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Space shuttle ready for return |
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| 14:59 30 September 02 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewScientist.com news service | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
After a summer of repairs, NASA is hoping that a space shuttle will finally blast off on Wednesday, bound for the International Space Station. The launch is the first since the entire shuttle fleet was grounded on in June, after engineers discovered hairline cracks in the shuttles' fuel systems. The shuttle Atlantis will be carrying a special new addition on board - a video camera that will transmit live images of the launch. Footage will begin 15 minutes before launch and last for about the same afterwards. The images will be broadcast on the web. RocketCam will be bolted to the rust-orange external fuel tank and pointed down towards the shuttle nose, with a 40-degree field of view. The unit, made by California-based Eclipse Enterprises, will relay live video footage of the fiery launch by radio link to mission control, which will then re-broadcast it on NASA TV.
The action will begin seven seconds before lift-off, when the main engines are ignited, followed quickly by the solid rocket boosters. Seven seconds after launch, the shuttle will have cleared the tower and Cape Canaveral will rapidly recede from view. RocketCam has already had 30 successful launches on other space rockets, but this will be the first time it has taken a ride on a space shuttle. Eight minutes after launch, the fuel in the external tank is exhausted and the tank separates, about 83 kilometres above the Earth. The video camera should keep rolling for about another six minutes, or until it falls out of range of the shuttle. Ultimately, the camera will burn up with the tank during re-entry to the atmosphere. You can view a NASA animated simulation of the footage here (hosted by NASA).
A crew of five astronauts and one cosmonaut will be aboard Atlantis on its 11-day mission to the International Space Station. Its payload will include a $390 million, 13.7-metre-long segment of a truss that extends the one already bolted on to the ISS. The section contains three radiators and most of the plumbing used to cool the complex. Atlantis will also bring supplies and a new treadmill for the station's crew. NASA is keeping the exact launch time a secret for security reasons. The agency has only revealed that the launch will be some time between 1800 and 2200 GMT, but will announce the exact time on Tuesday afternoon. |
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David Cohen |
