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Shuttle Discovery Lands Safely
Tuxedo Jack writes "CNN and NASA report that the space shuttle Discovery has landed safely at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Concerns for its safe return were raised when spacewalks were necessary to repair the vehicle when external components were damaged; however, the shuttle landed safely with Commander Eileen Collins at the control yoke."
It was exhaust from one of the hydraulic systems. The commentator on Fox News asked the same thing.
According to the astronaut on Fox News:
It was one of the Auxilliary Power Units (APUs) that power Discovery's systems during re-entry and landing. These generators are powered by rocket fuel, so what you saw (and I saw as well) was the steady pulsing of exhaust from one of the APUs. They power things like the ailerons, rudder, and other vital systems for the orbiter.
-Ted http://www.freemathhelp.com/
actually, they do land the shuttle. Deorbit is automatic and all, but the final approch is done by the commander manually. Check out the landing 101 on the Nasa web site before spreding bullshit all over the place.
1 01.html
http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/launch/landing
according to Feynman the shuttle pilot does only 2 things:
1. pushes the button for which base to land at
2. lowers the landing gear
and they only do number 2 because they don't like to feel completely like passengers.
Neither point is accurate and somewhat condescending. Rather than going by somebody who claims to be an expert on everything, why don't you look at the source?
Start with NASA MISSION EVENTS SUMMARY and scroll down to "Deorbit" and "Entry" to see what the shuttle astronauts really do when the shuttle leaves orbit (a lot more than just press a button).
As to the landing gear control, this is a safety of flight issue and is discussed in SHUTTLE AVIONICS Design Constraints and Considerations in the "GNC" section. The decision to make the gear down command a manual operation has nothing to do with making the astronauts not "feel completely like passengers".
myke
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
Now how do they get the shuttle back to FL so it can be launched again ?
Atop a 747.
- AMW
I work for the company that makes the orbiter APUs. They are fueled with hydrazine, which is one of the most toxic and flammable substances in the known universe. One of the reasons they wait so long before letting the astronauts out is because they want to make sure all of those gases have vented.