Posted on 07/04/2006 1:53:42 PM PDT by HAL9000
Up to five pieces of debris that could be foam insulation fell off the space shuttle Discovery's troublesome external fuel tank shortly after lift-off, according to NASA. The shuttle blasted off from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida at 19.38 BST. About three minutes later, three or four pieces of debris were seen flying off the fuel tank, and another popping off a bit later, said shuttle programme manager Wayne Hale.Discovery was so high by then that there wasn't enough air to accelerate the pieces into the shuttle and cause damage, he said.
"That is the very raw, preliminary data," he said. "It will be a while before we get a complete picture of what happened during the ascent. But we're looking for these small events that were going on."
The mission is only the second since the destruction of the shuttle Columbia and the deaths of its crew in February, 2003.
NASA's top administrators decided to launch Discovery despite the objections of some key safety and engineering officials who said the shuttle's troubled fuel tank, which triggered the Columbia disaster, needed additional repairs.
There was fresh doubt about the mission on Monday when a crack was found in the tank's foam insulation.
Any serious problems with the 13-day mission is likely to bring a premature end to the US shuttle programme and leave the International Space Station unfinished.
Discovery's key goals are to test the fuel tank, carry much-needed equipment and supplies to the space station and make repairs to the orbiting outpost.
Foam loss has been on every mission, and the last mission returned the cleanest orbiter.
Shuttle has 18 more flights, then its the simple and reliable Ares flights.
Aside from filling the news for several days and prolonging this tired program until someone gets a better idea, why are we still taking this thing into orbit, spending time repeating old experiments on the space station and generally burning money just to show that we can?
Right you are, Right you are, Right you are, but that doesn't change the power the Greenies have.
I'm not sure where you get the idea that an H2/O2 flame won't be visibile under any conditions, but that is indeed what the Shuttle's main engines use for fuel.
Here's a hydrogen flame -- looks pretty visible to me:
I don't recall seeing any flames on the Hindenburg!
LOL
We got to finish the ISS so that we can use it up to its fullest extent.
This flight puts equipment onboard that will allow for a crew of 6 to work up there. Other flights will haul up the remaining truss structure and labs and living space.
LOL! Good point.
This just in:
Debris reportedly falls of Taepodong-2, shortly after launch.
You mean the old Pre-Algore foam made by using FREON, don'tcha? I'm tellin you this great nation is beginning to show way too many signs of GANG-GREEN!!!
The headline says it fell off of the shuttle, but the story seems to make clear it fell from the external tank--in this case, a huge difference.
I rather doubt that is a typical hydrogen/oxygen flame. When the shuttle engines light they show close-ups, and you can see right throught the flame.
I watch the shuttle launches from Jacksonville, and when the solid bosters stop, I can no longer see the launch, even at night.
There it is!!! You nailed it!!! And built by the lowest bidder, "cheaper, better, faster!"
Where did you come up with this? I don't believe it for a minute. There were way too many MSM articles about this being the cause of the last shuttle disaster to have ALL been wrong!!! GANG-GREEN KILLS!!!
Apropos the hindenberg, what you see are the burning carbon gasses produced by the fabric, not the Hydrogen. Yellow flame is burning carbon.
And don't forget NO (New Orleans!)
Maybe the case is, the shuttle exhaust is so hot (3200 degrees), it burns natural atmoshpheric carbon, thus creating the yellow flames. If so, that would make it a net consumer of carbon, and thus a CURE for global warming...LOL.
Keep in mind this is mostly coming from my memory from reading the book, "Challenger, a Major Malfunction".
Page 51 (a useful diagram is on the same page):
Most of the External Tank is insulated with three types of spray-on foam. NCFI 24-124, a polyisocyanurate foam applied with blowing agent HCFC 141b hydrochlorofluorocarbon, is used on most areas of the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen tanks. NCFI 24-57, another polyisocyanurate foam applied with blowing agent HCFC 141b hydrochlorofluorocarbon, is used on the lower liquid hydrogen tank dome. BX-250, a polyurethane foam applied with CFC-11 chlorofluorocarbon, was used on domes, ramps, and areas where the foam is applied by hand.
Page 54:
The Board has concluded that the physical cause of the breakup of Columbia upon re-entry was the result of damage to the Orbiterʼs Thermal Protection System, which occurred when a large piece of BX-250 foam insulation fell from the left (ÂY) bipod assembly 81.7 seconds after launch and struck the leading edge of the left wing.
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