[ConservativeDude]

I hope someone can explain clearly why this is not something to be worried about.

[konaice]

It was also disclosed that the nose cone of the fuel tank hit a bird during a liftoff.

Environmentalist Whackos Alert

[kingu]

None of the debris appears to have hit the shuttle, and unlike any previous shuttle flight, this flight has the ability to actually examine the integrity of the heat shield. While minor repairs may be conducted, the high orbit of this flight and the timing puts it nearby the space station, giving a safe haven if things did get broken.

Personally, I'm still not convinced by the NASA report. I think too little attention was paid to the landing gear hatches, but I also know how the astronauts feel - even if it was a fifty-fifty shot each flight, they'd be right at the top of the list of people to go.

[rockabyebaby]

I hope to God these astronauts make it back safely.

[konaice]

I hope someone can explain clearly why this is not something to be worried about.

Because ice and bits of debries from the exploding bolts always appear at tank seperation. Usually unseen (because the prior launches had fewer and lower resolution cameras), these can't be said to be a problem till a frame by frame analysis determines exactly what they were.

[diverteach]

I don't understand why they don't simply make it a standard procedure to do a spacewalk at somepoint during each mission and prior to re-entry, to do a visual inspection of the tiles, and have available a kit to repair any that are damaged or missing.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know for example that if your driving down the road and you see something fall from your car that you'd pull over and get out to do an inspection.

[b4its2late]

It was also disclosed that the nose cone of the fuel tank hit a bird during a liftoff.

A birdie!

[Old Professer]

Manana; the window, she is broken but the rain, she go away...

[gopwinsin04]

[hershey]

Where's Gorilla Glue when you need it.

[ARCADIA]

Discovery's liftoff marks the beginning of the end for the space shuttle fleet, which launched the first of its 114 flights in April 1981.

As a result of the Columbia tragedy, President Bush directed NASA to retire the remaining orbiters -- Atlantis, Endeavour and Discovery -- by 2010 and accelerate the development of a successor that will transport American astronauts back to the moon as well as back and forth to the space station.

Do we have any info on the proposed successor shuttle program?

[Salvation]

Uh-oh! Praying that everything is minor.

[Lx]

OK, I have a question. When the capsules for the moon missions were launched, they were encased in a plastic shell that I believe was attached to the tower on the top of the capsule that had the escape engines on it. Once it was in space it jettisoned the cover and escape tower.

My question is, why can't they have a cover over the vulnerable carbon carbon leading edges of the wings that are then jettisoned once the shuttle is in space. It's not like it needs the aerodynamic surfaces until it re-enters the atmosphere.

I know we have some serious experts here on FR, I remember all of the analysis after Columbia and FR had more, video, pictures and correct theories than NASA had at the time.

[Candor7]

Article says: *****The astronauts will try out the repair kits on deliberately broken samples of thermal tiles and panels. They will practice working with goo and other patching materials and different types of brushes, putty knives and a caulking gun.

---

Is this not a bit obsurd for the amount of money NASA uses
to get this bird into orbit? I sometimes think that the
space shuttle flights are part of a massive disinformation campaign to make everyone think that America's space vehicles are clunkers that need to be scrapped, and that the halycon days of Space Balls are indeed at an end.

Nothing can be further from the truth because the US Black Ops budget at the Skunkworks and in Nevada's allegedly non existant military test sites fly vehicles which are likely already transiting into space from our atmosphere. The government doesn't want anyone to know. Todays experimental aircraft are built of large extruded components with redundant electronic circuits channeled right into the body skin of the aircraft. They are flown by wire, computer augmented controls. Knowing these little tidbits one wonders why our NASA astronauts are playing around with goop and glue? Those days have been over for quite some time.

Take a look at the American Federation of Scientists Web site and its photos, and you too will see that NASA's days are numbered unless it incorporates new technology already being used by the Black Ops military divisions:

http://www.fas.org/irp/mystery/aurora.htm

"... Aurora was being flown from a base in the Nevada desert to an atoll in the Pacific, then on to Scotland to refuel before returning to the US at night. Specially modified tanker aircraft are being used to top up Aurora's tanks with liquid methane fuel in mid-air... The US Air Force is using the remote RAF airbase at Machrihanish, Strathclyde, as a staging point... The mystery aircraft has been dropping in at night before streaking back to America across the North Pole at more than six times the speed of sound... An F-111 fighter bomber is scrambling as the black-painted aircraft lands, flying in close formation to confuse prying civilian radars."

Anything that can cruise at Mach 6 is likely to be able to leave the atmosphere of the earth by simply stepping on the gas a little. I mean we are talking over 4000 miles
per hour! Its not such a great leap to imagine that these
new Black Ops vehicles can actually do the 25,000 miles per hour necessary to achieve escape velocity in our upper atmosphere, and do so without the possibility of detection. If not, then why all the secrecy about the Tanopa Test Range and Area 51?


I sometimes think NASA is a disinformation agency. Its hard for me to take NASA seriously as much more than a boondoggle whose days are numbered because of its scientific attrition.

[benjaminjjones]

Hope everything's OK, but I only saw the frame-by-frame of the insulation debris and it didn't appear to hit the bird.

I haven't seen any video or slideshow of the ceramic tile separation yet, but I thought they lose a few tiles with each launch (or maybe it's on landing).

I don't know about the rest of youz', but I almost got a hard on just watching that 4-1/2 million TON beast blast off again after what, 2-1/2 years. I wonder what Cmdr. Eileen Collins felt as pilot?

Begs the question: if "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" then do female pilots "Pop a Rod with the Need for Speed?"

Don't get me wrong, I admire the heck out of her (and think she's cute), and I heard that she's got tons of hours in all kinds of aircraft, but I've never met a woman having a man's testoterone-fueled, gearhead, speed affliction.

Maybe I need to meet a different type of of woman.

[buffyt]

I am worried about this. We were driving from S. Texas to Denver when the shuttle blew up during landing a couple of years ago. It was just surreal driving across Texas as they were finding debris everywhere that we were driving through. It was so sad.

[TBall]

I don't know about you, but I have more important things to do than worry about the shuttle. I worry more about which city will be attacked next. I worry about crazy people who control the media who push harmful agendas. Hopefully shuttle missions will be made safer, but I imagine the rewards we gain from successful shuttle launches are worth the risks.

[tubebender]

My wife and I saw 2 or 3 objects come off the shuttle just after separation for the main fuel tank. It could have been ice. Here is the mother of threads on Columbia...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/835531/posts

[fedupjohn]

I hope someone can explain clearly why this is not something to be worried about.

I'm pretty much a space nut, Aunt's a big wig at KSC and I've seem about 1/2 dozen launches. This was the most detailed photos ever taken of a launch. The tile system was designed to be robust; that is: designed to take hits on launch, on orbit and survive entry. I watched the launch live, that was probably the cleanest launch they ever had. There usually is a whole bunch of foam and ice flying off the ET, this time there was, what , 2 pieces video taped and neither hit the Orbiter.

So far , GREAT JOB GUYS