Crap!
Posted on 10/18/2002 6:46:24 AM PDT by Lokibob
Landing is on schedule for this morning.
Shuttle Atlantis' payload bay doors were closed a few minutes ago and the crew is now reconfiguring the orbiter computer software to run the landing-related program.
The weather here is absolutely perfect, with sunny skies, light winds and cool temperatures that will make it a lot nicer to work out on the shuttle runway once Atlantis has touched down and rolled to a stop.
The shuttle is now scheduled to fire its twin braking rockets at 10:36 a.m. EDT and land at 11:44 a.m. EDT.
The landing will be on Runway 33, which means the shuttle will fly overhead, make a sweeping right-hand turn to line up with the concrete strip and fly an approach from the south to the north.
Local Space Coast residents will have an excellent chance to see Atlantis land, with the parking lot of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex being a particulary good spot to see the final approach.
Stay tuned to this page for confirmation of the de-orbit burn at 10:36 a.m. EDT.
-- Jim Banke, Senior Producer, Cape Canaveral Bureau
Crap!
All I needed to know about that. Go read it again, and note what "that" is. How to make a computer, etc., is nothing to do with "greater understanding of the world (and universe) we live in."
Sheesh.
I quoted exactly what he posted. You would do well to click the "To n" link at the bottom of my post, before you start hurling such accusations.
Bottom line: liberals and "conservatives" alike can and do rationalize whatever their pet projects might be.
One only gains understanding through exploration, study and experiment. Science, in other words.
Shuttle altitude 535,000 feet, speed Mach 25.
Shuttle altitude 58 miles. 28 minutes to touchdown.
1. For spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit, are operations under the rules of microgravity, or is everything being pulled down at a high fraction of surface gravity?
2. Why haven't we ween many unfiltered photographs taken of the stars during the "night" parts of an orbit? I'd think the panoramic shots would be incredible.
I am another one of those foolish conservatives who is interested in the space program.
Anything the government boondoggles produced for private industry could just as well have been produced by private industry (certainly for less money and most likely faster). But, only a fool would risk his own neck, if he can convince or rely on The People to risk The Peoples' money on his behalf. (If you really think the exploration of the New World couldn't have happened without government subsidies, you're almost a socialist yourself!)
Rationalize all you want. You're no better than the bleeding-heart liberals on this point. With regard to its limitations on Congressional spending, the Constitution isn't worth diddly. Anything goes.
When it comes to government spending, the difference between liberals and some of you self-anointed conservatives is just the kind (if not the price) of your toys.
End of story.
You have to say it correctly. Since you approve of the space program that makes you a "conservative". (emphasis on quotes)
At geosynchronous orbit, gravity isn't felt any more than in any other orbit. The craft is falling towards the earth, but it's also moving along relative to the surface of the earth, so while it's falling it never actually quite hits the Earth.
2. Why haven't we ween many unfiltered photographs taken of the stars during the "night" parts of an orbit? I'd think the panoramic shots would be incredible.
I dunno. Maybe it has to do with the contrast. Stars would be mere pinpricks of light, against a pitch blackness..
Everything going well, Atlantis rolling and pitching to bleed off speed. Altitude 39 miles, speed 13,000 MPH - Mach 18.5, range to airfield 1,400 miles. Radio is blocked, I suppose, due to the frictional ionization of the air. Freepers in the Yucatan peninsula should look to the southwest now; maybe a meteor-like streak could be seen...
The whole reason space programs are so plodding and overpriced is that governments run them. NASA has given us post offices in the sky. If the computer industry had been run like the space program, I would still be punchcarding this on my old IBM 7094.
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