Posted on 06/14/2008 7:41:25 AM PDT by mdittmar
CAPE CANAVERAL (AFP) - The US space shuttle Discovery left orbit Saturday and began its descent towards Florida, NASA said.
Earlier, mission control gave the shuttle, which is bringing seven astronauts back to Earth, the green light to land at the Kennedy Space Center at 1515 GMT.
I hope Jimmah Carter’s mandate to make it from aluminum instead of titanium isn’t lethal again.
Carter *spit* the gift that keeps on giving, and giving, and giving...
Too bad you’re perpetuating a myth to take a cheap shot at a poor excuse for a President.
Columbia burned up due to a failure of a reinforced carbon-carbon composite sheet, not metal structure.
Also, there is a live thread on this.
It’s sad that the return to earth of the centerpiece of our space program is now always greeted with fear.
Better a healthy fear than blatant complacency.
I don't fear it,I'm in awe of it.
It is amazing to me what we can do.
And that’s part of the problem. We CAN do so much more, but we CHOOSE to spend the money or things like welfare and health care.
Now, that’s what I call amazing...AMAZING!
A titanium structure would have survived the heat of reentry with that failure of the carbon-carbon composites.
Yes, the shuttle would have been badly damaged, at a minimum, landing gear and tires would have failed on that side. But there wouldn’t have been a high altitude multi-mach burn through and total disintegration if the whole craft.
Yes, the shuttle would, at the very best, had to do a wheels up landing and been damaged beyond any hope of economic repair, but at least the crew would have had an good chance of survival.
Both shuttles died because engineering considerations were overridden by political considerations.
“Better a healthy fear than blatant complacency.”
How could anyone be so jaded than to grow tired of seeing how we’ve continued to move onward and upward since NASA began 50 years ago.
Yep. Aluminum is much cheaper than titanium.
so what time is that on the east coast so i can turn on the tv?
11:15?
RIGHT NOW!!!!
I fear it because it’s a machine that has been pushed well beyond it’s intended lifespan, and its age is showing.
If we are going to have a space program, we should have had a replacement for the shuttle long ago.
You’re making a false assumption. Under perfect conditions, a shuttle orbiter with an all-titanium heat shield would survive reentry, using the proper alloy of titanium. We probably wouldn’t be having this discussion either because the foam probably wouldn’t have damaged the titanium enough to cause a wing rupture.
But, the assumption that a titanium structure would have survived long enough to make an intact touchdown is a false one. We probably would have seen an effect akin to that of the WTC on 9/11. The titanium would have softened causing the wing structure to collapse.
Challenger, you are 100% correct. NASA had “GO-fever” and didn’t listen to the contractors telling them that the shuttle was not safe to launch. And 7 crew members paid the price.
Columbia, well foam shedding was a known issue, but nobody cared enough to try to mitigate it as it wasn’t seen as a large issue. If you really want to trace it back, the change from the standard ET to the LWT and then finally the SLWT would probably be the path that I’d take. The standard ET had a coat of paint that held the foam together better. Unfortunately when you’re dealing with cryogenic fuels, the metal expands and contracts so much that if you put anything with a lower coefficient of thermal expansion over it (foam) it’s going to be difficult to keep it all in one piece.
Safe landing! Amen!
All right!!
Just in time.
Thanks.
Direct TV channel 283
Beautiful! PTL!
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