Posted on 08/07/2005 4:25:15 PM PDT by KevinDavis
Well since the Space Shuttle is landing at 4:45 am, I figure I start a live thread now (I won't be awake)...
I am praying that everything goes well, but despite being a space-fanatic since childhood, I would not go for a ride on a shuttle these days.
I'm sorry, I just don't trust the things anymore.
You have every reason not to trust!!!
Thanks for posting that excellent timeline chart. Just arriving at work tonight and ready to start NASA TV's live feed. 4 hours and 34 minutes until touchdown at Kennedy.
Here's a link to a mammoth FR analytical thread for insomniacs. :-).
Cool. A little light reading to pass the hours before touchdown.
Rocketman would be good...
The person currently on duty at mission control announced a few minutes ago that the folks on the Int'l Space Station may be able to see the plasma trail of Discovery. Hopefully we'll get to see some live video from inside the orbiter and the ISS during decent.
This is a view I don't understand. It's like the MSM yarn about the age of the shuttle fleet. So what! Look, it works! It's not flawless but nothing is going to be when you're doing something so fantastically complex. Challenger would've been avoided if it hadn't flown when it was clearly too cold. Changes were made, problem resolved. Columbia would've been ok (we believe) if they hadn't moved to the non-freon foam process and, at the least, put in the safety thinking you or I would immediately think about if for some reason an orbiter *cannot* return to Earth safely. The Columbia problem was not about the orbiter and this foam problem is with a tank that is brand *new* with each flight, not reused like the orbiter and boosters.
That would be fantastic. I hope they can get it working and put it up on NASA TV.
Some highlights of space shuttle Discovery's planned re-entry early Monday:
_1 hour, five minutes before touchdown: Braking rockets fired by commander and pilot, dropping shuttle's orbital speed of 17,500 mph by 208 mph and starting the descent toward Earth.
_32 minutes before touchdown: Shuttle begins entering the discernible atmosphere at 400,000 feet, a period called "entry interface."
_20 minutes before touchdown: Shuttle exposed to maximum heating by atmospheric gases, considered the most dangerous part of entry and close to the time Columbia broke apart.
_4 to 5 minutes before touchdown: Commander and pilot take over manual control, from onboard computers.
_3 1/2 to 4 minutes before touchdown: Twin sonic booms heard as shuttle gets closer to ground at supersonic speed.
_3 minutes before touchdown: Shuttle makes 223-degree turn to line up with runway.
_14 seconds before touchdown: Wheels down.
_Touchdown.
___
Columbia's flight ended in catastrophe 16 minutes before touchdown.
Haven't seen that. Good stuff.
"Go for payload door closing"
Yeah. Me too. I'm setting the alarm.
Payload bay doors in motion
"Payload doors are now closed" ...
Excellent.
That's for insomniacs, all right.
What channels are y'all watching?
NASA select, CNN...?
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