Here Ya go!
Posted on 07/13/2005 4:56:41 AM PDT by Momaw Nadon
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA managers put a brief but embarrassing setback behind them as the countdown to the first space shuttle flight in 2 1/2 years entered its final hours Wednesday, with only predicted thunderstorms posing some concern.
A temporary window cover fell off the shuttle and damaged thermal tiles near the tail Tuesday afternoon, just two hours after NASA declared Discovery ready to return the nation to space for the first time since the Columbia disaster.
The mishap was an eerie reminder of the very thing that doomed Columbia — damage to the spaceship's fragile thermal shield.
Discovery and its crew of seven were set to blast off at 3:51 p.m. EDT on a flight to the international space station.
Fueling of the external tank, set to begin about an hour before sunrise, was delayed while workers changed a part on a launch-pad heater. NASA officials said the swapping out of the part wasn't expected to affect the launch time.
The lightweight plastic cover on one of Discovery's cockpit windows came loose while the spaceship was on the launch pad, falling more than 60 feet and striking a bulge in the fuselage, said Stephanie Stilson, the NASA manager in charge of Discovery's launch preparations.
No one knows why the cover — held in place with tape and weighing less than 2 pounds — fell off, she said. The covers are used prior to launch to protect the windows while the shuttle is on the launch pad, then removed before liftoff.
Two tiles on an aluminum panel were damaged, and the entire panel was replaced with a spare; Stilson called it a minor repair job.
Space agency managers held one last meeting Tuesday to address lingering technical concerns and later pronounced Discovery ready to fly.
"We have done everything that we know to do," NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said afterward.
The families of the seven astronauts killed during Columbia's catastrophic re-entry praised the accident investigators, a NASA oversight group and the space agency itself for defining and reducing the dangers.
Like those who lost loved ones in the Apollo 1 spacecraft fire and the Challenger launch explosion, the Columbia families said they grieve deeply "but know the exploration of space must go on."
"We hope we have learned and will continue to learn from each of these accidents so that we will be as safe as we can be in this high-risk endeavor," they said in a statement. "Godspeed, Discovery."
Discovery will be setting off on the 114th space shuttle flight in 24 years with a redesigned external fuel tank and nearly 50 other improvements made in the wake of the Columbia tragedy.
A chunk of foam insulation the size of a carry-on suitcase fell off Columbia's fuel tank at liftoff and slammed into a reinforced carbon panel on the shuttle's wing, creating a hole that brought the spacecraft crashing down in pieces during its return to Earth on Feb. 1, 2003.
During their 12-day flight, Discovery's astronauts will test various techniques for patching cracks and holes in the thermal shielding.
The crew members also will try out a new 50-foot boom designed to give them a three-dimensional laser view of the wings and nose cap and help them find any damage caused by liftoff debris. That is on top of all the pictures of the spacecraft that will be taken by more than 100 cameras positioned around the launching site and aboard two planes and the shuttle itself.
Until the window cover fell, NASA's only concern was the weather. Because of thunderstorms in the forecast, the chances of acceptable weather at launch time were put at 60 percent, down from 70 percent a day earlier.
"We're just hoping that the weather gods are kind," Griffin said. "Weather's always out there. We'll just deal with it as it comes."
___
On the Net:
NASA: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov
That's ridiculous. I asked for backup to the claim that NASA produces 7 dollars for every 1 dollar spent. That should be easy to backup if it is true. It sounds to me that there is no way to back up this statement since you won't even try.
We shouldn't send up anyone according to you, at least the government shouldn't.
I'll admit that I have a natural bias against the government doing things that could be done by private industry. However, I am perfectly willing to fund space programs that make sense. What I am generally against is spending money based on emotion, and there seem to be a lot of people who like space launches for the emotional aspect of it all without regard to the cost and what the point of it all actually is. Of course, if NASA actually returned 7 dollars per 1 dollar spent, that would be a good reason. However I tend to doubt that figure. So far, nobody has been willing or able to verify the figure.
Finding four guys willing to fly with two women.
Thanks!! I have worked in the space program for 27 years now. It is nice to see a kind word. :-)
I see you've bought into that hook, line and sinker. I'm not even going to try and talk you out of that tree. Lets amortize the cost of Tang though, just for fun.... And what an important piece of technology that.
the voice of Jose Jimenez saying "Oooo, don't say 'final'!"
An once upon a time long, long ago in Houston, I got to fly in Apollo simulator. Another old buddy worked on it.
BTW you were an E-5 and didn't know what a Chaplain was?
There is definitely some education needed here, like what rhetoric not to believe, or maybe the ole follow the money rules.
No, you made a metaphor which I countered. You then asked what the mission was, I responded. Now you're talking about a 7 to 1 return on investment that I've never heard of. The mission today is about the safety of future missions.
If your argument is that private business should fund all space flight, then do it. Step up and challenge the government with alternative space travel. Put it out of business. So far, Burt Rutan and a few other admirable entrepreneurs are on that track. Invest in them.
Here Ya go!
That is true.. We should invest either in Spacedev, Spacex, or Blue Orgin...
OK fine. The mission today is about the safety of future missions. I'm sorry if I got you confused with others who have replied to me, asserting that Nasa returns 7 dollars for every one invested and that for proof of this I should "go outside and look around".
As for private investment, it is typically daunting to raise money when the government is your competition because they have no cost of capital restrictions in their work.
I knew what a Chaplain was, I just couldn't remember what religious title to call him. I knew he was some kind of religious officer. Even today I'd be interested in picking their various brains about their denominational ties. But I sure knew that satcom and could do a lot of pushups for my country.
Chaplain was
A mute actor from long ago right?
That reminds me...only 33 days until R&R!
There's a margarita (or three) at the Texas Embassy restaurant in London with my name on it.
Things like this happened before the Challenger went up. Perhaps they should stand down for a week and carefully go over everything one more time.
I heard Yahoo was going to broadcast it and provide continuing coverage through out the mission.
The subject was a Military Chaplain...
Go to biblewonk's homepage for details:
http://www.freerepublic.com/~biblewonk/
No problem.
Just watch your back in London like you were still in Bagdad and come home safe.
Can the Brit's make a decent Rita???
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.