Falling Window Cover Damages Discovery

Mz6 writes "At 5:30PM EDT, one of the space shuttle's protective window covers fell and struck the left Orbital Maneuvering System engine pod on Discovery today. The window cover hit the carrier panel around the OMS pod. NASA is taking a new panel to the launch pad to replace the one hit by the falling cover. NASA is expected to know by 7 PM EDT if the replacement panel will work and whether launch can proceed tomorrow as planned. The window cover in question is from one of the overhead windows. It fell on its own, not when workers were handling it. The cover was found after it had fallen and hit the orbiter. In addition to the carrier panel that workers plan to replace tonight, engineers are looking for any other damage." Update: 07/13 02:03 GMT by T : RmanB17499 points out a CNN story according to which "the launch of the space shuttle Discovery will go ahead as scheduled Wednesday after technicians replaced two protective tiles damaged near the spacecraft's tail Tuesday, a NASA spokeswoman said."

Comments

A sign, maybe?

[8086ed]

Does ANYTHING go where NASA wants it to?

Funeral

[Selfbain]

Why don't they just hold the astronauts funerals before they launch so they can attend.

Re:Funeral

[Anonymous Coward]

this calls for the rarely used but often called for "+1 Tasteless" mod

Re:Already fixed

[cujo_1111]

I hope the glue and dope that holds the balsa and tissue paper together is dry in time for launch...

windows this, windows that

[ne0n]

all i ever hear is whining about windows here! ;)

If God Had Meant Man to Go Into Space

[the eric conspiracy]

He would have given us something better than a space shuttle.

Re:Already fixed

[Guy LeDouche]

It should be, the rubberband that they are winding up is going to take a while.

Hey, be kind to them.

[jd]

They don't use rubber bands on the space shuttle, the water wheel is quite sufficient.

They aren't safe enough!

[stefanlasiewski]

Obviously these new safety measures aren't safe enough!

I hearby propose that NASA create a new covering to cover the existing "window-cover", to ensure that the existing "window-cover" isn't damaged while it's protecting the actual window.

Re:They aren't safe enough!

[mendaliv]

I'll support your proposal, so long as the cover-cover is manufactured entirely in Knoxville, TN at Gimbal-Wingnut Aerospace in a Gov't-funded factory expansion with a sufficiently large tax break.

Here's a head-scratcher...

[jpellino]

"The lightweight plastic cover on one of Discovery's cockpit windows came loose while the spaceship was on the launch pad, falling more than 60 feet and striking a bulge in the fuselage, said Stephanie Stilson, the NASA manager in charge of Discovery's launch preparations. No one knows why the cover -- which was held in place with tape -- fell off, she said. "

Maybe it fell of because IT WAS HELD ON WITH TAPE!

Who's in charge over there - Red Green?

Re:FTUA

[the_quark]

And, Lord knows, this was a slashdot-specific story, and you certainly couldn't have gotten details anywhere else before you opened your mouth.

Re:It fell on its own?

[Pollardito]

What are they worried about - falling birds?

they're worried that the protective cover on the nose cone will fall off on its own and hit the windshield

In Other News:

[VectorSC]

In other news, the space shuttle launch was canceled early this morning when an errant piece of seagull excrement struck the shuttle directly on its ceramic heat shielding and caused a 16 square foot hole.

Shuttle commander Eileen Kahlins saw the bird dropping strike the orbiter while talking with the media about her confidence in NASAW's (1) ability to meet tomorrow's launch window. Amid the rain of ceramic tiles and structural members around the podium she was speaking from, she was heard commenting to NASAW director Sean O'Keeth, "I thought you said you fixed that, you a**hole."

A heated arguement ensued, live, on national television, but was cut short when O'Keeth was struck down by a full HWSU (2) container falling from the orbiter. Kahlins immediately left the scene, telling reporters she had some vacation time coming.

(1 NASAW: National Association of Stupid Aerospace Wankers)
(2 HWSU: Human Waste Storage Unit, Solid)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Re:It fell on its own?

[Anonymous Coward]

>> If I was captain of this upcoming mission, I'd be spam clicking the red alert button right about now. Maybe call in sick.

Yeah? Well thas 'cause you jus' some punk ass bitch. You hear me boy? You some:

Punk.

Ass.

Bitch.

Now if tha' wus' my Space Shuttle, with me sittin' up in the Captain's chair, like my main man, wuzz-hiz-name... Kurt... Kurk! Yeah, Kurk, I'd be, like, fire them motherfuckin' engines up, and warp factor 11 Mr. Soho, an shit! 'Cause no chickinshit winnowpane gonne make a bitch outta ol' Anonymous Coward.

An' I tell you anotha' thing my fine, fine P.A.B., an' that is don' you be talkin' no trash about parachutes and money bones! 'Cause any monkey bones get in my way, of my shuttle, on my mission, I'll just kick ass with my lightsabre, one o' them ones what's two, two, two lightsabres in one and, "BAM!, BAM!" motherfuckin' bones be out O' my way and I be on the radio sayin' "Dallas, Ain't got no problem here Dallas. Only problem be wit' you. You got dat big Dal-ass Mall Hair. Damn bitch. Ain't gonna be no mo-fo ozone fo' me to cruse if you keep usin' all that hair spray.

So jus' shut-do-fuck-up an' get on you littl' ol' shuttle and gut yo' punk ass up to space.

Y' hear?

Re:It fell on its own?

[RexDart]

So the shuttle was possibly damaged by a crashing windows patch? ;) Best add the BillBorg icon to this story.

Re:It fell on its own?

[JFitzsimmons]

If you were a seagull, I think the massive roaring white thing with fire coming out its ass would be something that you would AVOID. And it isn't exactly a stealth jet either, you've got plenty of advance "notice".

Shuttle Man - The Musical

[Bad to the Ben]

With apologies to Elton John's Rocket Man:

They slashed the funds last night pre-flight
Zero hour nine a.m.
And something else will fall off by then
I miss the earth so much I risk my life
The tech is out of date
On such a priceless flight

And I think it's gonna be a long long time
Till NASA comes around again to find
They don't have funds to get my back to home
Oh no no no I'm a shuttle man
Shuttle man, 107 cameras but no rescue mode

ISS ain't the kind of place to sit for weeks
In fact it's cold as hell
And Atlantis might not work if you did
And all this budget I don't understand
It's just my job five days a week
A shuttle man, a shuttle man

And I think it's gonna be a long long time...

Re:RFID tags on tiles

[Traf-O-Data-Hater]

Oh great. So when the shuttle goes out shopping and walks into a store, all the alarms are going to go off!

Re:It fell on its own?

[pegasustonans]

The shuttle would then conveniently evenly distribute the mass of the seagull across a broad area with a thickness of several hundred atoms thus providing a further layer of protection (heretofore known as the 'rouge Seagull-layer') for reentry.

What color was it?

[buckhead_buddy]

What I want to know is what color these protective covers are. It could give a whole new meaning to the term Windows Blue Screen of Death.

Re:It fell on its own?

[Anonymous Coward]

Okay. First stuff falls off on the up flight. Then stuff falls off on the down flight. Now stuff is falling off before the thing has even taken off? Next thing you know it's going to fall apart before it's even on the launch pad.

I can see it now...

"Aaalmost done building it now... Just *one* more rocket booster. *rubs hands*

*low rumble*

"Uh oh..."

*CRASH*

"Doh..."

"Marv! Call up Dubya and get us another billion."

Obligatory Armageddon Quote

[http101]

"Hey Harry."

"Yeah."

"Did you know we are sitting on 2 million gallons of fuel, a nuclear weapon and a thing with 270,000 loose parts that was built by the lowest bidder. Kinda makes you feel good dont it?"

JKXXMXN