Posted on 08/07/2005 5:40:22 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
ASTRONAUTS aboard Discovery were upbeat overnight as they readied for re-entry into the atmosphere, but remembered the crew of Columbia who lost their lives at that critical stage of the mission.
Commander Eileen Collins and Pilot James Kelly both said they had no worries about today's scheduled landing in Florida and said Discovery was in great shape. The crew and NASA managers hailed what they said was the complete success of the first space shuttle flight since the February 1, 2003 Columbia disaster.
Despite the optimism, Discovery will be grounded with the rest of the fleet once it returns to Earth because the flight demonstrated the US space agency had failed to fix the problem that doomed Columbia.
The mission was largely designed to test changes made to the shuttle since the Columbia disaster, including improvements that meant to prevent insulation foam from breaking off upon launch.
"We have definitely accomplished our mission objectives," Cmdr Collins told NBC television in one of several interviews with US.
Crew members said their thoughts would be with the seven astronauts who lost their lives when Columbia burst into flames just minutes ahead of their planned landing.
But Cmdr Collins stressed the Discovery crew would concentrate on getting home safely.
"We're going to have thoughts about Columbia, but we'll be very focused on the job at hand," she said on CBS.
NASA managers gave the green light for the planned landing after deciding that a tear on the cockpit's thermal blanket should not compromise the shuttle's safety as it re-enters the atmosphere.
NASA had said earlier the orbiter was not damaged when foam insulation fell off the shuttle's external fuel tank as the craft blasted into orbit on July 26.
The same problem doomed Columbia, as the debris hit the orbiter's left wing, causing a crack that eventually allowed superheated gases to penetrate the structure upon re-entry into the atmosphere.
But Cmdr Collins said Discovery was "in great shape and performed well."
The critical re-entry into the atmosphere begins a little over one hour before landing. In the final minutes before touchdown, Discovery will fly over central America and Cuba before making a big loop over the Atlantic as it heads to the Kennedy Space Centre.
As Discovery nears the seashore installation, two high-altitude aircraft will photograph it as part of NASA's efforts to gather as much data as possible on the shuttle.
The crew were set to spend much of yesterday making preparations for the conclusion of what NASA dubbed the "return to flight" mission.
"I think it will be another milestone," the mission ascent and landing Director Leroy Cain said. "I really look at it as moving forward, a new beginning for us," he said at a news conference.
Early on Saturday, they bade farewell to their two hosts on the International Space Station (ISS), before flying around the space lab to check it for wear and tear.
The mission initially had been scheduled to last 12 days, but an extra day was added on so the crew could transfer as much material and provisions as possible to the space station, amid uncertainty over the date of the next shuttle flight.
The crew also retrieved waste and equipment to clear out space in the cramped orbiting lab.
During the mission, Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi and his US counterpart Stephen Robinson conducted three spacewalks.
Mr Robinson became the first astronaut ever to carry out a spacewalk beneath the shuttle during orbit, to extract two protruding pieces of fiber that risked overheating during the shuttle's re-entry.
Mr Noguchi and Mr Robinson also tested repair techniques adopted after the Columbia tragedy and replaced one of the space station's four gyroscopes.
"It's been a great trip and we'll come back with a lot of stories," Mr Noguchi told the CBS network yesterday.
Discovery was scheduled to touch down at Kennedy Space Centre at 4.46am (5.46pm AEST) today. Forecasters said weather conditions looked favourable.
Should today's touchdown be scrubbed, Discovery has until Wednesday to land, either at the Florida seashore space centre or at an alternate landing strip in California or New Mexico.
Once back to earth, find a good buffet.
Ditto, but as soon as they are safely back, I want to know who's responsible for the $ Billion plus oops and when the heads (including fat pensions) will roll.
New Mexico.?
Godspeed Discovery!
The Atlantic? Is this in case it burns up again? The pieces will fall into the ocean instead of being scattered all over Texas. Maybe the thinking is that if it burns up this time, the shuttle is done flying, so no urgent need to find all the pieces for diagnostics. Better to avoid additional PR problem of shuttle chunks falling on somebody's head.
This is to avoid showering Texas, Louisiana, and any other state with debris in case the unthinkable happens again. It was planned that way.
Bring your doom and gloom over to the live thread.
The mission initially had been scheduled to last 12 days, but an extra day was added on so the crew could transfer as much material and provisions as possible to the space station, amid uncertainty over the date of the next shuttle flight.
Why would they have not planned to transfer as much material in the first place? With weight being such a factor for liftoff why was "extra" material put onboard but not planned on being transferred? Any thoughts?
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