Space Shuttle Launch on 4th of July: Fireworks and Excitement Await!

[stoned]

they are blowimg up shuttle into space today, we gona have nice display of fireworks

 

[zanazzi78]

they are blowimg up shuttle into space today, we gona have nice display of fireworks

Well if they havn`t sorted the fuel sensor glitch, they may just be blowing it up!

Lets hope it fixed!

 

[hypatia]

10:39 tomorrow, the count down has begun.


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

 

[Smurf]

I think Canadian taxes should be used to supplement the shuttle program so that United States can build new space shuttles without putting the cost on the American taxpayer’s shoulders.

Do we get alaska back in return?

 

[Townsend]

Do we get alaska back in return?

I wasn't serious about that...I just said it because stoned thinks that the US should pay tax dollars to have another country run our space program.

And, no you cannot have Alaska back...

One of the last great frontiers out there...

 

[stoned]

Do we get alaska back in return?

do you think Alaska was Canadian at anytime ?
from what i know Alaska was sold to the Americans by Russians.

 

[hypatia]

One hour away and all systems are go.

 

[dduardo]

Go for launch! 12min left

Yay! they made it into orbit.

 

[enigma]

I loved the video feed from the external tank. That was a sexy shot.

 

[recon]

Woohoo! I actually got both my father and my cousin to watch the shuttle launch with me.

I didn't manage to interest anyone else.

 

[DeathKnight]

It was a successful launch.
BTW, Does anyone the maximum speed that the shuttle reached?

 

[zanazzi78]

It was a successful launch.
BTW, Does anyone the maximum speed that the shuttle reached?

I think the shuttle reaches a speed of approx 26000 mph!

 

[goavs4]

I think the shuttle reaches a speed of approx 26000 mph!

The speed on orbit is approx. 7.8 km/s or about 17,500 mph

 

[Astronuc]

Station Crew Ready for Shuttle’s Arrival

Expedition 11 Commander Sergei Krikalev and Flight Engineer John Phillips are awaiting the arrival of the first Space Shuttle to visit the International Space Station since Endeavour left in December 2002.

Space Shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew launched from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., at 10:39 a.m. EDT to begin its two-day chase of the Station. Discovery is scheduled to dock with the ISS at 7:27 a.m. EDT Thursday.

Discovery will deliver supplies and equipment, much of which is in the Italian-built Multi-Purpose Logistics Module named Raffaello. The STS-114 crew will conduct three spacewalks, which will include the replacement of one of the Station’s motion control gyroscopes and the outfitting of the Station’s exterior.

NASA's ISS page.

ISS tracking - http://science.nasa.gov/temp/StationLoc.html

Tracking ISS and shuttle - http://spaceflight1.nasa.gov/realdata/tracking/

ISS is doing about 17215 mph (27704 km/h), so Discovery will have to match that (+/-).

 

[zanazzi78]

There you go , thanks astonuc i must have been think of the speed of the ISS (and got the units wrong DOH!) the only reason i knew was due to a program i have on my pc called Orbitor. You can run a simulation and actually try to dock with the ISS. It`s really really hard! in about 50hours of playing i got very close once!

 

[Astronuc]

Mixing units is easy to do. The pros do it often enough.

25,000 mph (7 mi/s) [ 40547 km/h / 11.3 km/s] is the escape velocity from the Earth's surface, ignoring friction. Space Shuttle is designed for LEO orbits only - so it does not carry enough fuel to get up to escape velocity.

 

[Clausius2]

Each time I see shuttle lifting off I admire your country. When Nasa puts astrounauts in orbit, they are representing all of us above there. It is an achievement of the whole mankind to watch how a machine of cents of tons is able to take off and fly to space. We feel everybody americans in this day.

Congratulations.

 

[stoned]

Each time I see shuttle lifting off I admire your country. We feel everybody americans in this day.

Congratulations.

you are right in some way, but it could be much better if americans would spend 300 billion $ + on space exploration instead on killing people in iraq and around the world.

 

[Mk]

I'm personally for particle accelerators more.

I went, got a maximum access ticket, and saw it. The shockwave is amazing.

Anyone else go?

 

[Clausius2]

you are right in some way, but it could be much better if americans would spend 300 billion $ + on space exploration instead on killing people in iraq and around the world.

Agreed. All these budgets for Iraq's war are enhancing a loose of money for scientific issues. A pity.

 

[Moonbear]

I just read that this launch had a problem again with a piece of foam breaking off from the fuel tank, the same thing that happened to Columbia! They don't think it hit anything this time, but will be checking it out before letting the shuttle return (contingency plan is they head to the International Space Station and await Atlantis to come get them). I hope they were as lucky as they think and it didn't hit anything or cause any damage.

SPACE CENTER, Houston (AP) - NASA grounded future shuttle flights Wednesday because a big chunk of insulating foam flew off Discovery's fuel tank during liftoff - as it did in Columbia's doomed mission - but this time apparently missed the spacecraft .
"Until we're ready, we won't go fly again. I don't know when that might be," shuttle program manager Bill Parsons told reporters in a briefing Wednesday evening.
He and other managers do not believe the flying debris that snapped off the external fuel tank harmed Discovery, threatening a safe return of its seven astronauts.
"Call it luck or whatever, it didn't harm the orbiter," Parsons said. If the foam had broken away earlier in flight - when the atmosphere is thicker, increasing the acceleration and likelihood of impact - it could have caused catastrophic damage to Discovery.

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20050728/D8BK4N00D.html

 

[Mk]

No damage at all, nothing to worry about. I'm thinking its probably just unlucky.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

The shuttle program is grounded until further notice.

This may be the death rattle...?

 

[Clausius2]

I am really sad about the delaying of next Nasa manned trips to space announced.

I forecast Nasa is not going to fly in 5 or 10 years. And I think we won't see the Space Shuttle again as we know it nowadays. They will rush to develop a new spacecraft , maybe based in Scramjet concept. All this stuff benefites Europe and Russia. E.S.A. is going to acquire new superior roles and Soyuz spacecraft is going to be the vehicle for manned missions for next years.

This is my opinion.

 

[stoned]

they are going to send another suttle to rescue astrounauts aboard ISS, what if rescue shuttle also suffers same damage, then another and another...

 

[russ_watters]

The shuttle program is grounded until further notice.

This may be the death rattle...?

With no replacement on the horizon, they're really between a rock and a hard place on this one. I don't think they have much choice but to keep the shuttle operational for another 15 years.

 

[FredGarvin]

Bring back the Saturn 5.

 

[stoned]

thank god we have russians and their rockets.

 

[Kakarot]

just bring out the UFO's from area51 already, what are these ppl waiting for lmao

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Bring back the Saturn 5.

We can't, a good share of the documentation was destroyed.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I think it's time to call some real experts: Burt Rutan and his clan.

 

[Mk]

We can't, a good share of the documentation was destroyed.

A popular urban legend, started in 1996, states that NASA has lost or destroyed the blueprints or other plans for the Saturn V. Plans still exist on microfilm at the Marshall Space Flight Center.

The Space Shuttle was initially conceived to work with the Saturn V - Space Shuttle would handle space station logistics, while Saturn V would launch components. Lack of funding tore the plan apart the US and the world is still without a heavy-booster. Continued production would have allowed the ISS to be finished with a handful of launches, though it is unlikely that future engineers will find the plans very helpful after +40 years of rocket science advancements.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

A popular urban legend, started in 1996, states that NASA has lost or destroyed the blueprints or other plans for the Saturn V. Plans still exist on microfilm at the Marshall Space Flight Center.

Interesting. Are you sure which is the legend; are you sure that we have a complete set of all documentation? I heard this from an engineer, well, actually, two, that worked with NASA. Edit: They made it sound like common knowledge in the industry that we no longer know to build and fly a S5.

 

[Fryerpan]

Wow, i think they they sound like a warehouse guards, that accoutns for why they talk like they are the only on this planet :zzz:

 

[RonRyan85]

Fixing the shuttel's fragile tiles?

for the price of one shuttle launch they could easilly design and build good reusable automatic launch system.

Speaking of designing a new space shuttle. How about letting
Burt Rotan try his ideas out and see what he comes up with?
Seems like his team has had pretty good luck so far with his
Space Ship One. One more question: How does the Russian supply
ship work with no problems? Or do they have trouble with the
"Tiles" coming off and they are never reported? Or do they
even have tiles on the Russian ships? How do they prevent
the supply ships from burning up on reentry?