Astronauts uncover long line of nicks on shuttle

Google News (AP) ^ | 5/12/2009 | n/a

[Pyro7480]

The Atlantis astronauts have uncovered a long stretch of nicks on their space shuttle, the result of launch debris.

They were inspecting their ship Tuesday for signs of launch damage when they came across the nicks. Mission Control informed the crew that it's a 21-inch stretch of nicks over four to five thermal tiles on the right side of Atlantis. The damage is where the right wing joins the fuselage.

Mission Control says it could be related to debris that came off the fuel tank almost two minutes after liftoff.

NASA says the damage does not appear to be serious, but more analysis is needed.

Atlantis blasted off Monday on a risky repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope....

[Evil Slayer]

Then again, probably not.

I certainly pray you are right. I didn't intend to sound negative but only realistic considering how fragile the shuttle is.

God speed the crew of Atlantis. Protect them from harm and allow them to complete their mission and return SAFELY to earth.

[NormsRevenge]

Now now,, everytime you launch a shuttle , a glacier melts. :-)

[CougarGA7]

Figures. I tried to park my shuttle in a safe orbit and some a$$**** keys it.

[Frantzie]

Maybe they could try to fly the damaged one to the moon.

Since the Germans retired - NASA has become the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac of space. Privatize space.

[DoughtyOne]

I’m quite capable of criticizing Bush, but the mere mention of his name in this context bothers me. This is a nineteen sixties or seventies design. Bush wasn’t responsible for any of this. And just because he set new goals, it doesn’t mean he suddenly becomes responsible for all the poor decisions made in the past.

It doesn’t make sense to me to completely redesign a launch system for a craft at the very end of it’s life expectancy.

[txroadkill]

I'm sure the rescue shuttle would only be crewed by the CDR and Pilot, but I don't think there will be a big issue with tossing in a couple of extra seats, Story Musgrave rode through re-entry aboard Discovery standing up because “he always wanted to do it”.

[End Times Sentinel]

They scratch you and never stop or leave a note.

In my experience, it's probably a shopping cart in the Target parking lot. Maybe one of the astronaut's wives was driving it.

[txroadkill]

Maybe they could try to fly the damaged one to the moon.

Maybe they can get Tommy Lee Jones to do it.

[Moonman62]

It doesn’t make sense to me to completely redesign a launch system for a craft at the very end of it’s life expectancy.

First, I'm criticizing W for his Moon and Mars boondoggle, not anything to do with the Shuttle.

Second, what makes you think the Shuttles are at the end of their life expectancy? Each Orbiter only has a few dozen missions. The avionics and computers have all been upgraded, and the Shuttle still carries a lot of prestige.

[FreepShop1]

If they used a fraction of the money for W's Mars boondoggle, they could design a new launcher that would put the Orbiter at the top of the stack.

It's all moot anyway. King Obama has defunded NASA. When all the income has been redistributed, then and only then can we established the first ACORN office on the Moon.

[Moonman62]

King Obama has defunded NASA.

Really? Where did you see that? I do know he's put W's bad idea under review, which is a good thing.

[NormsRevenge]

what makes you think the Shuttles are at the end of their life expectancy? Each Orbiter only has a few dozen missions. The avionics and computers have all been upgraded, and the Shuttle still carries a lot of prestige.

—

structurally, if kept up mechanically , they could fly quite a few more missions. they are essentially a space truck, the lack of suitable launch options is the only thing keeping some of the fleet flying for many years.

I wonder if they are still flying HP computers, I remember all the fun they had in the old days. nowadays, laptops are capable of running a lot of the onboard gear.

I’d hate to see them go. too bad we have a gubamint that doesn’t have the foresight to do the right thing and build more of the right stuff on the launch pad.

[yazoo]

“Traffic congestion. They scratch you and never stop or leave a note.”

I always leave a note so passersby will think I am a good citizen. The note usually says, “I scratched your car. Bye”

[NormsRevenge]

Space shuttle Atlantis lifts off on a mission to NASA's Hubble Telescope from its launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, May 11, 2009. REUTERS/Scott Audette

[Thunder90]

PING

[NormsRevenge]

NASA: Nicks on shuttle don’t appear to be serious

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090512/ap_on_sc/us_shuttle_hubble;_ylt=ApA57DK._lQX3rxRNS7sc3lvzwcF

excerpt..

Flight director Tony Ceccacci told reporters “it’s too early to tell” whether the astronauts will need to conduct a more detailed inspection of that area. Any additional survey, to determine the depth of the nicks, would be done Friday right before the second of five spacewalks planned for Hubble.

[DoughtyOne]

If they used a fraction of the money for W's Mars boondoggle, they could design a new launcher that would put the Orbiter at the top of the stack.

You may not have meant to diss Bush, but you did make it sound like you think a misdirection of funds was causing the continued problem with the orbiter launches.

It doesn’t make sense to me to completely redesign a launch system for a craft at the very end of it’s life expectancy.

First, I'm criticizing W for his Moon and Mars boondoggle, not anything to do with the Shuttle.

That may be what you intended to do, but you should keep the two separate if that's really your intention.

Second, what makes you think the Shuttles are at the end of their life expectancy? Each Orbiter only has a few dozen missions. The avionics and computers have all been upgraded, and the Shuttle still carries a lot of prestige.

These are the number of missions and date of first flight for each shuttle.  LINK

36 08/30/83 Discovery
30 10/03/85 Atlantis
22 05/07/92 Endeavor

NASA thinks it's time to take Discovery and Atlantis out of service.  That's good enough for me.  The Endeavor probably does have more missions in store.  The problem with that is that there will be no back-up.

You seem to think a launch redesign is indicated.  How long do you think that would take, and would it be advisable for just one remaining shuttle?  The cost and ticking clock on that effort leaves me thinking not.

My main concern right now is that Orion is going to turn out to be nothing more than a next generation orbiter.  If it does wind up being that, any real chance for easy frequent access and turn around to space will be thwarted for another 30 years.

[Moonman62]

NASA thinks it's time to take Discovery and Atlantis out of service.

Why? Are the airframes shot, or do they want to do it for budgetary reasons, or simply to make room for the next political project?

My main concern right now is that Orion is going to turn out to be nothing more than a next generation orbiter. If it does wind up being that, any real chance for easy frequent access and turn around to space will be thwarted for another 30 years.

Probably so. They keep scaling it back. My guess is it never gets off the ground.

I've said it before, the problem with the manned space program is that it's run by politicians.

[GraceG]

>>I guess it would be kind of cool to see Endeavor go to the rescue, but I guess that would mean that they would have to abandon Atlantis in orbit.

But what do they do if Endeavor has tile damage when it gets up there? Send up Discovery? <<

They can autopilot Atlantis back down to earth anyways, they would just need to transfer the crew and go home then be followed a few days later by the automated Atlantis.

[DoughtyOne]

I’m going to have to admit to thinking that we’ve needed to go another direction, for quite some time now. In the 28 years since our first shuttle launch we have had 126 (plus this one) missions. That’s a little more than 4.5 missions per year.

The goal should be executing that many (126) successful launches in a year. We need a fleet of vehicles that can be launched, execute a mission, return to earth, and be ready for another mission the next day. If that is not attainable right now, then at the very least we need something under a week turnaround at the very max, and a fleet of five to then orbiters.

My fear is that we’re headed into another boondoggle where we get three more orbiters, and another 4.5 missions per year out of them. Even at ten missions, that’s just design for failure for an earnest program.