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Space Shuttle Heading Home
Reuters is reporting that the shuttle has been prepping for a return to Earth, stowing gear and checking systems. Their expected return is tomorrow morning, around 9am EDT. From the article: "During tests on Sunday a leaking power unit for the shuttle flight control system appeared to be in good enough shape for landing and the jets that steer the spacecraft worked fine, NASA engineers said. The shuttle crew was still awaiting word on whether Discovery's heat shield had passed a final inspection performed on Saturday, but scans conducted with cameras and sensors throughout the flight had so far turned up no damage."
Those astronauts sure had a big cojones going up, and they're even bigger coming down!
If most of the mission is making sure that the shuttle they sent up can land safely (at least that's the impression we get from the news coverage), doesn't the whole ordeal become pointless?
SpaceFlightNow has a detailed timeline of the re-entry - not sure if it will still be dark enough to capture a glow across the Western US with the 9:14AM EDT first landing time ... but my guess is a LOT more camera's will be watching it come back into the atmosphere.
Hulk SMASH Celiac Disease
Of course I'll be glad to hear here what they -actually- do besides the routine of flying the shuttle and assuring safe return, but even more I'll be glad to hear why no media write about it.
Because shuttle flight is pretty mundane when it comes down to it. Not to take away the technical hurdles of every flight. I'm a bit more optimistic then others. Only because NASA has been so succesful in making shuttle launches seem so mundane do we all flip out when a disaster occurs and start questioning NASA's capabilities.
As far as mankind's position in space exporation, I think we're at this point: Study long term effects of weightlessness on humans. That's what the space station is for. Once mankind figures out a propulsion method to get to things quicker, or a way for the human psyche to contend with long term space travel, then we can set out farther then the moon.
If you look at the maps you'll see they're not passing over the western US this time. Here's wishing them the best, even if not may people can see what's happening until the final stages.
I, for one, applaud anyone with the bravery and skill to be a part of the space program. Also, it makes me sad that we never hear about any of the good progress anymore. All we hear is tile this, re-entry that. How about a news story about some of the unique experiments and projects have happened in space, or the international cooperation that goes into building the space station? It's also amazing how the media plays off images from Mars as a trip to the park. Shame on people. This stuff is paving way for the future. When we do screw up this planet for good, there's only one way to go and that's up. I guess since it's not all shiney lights and space babes like Star Trek, no one seems to care.
They don't need to be flying MANNED shuttle missions......it can all be done remote control. Use the dependable (how said is that?) Soyuz to get people up and down, and use the shuttle as a damn pickup truck until the USA/Nasa gets off it's butt and builds more ELV's like Apollo.
Oooops ... yea, it's gonna be really hard to see this in the Western US - bad assumption on my part it was a similiar re-entry track - thanks for the correction.
Hulk SMASH Celiac Disease
Sorry it's not going over the west coast. It's traking over Mexico to the Gulf of Mexico and then Florida.
I'm hoping we'll get a look-see here in Houston.
Somewhere on NASA site is the Ground Tracks to see the flight path. I'm to lazy to Google it.
I don't want a pickle; I just want a Motor-Cycle! A four foot cop arrived with a five foot gun!
Now did/will the shuttle do anything beyond that? Any delivery? Any research? Any discoveries? Anything more than launch, orbit, landing?
They also delivered supplies and performed vital repairs on the ISS. Also they dropped off a third crewman, who will spend the next few months on the station, and tested out a new extension to the shuttle's robot arm, which should make it easier to perform repairs to the underside of the shuttle.
So it was more than just going into space, then landing again.
From TFA:
Discovery launched with seven astronauts on board, but left one of them -- Germany's Thomas Reiter -- at the space station where he will stay for six months.
The Discovery delivered a 3rd crew member to the ISS. Without shuttles it were impossible to have 3 people on board.
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. - Yogi Berra
So how do you do space walks then to fix things (etc.)? Silly comment...
Nice to know that they want all of us to realize what the shuttle is doing every step of its journey like something bad is going to happen. I mean really, the anticipation is just nuts...
"This just in, shuttle is to do a barral roll in space for up comming landing... Now watch as the shuttle goes through the atmosphere, drama unfolds in the cockpit as the astronauts try to reassure NASA that everything is okay... Now lets play the landing in slow motion so as to gather info on a leaky brake... Now we will postpone all future flights until the leaky brake fluid is analyzed and tested relentlessly, next flight, 'eventually'..."
One of the mission goals was to set up a -80 C freezer on the ISS. We have a couple in our lab (most bio labs do) -- they're primarily used to store biological samples. The -20 C freezer and 4 C refridgerater are also standard operating equipment in biology (or chemistry, I suppose), so it looks like they're gearing up to do some life sciences work.
Now, this brings up an interesting issue -- How do you operate refrigeration equipment in space? Especially that -80 C...it's a real power hog and probably outputs a lot of heat (in a closed air environment, is this a problem?). Does anyone know how cooling is done in space? Is it still based on condenser coils? Can they somehow utilize the "cold" of space for this purpose?
Does it appear to anyone else that most of the time the astronauts are in space is spent determining if they can get back to Earth?
it is only after a long journey that you know the strength of the horse.
From a recent interview with NASA Discovery team maintenance staff member:
"Yep, them there space trucker fellers been flyin' Ol' Betty since way back when, yessir. Now she may not have all them new silly-cone chips or them there onboard DVD players folks always talkin' 'bout, but you take her for a spin, I dare say she'll surprise you. Got some bite under the bonnet yet, that's what ol' Mark Kelly said when he first flew her. Jerry Morgan, he chimes in, he says, 'Yep, that's from when we picked up them snakes infestation back in Florida!' He ain't too impressed with Ol' Betty. Says flying a shuttle on a Commodore 64 is just plum wrong. Heh, o' course the gang always up to their li'l tricks. They put a bumber sticker on back says: 'My Other Shuttle's The Enterprise!' Had a big ol' laugh about it 'til ol' Mikey Griffin comes along. 'Boys,' he says, 'You better take that sticker awf.' Well, Lisa, she got quite the outspoken way of putting things. She say, 'Boss, we better not do that. That right there is a load-bearing bumper sticker!' Yessir. I daresay pretty soon we'll all be gettin' replaced by them new-fangled unmanned probes the Reds been cookin' up. I don't much care for that. Nossir, I don't..."
A printer? Even in space, where supplies are insanely expensive to deliver, the paperless office is a dream of the future!
NASA probably wishes it could get normal (almost empty) ink cartridges for only $60.
I bet the ISS is getting plastered with Dilbert cartoons.
10.6 cubic feet
79.3 gallons