Posted by
chrisd
on from the sorry-no-wishlist dept.
mpd2014 writes "When the next shuttle takes off to the space station on October 2nd it will have a new webcam attached to the external tank that is sure to provide spectacular images. If you're interested in the schematics and technical details NASA has also made those available."
Re:Not liftoff
by
DeanAsh
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
The shuttle main engines have been placed central to the mass of the joined shuttle/tank. The OMS engines (Orbital Maneuvering System), being placed much higher, are not. I expect the shuttle would tumble in orbit if the OMS were activated with the tank attached.
The reaction-control jets will have similar troubles. Remember the control problems the astronauts in Apollo 13 faced when trying to control the LEM with the command/service modules still joined?
--
What is the shortest sig that cannot be expressed in fewer than 20 words?
I agree 100% about reusing the Shuttle's External Tanks.
NASA must have a giant stick up its ass to bring the ETs almost completely into orbit, only to let them burn up in the atmosphere.
I still haven't heard a reasonable explaination as to why this great idea has been ignored for so long. IMO, it's because the idea of "Reuse/Recycle/Reduce" is not compatible with getting maximum tax funding. They'd rather blow billions on a shiny new ISS (where maintenance consumes scientific work) than on boosting and retrofitting the large ETs.
This, after looking at the specs and designs they have online, is a regular camera with a regular NASA style live RF feed back to ground control... The only thing that could possibly make it a webcam would be that someone would take that video feed and encode it for the web. Something they did not mention was going to happen.
calling that a webcam is the same as calling a studio camera and camera crew a webcam... It is another monitoring camera / eye-candy camera added to the shuttle launch vehicle.. IT is identical to most cameras that NASA uses on it's launch vehicles.
Too bad that it's a throw-away one time use item.... it's built like a tank and would probably last 100 years at a weather station or pointing at my back yard.
Slashdot Mirror
The reaction-control jets will have similar troubles. Remember the control problems the astronauts in Apollo 13 faced when trying to control the LEM with the command/service modules still joined?
What is the shortest sig that cannot be expressed in fewer than 20 words?
Hmmmm... some weird loops, the cam is annihilated, the cam windows blacks and you'd still have to tune into CNN to find out what is going on?
+++ath0
NASA must have a giant stick up its ass to bring the ETs almost completely into orbit, only to let them burn up in the atmosphere.
I still haven't heard a reasonable explaination as to why this great idea has been ignored for so long. IMO, it's because the idea of "Reuse/Recycle/Reduce" is not compatible with getting maximum tax funding. They'd rather blow billions on a shiny new ISS (where maintenance consumes scientific work) than on boosting and retrofitting the large ETs.
--
Power to the Peaceful
This, after looking at the specs and designs they have online, is a regular camera with a regular NASA style live RF feed back to ground control... The only thing that could possibly make it a webcam would be that someone would take that video feed and encode it for the web. Something they did not mention was going to happen.
calling that a webcam is the same as calling a studio camera and camera crew a webcam... It is another monitoring camera / eye-candy camera added to the shuttle launch vehicle.. IT is identical to most cameras that NASA uses on it's launch vehicles.
Too bad that it's a throw-away one time use item.... it's built like a tank and would probably last 100 years at a weather station or pointing at my back yard.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.