models might fail as opposed to the a new model yet to prove itself (Mercury or Gemini). I think the public has only upped the ante because of what NASA itself has done in the past vs what it hasn't done presently or in the immediate past.

 

[A_Wanderer]

That idea is a great one.
Maybe conceivable but not realistic, but who cares, it would be awesome.

They were actually cooking this one up which is my suspicion why Wanderer brought this up. How cool would that be?

The last five years in materials science has certainly turned me around, if we applied ourselves today we could do it for a few hundred billion dollars but that price tag will come down a lot over the next few (as in 3) decades with the capacity for industrial scale fabrication of things like carbon fillament.

 

[shart1780]

Wow, that picture is really cool.