Shuttle Atlantis Launched Without Incident

forkazoo writes "Space.com is reporting the successful launch of the space shuttle Atlantis. There were no major incidents or problems during the launch, except that there was some concern about the weather at the two European abort landing sites. The weather cleared up and the launch was pretty much perfect. 'Preliminary analysis of images taken by onboard cameras revealed expected "popcorning" foam loss during ascent but none that appeared to strike the orbiter. NASA has kept a close watch on the shedding of fuel tank foam insulation during shuttle launches since the 2003 Columbia accident, which claimed the lives of seven astronauts, and made modifications to reduce the amount of debris shed during liftoffs.' The launch was broadcast live NASA TV stream."

Comments

Wow

[locokamil]

I've been watching NASA TV's feed of the mission for the last 15 minutes or so. It offers a real insight into what goes into making a shuttle flight.

Definitely worth checking out.

Did anyone else see it ?

[lazy genes]

It was a perfect viewing night in northern Minesota .I saw the shuttle pass directly overhead followed by the station 45 minutes later.It was on its second orbit.

Re:Did anyone else see it ?

[daeg]

I didn't see the last one but I've seen some spectacularly bright ones even as far away as Tampa/St. Pete (on the opposite coast of Florida).

The night launches are always better, but during the summer it can be hard to see due to the general cloudiness and rain patterns of the Florida summer.

Re:Sad.

[vought]

When I was growing up - in 1978 or thereabouts, we were told that there'd be 100 launches per year within a decade.

They didn't even get off the ground until 1981.

It's the most complex machine ever made. It's not sad that we're only taking our first flight of the year, but I think we could have done better without the bureaucracy and lack of focus at NASA.

How do we get that focus back? Things don't look good to this casual observer - we're pouring a half trillion dollars and an open-ended commitment into this stupid war to preserve a strategic hold on oil fields while NASA languishes and the country's imagination stagnates. We've financed our burgeoning national debt by mortgaging our manufacturing base to the far east, and practically the only heavy industries we still have leadership in are the very industries that NASA is charged with research in - aerospace.

That's what is sad - as a country, we've let our politicians and corporations pursue their own interests for so long and to such bounds that we are in danger of losing some of the few jewels we still have left in our crown. As it is, this first flight of the year garnered so few eyeballs that it'll probably be known as the shuttle that launched the day they sent Paris Hilton back to jail.

Re:Why did the foam become an issue only this deca

[Billly Gates]

IT was an issue. Discover was seriously damaged in 98 or 99 and heated gasses seeped into the shuttle itself and burned alot of components and damaged the wing.

Breaking: Tear found in thermal blanket

[SirBruce]

Post-launch in-orbit inspection has revealed a potential problem. There is a small four-inch tear or bunching of a thermal blanket on the OMS pod near the tail. It's not clear at this time if this will be an issue on re-entry. This area of the orbiter receives less heating on re-entry, but thermal protection is still important. NASA will probably release more details later today.

Article: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/content/?cid=5127

Image: http://www.cfnews13.com/uploadedImages/Media/Video /0037(4).jpg