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Astronauts uncover long line of nicks on shuttle
Google News (AP) ^
| 5/12/2009
| n/a
Posted on 05/12/2009 11:58:16 AM PDT by 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....
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: atlantis; damage; debris; nasa; nasasucks; nomoreshuttles; shuttle; shuttleatlantis; spaceshuttle
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To: LayoutGuru2
Not sure if this is a current picture or a file photo. That picture was taken from the Space Station on an earlier mission. For this mission (far away from the Space Station) they can only take pictures with the Canada arm. That arm is incapable of reaching this vantage point.
61
posted on
05/12/2009 3:54:14 PM PDT
by
mwilli20
(BO. Making communists proud all over the world.)
To: Pyro7480
Columbia had an outright hole in the leading edge of the wing. This looks more like “normal” nicks and dings.
62
posted on
05/12/2009 3:54:44 PM PDT
by
Aglooka
(Posting from New Hampshachusetts (Formerly New Hampshire))
To: SonOfPyrodex
Uh that was Khan not Klingons..
63
posted on
05/12/2009 4:02:52 PM PDT
by
Mmogamer
(<This space for lease>)
Comment #64 Removed by Moderator
To: DoughtyOne
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.Don't worry, we can always pay the Chinese to let us on their missions.
65
posted on
05/12/2009 4:21:19 PM PDT
by
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
("men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters." -- Edmund Burke)
To: SonOfPyrodex
66
posted on
05/12/2009 4:48:34 PM PDT
by
Mmogamer
(<This space for lease>)
To: FreepShop1
I cant believe we keep sending them up knowing the tile problem is so acute. Actually the tiles while a concern have NEVER been a "problem."
67
posted on
05/12/2009 4:53:08 PM PDT
by
ElkGroveDan
(Get rid of the dirty moderates. Get rid of them,)
To: hattend
Wedged between tiles and assumed to be the cause were files marked, Rose Law Firm.
68
posted on
05/12/2009 5:37:07 PM PDT
by
rvoitier
(One of the 25 million)
To: ElkGroveDan; FreepShop1
Actually the tiles while a concern have NEVER been a "problem." Damage to the tiles caused the Columbia disaster.
69
posted on
05/12/2009 5:42:55 PM PDT
by
fanfan
(God, Bless America, please.)
To: Pyro7480
"Mission Control says it could be related to debris that came off the fuel tank almost two minutes after liftoff. " Bet that debris is from the Politically-Correct structurally-deficient insulation on the tank.
70
posted on
05/12/2009 5:47:36 PM PDT
by
sionnsar
((Iran Azadi | 5yst3m 0wn3d - it's N0t Y0ur5 (SONY) | "Also sprach Telethustra" - NonValueAdded)
To: Frantzie
Since the Germans retired - NASA has become the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac of space. Privatize space. I was working at NASA when, one day ca. 1975, one of the researchers I worked with gloomily announced that NASA had just reached a notable milestone: one administrator for every researcher.
34 years later...
71
posted on
05/12/2009 5:51:40 PM PDT
by
sionnsar
((Iran Azadi | 5yst3m 0wn3d - it's N0t Y0ur5 (SONY) | "Also sprach Telethustra" - NonValueAdded)
To: Evil Slayer
My goodness, but aren’t you the little pessimist. There’s not enough info avaiable yet to make that conclusion.
72
posted on
05/12/2009 5:55:15 PM PDT
by
dools007
To: Moonman62
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. As one who worked on the project (I saw it "flying" in wind tunnels long before the first one was ever built), I can say they were expected to be replaced by *something* long before now. That we're still using them speaks only to the cutbacks in the space program -- and maybe to the skills of the 60s & 70s designers.
73
posted on
05/12/2009 6:02:31 PM PDT
by
sionnsar
((Iran Azadi | 5yst3m 0wn3d - it's N0t Y0ur5 (SONY) | "Also sprach Telethustra" - NonValueAdded)
To: sionnsar
Yup. It is like the Post Office for space. The Dems turn everything into a big jobs program for illiterates.
74
posted on
05/12/2009 6:36:06 PM PDT
by
Frantzie
To: SonOfPyrodex
Now THAT'S a NICK! lol
Scotty: "Aye Captain! It'll be takin' 6 weeks to fix, but you don't have 6 weeks. So I'll be gettin' her done in about 20 minutes. Got some old tuna cans around here somewhere..."
75
posted on
05/12/2009 6:55:47 PM PDT
by
NoPrisoners
("When in the course of human events...")
To: Pyro7480
A few rolls of this should work
76
posted on
05/12/2009 7:16:07 PM PDT
by
ParityErr
(It's impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.)
To: Lucius Cornelius Sulla
My exact concern. LOL
You know how to hurt a guy don’t you.
77
posted on
05/12/2009 7:19:51 PM PDT
by
DoughtyOne
(Pres__ent Obama's own grandmother says he was born in Kenya. She was there.)
To: DoughtyOne
Heck, I was building model rockets in the 1950’s, and originally majored in Aeronautical Engineering (before Calculus got me). We are now eight years past 2001, when, if you remember, we were supposed to have Space Stations (run by Pan Am), passenger flights to moon colonies, and space odysseys to Jupiter. Most depressing!
78
posted on
05/12/2009 7:28:21 PM PDT
by
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
("men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters." -- Edmund Burke)
To: Lucius Cornelius Sulla
That’s how I see it. We’re of the same mind on this.
79
posted on
05/12/2009 7:31:29 PM PDT
by
DoughtyOne
(Pres__ent Obama's own grandmother says he was born in Kenya. She was there.)
To: DoughtyOne
80
posted on
05/12/2009 7:33:56 PM PDT
by
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
("men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters." -- Edmund Burke)
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