I am sure the crew already knows all this...they took the photos and looked at them before they sent them in the downlink....I am sure they saw that spot!
Posted on 07/25/2005 4:24:13 PM PDT by OXENinFLA
Poised for Liftoff
Space Shuttle Discovery rests in full view on the launch pad. Image above: The rolling back of Launch Pad 39B's Rotating Service Structure reveals orbiter Discovery. + Click for larger image. Image credit: NASA/KSC
Launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-114, NASA's Return to Flight mission, is set for Tuesday at 10:39 a.m. EDT.
The launch pad's Rotating Service Structure (RSS) was rolled away from Discovery at 3:38 p.m. on Monday. When in place, the giant enveloping appendage is used to install payloads into an orbiter's cargo bay and provide protection from inclement weather. With the RSS now out of the way, propellant loading is set to begin after midnight Tuesday morning with the pumping of more than 500,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and hydrogen into the vehicle's orange External Tank.
The chance of Kennedy weather cooperating for the launch remains at 60 percent.
First Lady Laura Bush will join other dignitaries and VIPs at Kennedy for the Return to Flight liftoff, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan announced earlier today.
How close are we to getting the next generation of spaceships up and running?
Is the whole shuttle concept beyond fixing?
Honest questions. I am not up to speed with our space program; but am a long time fan. When I was in 6th grade in 1961, my teacher let me bring my transistor radio into the classroom. Two classmates and I posted breaking news on the chalkboard. (We did not have televisions in the school then)
Makes one wonder how many other missions were "near misses" in terms of catastrophic damage.
I am sure the crew already knows all this...they took the photos and looked at them before they sent them in the downlink....I am sure they saw that spot!
Yes, it is. They need to use the best they have even if it is primitive technology.
I thought these were going to be the last two missions anyway......getting the stuff up to the ISS and then proceeding with a new vehicle....
Of course, they could have already made this decision in advance....and said "if X happens, then we do this" and public and Congressional support would be more favorable...
The Director indicated he would be willing to suspend launches until the new shuttle is ready. Five years at least.
Great work by the crew and mission analysts.
BTW, that's a pretty hunkin' piece of foam.
Good questions. I'm interested in knowing the estimate of when the shuttle's replacement will be ready.
Return to White!
Gives me the heebie-jeebies that after all the redesign and precautions, Discovery yesterday could have sustained the same damage that doomed Columbia.
SpaceflightNow.com:
2257 GMT (6:57 p.m. EDT)
Had this PAL ramp foam broken free earlier in the ascent, "it would have been bad," Hale says. Luckily for Discovery, the foam came off over two minutes into flight following solid rocket booster separation when the vehicle was nearly out of the atmosphere.
Columbia was hit about 81 seconds after liftoff by the bipod ramp.
Tonight
11:39 p.m.
Crew wakeup
Thursday, July 28 (Flight Day 3):
1:39 a.m.
Rendezvous operations begin
1:54 a.m.
Playback of Ku antenna / OBSS clearance video from RMS
2:09 a.m.
External tank handheld video downlink playback
2:30 a.m.
Flight director update
4:40 a.m.
Terminal initiation burn
6:08 a.m.
Rendezvous pitch maneuver
7:18 a.m.
Docking with International Space Station (ISS)
9:19 a.m.
Hatch opening
9:54 a.m.
OBSS grapple by Space Station remote manipulator system (SSRMS)
10:30 a.m.
Mission status briefing (flight control team video replay follows)
11:44 a.m.
SSRMS handoff of OBSS to Space Shuttle remote manipulator system (RMS)
2 p.m.
Video File
3:39 p.m.
Crew sleep begins
4 p.m.
Flight day highlights
6 p.m.
Post-MMT briefing
10 p.m.
MMT briefing replay
11:39 p.m.
Crew wakeup
That pitch maneuver should be very interesting. Never been done before.
SpaceflightNow.com:
WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2005
In a major setback for NASA, senior managers today grounded the shuttle fleet, saying no more missions will be launched until engineers figure out why large, potentially catastrophic pieces of foam insulation broke away from the shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank during launch Tuesday.
whoa - those tiles don't look flush!
maybe the apparent offsets are just a shading or discoloration effect.
The lighting is oblique, but the surface does appear rougher than one would think it should be.
Are those Pacific Daylight times?
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