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Safe Landing For Space Shuttle Discovery
dylanduck writes "Discovery is back safe and sound, despite minor problems with a leaky power unit and a last minute change of approach direction to the runway. The mission tested some post-Columbia safety changes, and also set up the space station for future construction. But in some ways, the tough job starts now - NASA has just 40 days or so to get Atlantis up."
I can't wait for the next mission.
Don't forget the Hubble servicing missions. If those don't happen, we'll be without our pretty pictures for several years before the next orbiting telescope is up and running.
-mrxak
Onions Will Kill You
A 2% failure rate is to be expected, and that's what we've got. Right now they're being over-cautious and it's slowing up everything the Shuttle was supposed to do. Space exploration is dangerous. We can't let a couple of accidents throw away everything we've worked for. But I am looking forward to a new vehicle, that is for sure. I just hope we don't stop the Shuttle missions before any new vehicle is ready.
-mrxak
Onions Will Kill You
The tough job starts now?
Not really... The other orbiters are processed in separate buildings, by separate groups of technicians.
After Columbia, each flight requires a 'backup' orbiter be available to rescue the crew, should an emergency arise, so Atlantis is already nearly flight-ready.
The processing of Atlantis and the training of the next crew has been underway for quite some time.
It's not like KSC can only process one orbiter at a time...
/sig
This was one of the fears of a too-long gap between shuttle visits. ISS needs a shuttle-assisted orbit boost at least every other year.
Are the shuttle dockings ever used to give the ISS a slight nudge to counteract a decaying orbit?
The change in the orbit from the docking itself is negligible (since the shuttle and station are in essentially the same orbit at docking - the closing rate at docking is ~ 0.1 feet/second).
That being said, the shuttle is occasionally used to reboost the Space Station by using up the excess shuttle propellant onboard. Additionally, in certain attitudes when the shutte is in attitude control the attitude control jets just happen to be pointed the correct direction to boost it slightly as well.
This is all secondary to the Progress resupply ships, which are the main mode of performing reboosts.
Worst...sig...ever!
But planes "have killed many more than that" in how many millions of flights?
The catstrophic failure rate for planes is absolutely miniscule.
So you and I know it, but there's a lot of people out there who are scared to fly, but not scared to drive P.O.S. cars with bad brakes and bald tires in the pouring rain during rush hour.
Statistics don't matter to some people - but a large scale emotionally charged event does.
Stupid sexy Flanders.