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Space News Roundup
ke4roh writes "NASA reports that they're readying Atlantis for a launch "no earlier than October 2". STS-112, space station assembly flight 9A (the 15th) will add
to
the truss on the station. To get the station from the vehicle assembly
building to the launch pad, they transport it in launch position - on one of
the 37-year-old crawlers that travels at just 1 mile per hour. Each 6 million pound vehicle transports
a big rectangle - the Mobile Launch Platform - to the launch pad. The crawler
is 40 by 37 meters, has two steering wheels and two mufflers the size of a
car. The crawlers have received minimal service to date, and an inspector
noticed a cracked bearing shortly before a crawler took Atlantis out for the
launch. A few folks are enjoying the opportunity to work on the crawlers before they make their journey. Will N-Sync's 23-year-old singer Lance Bass be space tourist number three - and
the youngest person to ever fly in space? Corporate sponsors get to decide. Telescopes show Contour, short for "Comet Nucleus Tour", in three
pieces.
Unfortunately, it's only supposed to be one. The craft was to visit three
comets to investigate their contents. They're murmuring about a replacement
which would cost about $15M less (than the $154M price tag) thanks to much of
the engineering being done already. The AP has more."
This is great.. Only $154 million, so if I save my lunch money until I'm 1,232 years old then I can buy my own. I wonder how the space elevator ideas will interact with the space stations, if at all...
Trying to find more info on the crawlers, I popped over to Google and clicked on the first option ( http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/facilities/crawler.htm l) and sure enough, it was not responding.
THIS SPACE FOR RENT
According to this news site contour wasn't broken, and they were getting signals from it? So which is it?
As much as I dislike N'Sync or the majority of teen pop culture, this could be really good for NASA. Think about it, he's getting corporate sponsers, this will garauntee lots of promotions for his trip. He'll be on MTV and various ABC^H^H^HDisney shows talking about this to teeny boppers all over the country. He could get kids at least thinking about space, even if it is superficial. The buzz should help NASA with PR involving the voting public to some extent.
Of course I'll be simmering with jealousy and choking on the cheapening of the Space Industry to accomodate this kid, but if it helps NASA, I can deal with it.
Arrogance is Confidence which lacks integrity. -- me
I think they should spend a little less money. I mean if that n'sync guy is on it, then i don't care if it explodes.
Jonahweb.com has stuff.
Here's a summary of the nasa crawler article:
The Cylinder the cylinder the cylinder the cylinder the cylinder the cylinder the cylinder the cylinder the cylinder the cylinder the cylinder the cylinder the cylinder the cylinder the cylinder the cylinder the cylinder the cylinder the cylinder the cylinder the cylinder the cylinder.
Is it an engine cylinder, a brake cylinder, hydraulic cylinder? Nope, it's just The Cylinder.
3 cardboard boxes 1$
1 roll of aluminum foil 2$
1 Launch vehicle 5 million.
?????
Profit!
Stop Continental Drift! Reunite Gondwanaland!
I think that taking up Lance Bass may result in just what NASA needs to gain public support: a theme song! Suggestions anyone?
"Hey brother Christian with your high and mighty errand / your actions speak so loud I can't hear a word you're saying"
Telescopes show Contour, short for "Comet Nucleus Tour", in three pieces. Unfortunately, it's only supposed to be one. The craft was to visit three comets to investigate their contents.
:-)
Damned Artificial Intelligence! Rumor has it they told it to "visit 3 comets", and appearently it tried to solve the problem by splitting into 3 peices instead of visiting them sequentially. Well, it has parallelism down pat. Now it just needs to understand everything else.
Instead of "divide and conquer", now it is "divide and Contour"
Table-ized A.I.