Posted on 06/07/2007 6:37:21 PM PDT by KevinDavis
-PJ
That's great. Thanks!
There are cameras on everything now, to keep an eye on the foam.
On the new Shuttle lift-off simulator ride at the Kennedy Space Center, the commentator mentions Challenger at the 72 second point...........
I watched yesterday from Titusville. Nothing but water between me and the launch-pad. INCREDIBLE.........I have seen the last 3 launches and I hope to see the rest of them. TV does not do the spectacle justice...........I’m still blown away.........
The best way to figure that out is to calculate a mission yourself. Where is the ISS, where is the launch site, what are the main constraints on launch, what are the operating parameters of the shuttle boost phases. If they were going to simply hit a target like the Chinese satellite killer the trajectory would be very oblique; if they are going to rendezvous at half a foot per second they need a tangential orbit.
spaceflightnow.com
1410 GMT (10:10 a.m. EDT)
The Atlantis astronauts were just awakened to begin Flight Day 2 of the mission. Today will be spend conducting the now-routine post-launch inspections of the shuttle’s heatshield, as well as preparing for tomorrow’s docking to the space station.
some debris was shed during launch.
From the news wires:
..........A slight concern about an exposed area in the shuttle’s delicate heat-protection system arose overnight when engineers examined photos taken by the shuttle’s crew after launch. The photo showed a small exposed area in thermal blankets on the left side of the shuttle near the thrusters Atlantis uses to move about in orbit, said
NASA spokesman Louis Parker.
That area is not a usual focus for potential heat problems when the shuttle returns to earth, but normal day-after-launch inspections will assess it, Parker said.
“There’s not a whole lot of concerns just yet,” Parker said Saturday morning.
They carry some duct tape just in case.
“25,000 Mile-per-Hour Tape”
:)
Don’t need to break out the 25,000 mile an hour tape until the moon mission. :)
The NASA internet feed is at least 45 seconds behind realtime.
That’s a Pulitzer-worthy photo.
Too bad it’s from al-Reuters.
Thanks, Sourdough.
A little past my paygrade, though I’m sure Excel could handle it, if I could hire someone to figure out the formulae.
We saw the whole launch. Awesome!!!!!! So short, but an experience of a lifetime.
I'm so glad that you got over there and got to see it! I'm also incredibly impressed by how quickly you got back. Where on Cocoa Beach were you? We watched one from there years ago and were almost exactly at Ron Jon's Surf Shop. We found out that's about 25 miles from the launch pad. The thing that impressed me then was the feeling of the sound waves striking you. It was like someone slapping your chest.
We were at SeaWorld (as we are now) and they let us stay after the Shamu show and watch the launch from there. It's lined up perfectly to watch the Shuttle rise up over the low trees as if the stadium were built for it. They also have a new video screen system where they showed the NASA launch coverage and piped in the sound through their speaker system AT MAX!!!!!!
We're sticking around till later tonight then hitting the road and driving till we get home. We figure we'll get in around mid day then go to bed and rest up for work on Monday. However briefly it was really nice to see you again.
Where were you? I was at the tip of Merritt Island where the bridge crosses from Titusville. Good view from there.
Really... slight concern... Me thinks someone should be a little more concerned about the protective skin of the shuttle.
http://www.space.com/spaceshuttle/index.html
Mission Update
Shuttle Crew to Take Closer Look at Torn Blanket
9 June 2007 7:52 p.m. EDT
Astronauts aboard NASA’s space shuttle Atlantis will take a closer look at a torn thermal blanket to the orbiter’s portside.
The added survey will be tacked onto the end of today’s Atlantis heat shield inspection, and is expected to take about 30 minutes, NASA officials said.
Atlantis astronaut Patrick Forrester and other crewmates will use the shuttle’s sensor mounted orbital boom to take detailed images of the torn blanket, the damaged area of which measures about four inches and sits on the shuttle’s portside Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) pod.
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