Space Shuttle Endeavour Launches (at last)

mumkin writes: "Hey, STS-108 has finally launched! In addition to bringing a new crew to the International Space Station and performing an EVA, Endeavour will be releasing Starshine 2, another orbiting disco-ball for ground-based observers to track."

Comments

ISS module stuck

[po_boy]

Last I heard, there was a possible problem with a piece of something stuck in the way of some module (probably a Soyez, I gues) attached to the ISS and they didn't want the shuttle to knock the whole thing loose when it docked. Anyone know if they got that problem solved? I was wondering if someone had to spacewalk to get the thing freed up or something.

Already unstuck.

[Axe]

Piece of a rubber bumper tore off and stuck in the lock - Russians omn the station moved "Progress" a bit and managed to pull the piece out with a crooked stick.

As the time goes by, we will see more of this russian style problem solving skills, and ISS will look more and more like Mir. That's the law of large technical systems - they get fucked up.

Having worked with aero-sace folks for 12 years (thank god I am out) the only thing that surprises me is that all this shit actually works - it is way to complex for that.. I blame sheer luck. ;-)

Re:So what exactly does this massive student proje

[ukryule]

From NASA:

The experiments include: STARSHINE-2, the Prototype Synchrotron Radiation Detector, Collisions Into Dust Experiment-2, Capillary Pump Loop, and Space Experiment Module-11.

STARSHINE 2 will be the third satellite of Project Starshine -- the Student Tracked Atmospheric Research Satellite for Heuristic International Networking Experiment -- to be deployed. More than 25,000 students from 26 countries will track STARSHINE 2 as it orbits Earth for eight months. The students will use the information that they collect to calculate the density of the Earth's upper atmosphere. Starshine will fly into space in a Hitchhiker canister in the payload bay of Endeavour and will be deployed 240 miles (387 kilometers) above the Earth.

So 25,000 students will be monitoring it - it wasn't built by 25,000 students :-)

Re:Memorial

[istartedi]

Was the cloud unusually bright? I've heard that sometimes that happens because the "cloud" is way up in the stratosphere where direct sunlight is still visible. I've never witnessed a launch, but I had the privelege to witness a sunset landing where the shuttle became visible as a bright white speck while making an approach turn. Then of course there was the CLAP! CLAP! double-sonic boom and the approach was close enough so that you could clearly see the windows of the shuttle. If you have the opportunity to witness a landing, don't sell it short. It was one of the highlights not only of my visit to KSC, but of my whole FLA vacation. Then again, I wonder if they will be allowing people that close to landings for a while.