Discovery heads for space (MERGED)

mike65

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4670905.stm

Nasa still hopes to launch space shuttle Discovery on Wednesday, despite the storms buffeting Florida as Hurricane Dennis hits the mainland US.

At a countdown status briefing, space agency officials re-stated their determination to fly Discovery on the first day of its July launch window.

There is said to be a 30% chance of bad weather stopping the launch on 13 July.

It will be the first shuttle launch since the Columbia disaster in 2003, which killed seven astronauts.

"Discovery is in excellent shape as we continue our preparations in anticipation of Wednesday's launch," Jeff Spaulding, Nasa test director told reporters here at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida.

http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/main/

Mike.

Flukey

It will be good to see it up and going again. They are still on the weather watch, but hopefully it should not be a problem and when it does go, that it is a successful and safe mission.

Flukey

I just heard on the radio: The launch has been cancelled due to technical reasons. Something had fallen off earlier on, a cover on a window, but they did say that that would not be a problem.

albertw

Flukey wrote:

I just heard on the radio: The launch has been cancelled due to technical reasons. Something had fallen off earlier on, a cover on a window, but they did say that that would not be a problem.

That got bolted back on again. But still, its really not the type of thing you want to have go wrong on launch day.

Devious

Lets hope they pack the parachutes this time, eh?

The Lopper

Does anyone know if they're gonna try and relaunch it?

Redshift

The Lopper wrote:

Does anyone know if they're gonna try and relaunch it?

NASA officials have announced plans to the begin the countdown to a July 26 launch of Space Shuttle Discovery. The countdown will start Saturday and, if all goes well, will continue to liftoff at 10:39 a.m. EDT on Tuesday.

............

The Lopper

Thanks

lazygit

what a lovley sight!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4716463.stm

JackieChan

Yea, I watched live data on yahoo.com and the commentary was great. The guys were explaining the communications that was taken place between Huston and the crew.
They also gave the speed and altitude of the shuttle every couple of seconds.Showed the jettison and seperation of the three fuel pods
Great stuff!

Flukey

I watched it on Sky News. It is always a great sight, seeing something like that blasting off.

Flukey

Up she went!

halenger

Twas interesting the watch. The holds were frustrating though (if you weren't expecting them).

T - 20 minutes .... and holding for 10 minutes. (That one was ok)

T - 9 minutes .... and holding for 45 minutes. GAH!

Good that everything went well though.

Redshift

Yeah great launch the video shot from the external tank as it seperated was well cool. Please God they will make it back safely
I'm going to be in Florida for the launch window of STS121 I hope to see the launch for real.

Wibbs

I was at a shuttle launch in the 80's before the challenger accident(can't remember which mission) and I can tell you Redshift, it's well worth it. The noise alone is impressive, but the really impressive thing is the rate it picks up speed.

I'm just sorry I'm not old enough to have seen a Saturn V launch. An uncle of mine was lucky enough to see Apollo 14 launch. The old git

Can't wait to see the first mars mission launch, but I suspect I'll be an old man before it happens.

The Lopper

^

Yeah, George Bush planned to get man on Mars fairly soon, then someone reminded him Mars was a bit further than Florida. jk

Calibos

*STOP PRESS*

Shuttle Fleet grounded again!

Discovery Ok for re-entry it seems but Fleet grounded once again due to safety concerns after debris incident on Discovery Launch

Flukey

I just heard that too. Another piece of foam came off. Although it did no damage this time, they want to resolve the problem, so the fleet has been grounded for now.

halenger

Something that popped into my head today...

Has this been happening all along and Columbia was an accident waiting to happen? As in we're only aware of it now due to the improved camera systems and becuase we're watching for it?

If not, what's changed? Are they simply getting old? They replace all those tiles after every mission, as far as I'm aware, so I don't see how age could really be a factor.

Big shame though, huge...

albertw

halenger wrote:

Has this been happening all along and Columbia was an accident waiting to happen? As in we're only aware of it now due to the improved camera systems and becuase we're watching for it?

Its been happening all along according to the report.

If not, what's changed? Are they simply getting old? They replace all those tiles after every mission, as far as I'm aware, so I don't see how age could really be a factor.

afaik they are not all replaced, only damaged ones. And they know from past missions how many were damaged. In any case it wasnt the tiles that doomed columbia it was the carbon leading edge on the wing. They never got replaced apparently.

Gurgle

Are these the actual same shuttles they've been using for decades, or just the same design ?

Flukey

They are the same, though some are older than others. Like anything the design has changed and improvements have been made all along the way. Everything is reusable, with the one exception being the fuel tanks which are just dumped into the ocean. It is they that have been causing the problem, so maybe they should recover them.

halenger

The do recover them, or so I thought I heard on NASA TV before the launch. They were talking about the ships that go (really fast) and collect them and how they sink and sit vertically in the water until they get there and they can make them go horizontal then(?) (letting water in?). Think that was what I heard anyway.

Flukey

They recover the booster rockets, but I don't know about the fuel tanks. Even from an environmental perspective, they should not just dump them. It would seem more important now if they are the source of a problem that could ground all missions. Sure there is a simple way of keeping the tiles in place, even if they have to wrap the tank in chicken wire!

The Lopper

Read that it was a bird that flew into the fuel tank and knocked a bit off it that caused a problem.

Although that was in the Sun so don't quote me on that.

mike65

from bbc

Shuttle astronaut Stephen Robinson says it should be a straightforward task to remove ceramic strips sticking out between Discovery's heatshield tiles.

Nasa wants the astronaut to make an unprecedented spacewalk under the orbiter to remove the dangling material known as gap fillers.

Engineers are concerned the strips may cause part of the shuttle to overheat as it re-enters the atmosphere.

"I'll have to be careful but the task is very simple," said Robinson.

"We predict it won't be too complex," he told reporters from orbit.


We have one unknown left and that's the gap filler that we hope to pull out tomorrow; and after we've done that I think we're going to have a very clean entry

Discovery Commander Eileen Collins
Nasa has identified two gap fillers that are sticking proud of heatshield tiles near Discovery's nose section, one by about 2.8cm (1.1in) and the other by about 2.2cm (0.9in).

The pieces of ceramic fabric, which act like a grouting for the tiles, were probably shaken out during the vibrations of launch, the agency said.

Whoever makes the glue and makes the fillers is going to have to raise thier game.

Mike.

Flukey

Although that was in the Sun so don't quote me on that.

They sacked a journalist there once for bringing the paper into disrepute. He printed a story that was true.


The upcoming spacewalk to look under the shuttle will be interesting. This mission is turning out to be a lot more than they bargained for. One to watch, definitely.