NASA Press Conference LIVE THREAD

Fox, CNN, networks, NASA TV | February 2, 2003 | NASA

[snopercod]

Any time now...

[Rafterman1]

Previous insulation problem on tank, about a year ago...camera on tank a couple of missions ago was to look at tank...

[Fitzcarraldo]

I hate to ask, but is it possible that the computer had a problem?

Yes the flight software controls everything. What if the code were altered in some way to pop the wheel just as the shuttle started flying over the U.S. Chilling thought...

[Braak]

That's what I heard.

[Dog]

Explained why cameras were put on the boosters during launch..

[Tennessee_Bob]

and there was some sort of drag pulling the vehicle to the left

If the temps in the left main gear bay rose enough and the tires blew, imagine the sudden increase in drag on the left hand side - one set of gear doors suddenly blown open at 12,500 miles an hour.

[Semper911]

I haven't read the whole thread yet, but I have to ask these questions:

Did they tell the crew about the debris that hit the wing on the ascent?
Did the crew know there could be a potential problem on re-entry?

I can't believe that not one of these reporters have asked this.

[snopercod]

discussing cameras on the SRBs to watch the "popcorning" of the foam.

discussing one flight where a camera was flown on the ET aerospike area to look back at the orbiter.

Oh, another good question: Why were military satellites or telescopes not used to look at the bottom of the orbiter if there was a question regarding tile damage?

Answer: they don't have enough resolution to see anything.

[fooman]

'Did you listen so I don't I have to do through that again?' ---I love this guy.

[Dog]

Did he just tell that one reporter to pay attention..??

[revolted]

Does this mean anything?
http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/030121day6/

Crew deals with cooling problem in laboratory
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: January 21, 2003

The Columbia astronauts are pressing ahead with a full-slate of orbital research today, adjusting the shuttle's air conditioner to make up for a loss of cooling in their Spacehab research module. NASA managers describe the problem as an "annoyance," saying it will have no impact on the crew's science agenda.


A view down the tunnel linking the Columbia's crew cabin to the Spacehab Research Double Module. Photo: NASA


"The orbiter and the crew are all doing very, very well," said Phil Engelauf, a senior flight director representing NASA's mission operations directorate. "They're all in good spirits, everybody seems to be doing very well. The orbiter also is doing great, we have no significant anomalies to report on the orbiter.

"The only thing that we have of any significance to talk about is at this point, an annoyance and we think we're going to be around the corner on that (soon). We have had a cooling problem with the Spacehab cooling system. It's technically actually a problem with separating out condensed water. The cooling system is cooling OK, but in order to avoid getting a lot of condensed water under the floorboards back there, we've had to back off on some of the cooling. We're in the process of a workaround."

Columbia has its own cooling system, which is working normally. The Spacehab research module in the shuttle's cargo bay has a cooling system as well, which utilizes a device called a "rotary separator" to remove excess water, or humidity, from the air as it is cooled. Two rotary separators are available for redundancy.

On Saturday, rotary separator No. 1 shut down after becoming flooded with excess water. The astronauts turned on the backup and used towels to soak up about two quarts of water from the engineering spaces under the floor of the module. The backup worked fine until Sunday, when it shorted out and blew a circuit breaker. Both separators have been off since then.

Engineers told the crew to turn down the shuttle's thermostat to send more cold air back to the Spacehab module. In addition, the astronauts have been adjusting valves in the Spacehab module to modify how cooling water circulates between various experiment packages and subsystems.

"We're in the process of trying to implement a quick fix by adjusting the amount of cooling water that flows to different parts of the Spacehab to provide more cooling to some of the equipment racks in order to keep all the experiments operating," Engelauf said. "Even though the air temperatures are a little bit warmer in the hab than they would normally be, it's really not a factor for the crew, it's really not outside their comfort level. ... We think we have the temperature problem essentially under control."

He said the normal temperature in the shuttle is 72 degrees. After the Spacehab cooling system problem, the temperature climbed as high as 84 degrees or so before dropping back down to around 76 degrees. One experiment missed a data run today because of the problems, but Engelauf said the astronauts will make that up later with no loss of science.

Otherwise, NASA mission scientist John Charles said today the crew's research agenda is on track. The astronauts are carrying out more than 80 government, university, commercial and student experiments during the course of Columbia's 16-day mission, working around the clock in two 12-hour shifts to maximize the science return.

The day shift - commander Rick Husband, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark and Israeli payload specialist Ilan Ramon took a break today to chat with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Jerusalem.

"Our congratulations and our blessings from Jerusalem, the capitol of the Jewish people for 3,000 years and for eternity," Sharon radioed. He thanked President Bush and former President Bill Clinton "who decided to send one of our astronauts to space."

"I would like to thank NASA as well and to all those who have exerted effort to bring us to this achievement," Sharon said. "And I hope it is just one amongst all our flights into space."

Ramon at one point held up a small scroll given to him by a Holocaust survivor who is now a professor at Tel Aviv University and a member of the Israeli shuttle research team. The Torah scroll was given to the professor, then a boy, by a rabbi who died in the same concentration camp.

"This represents more than anything the ability of the Jewish people to survive despite everything from horrible periods, black days, to reach periods of hope and belief in the future," Ramon said, floating on the shuttle's flight deck.

Sharon invited Ramon and his shuttle crewmates to visit Israel after the flight.

[Braak]

Because Mrs Stark, there wasn't a reason to look, nobody thought there was a problem. THE PRESS! I have met Monday Morning QBs with more sense!

[hole_n_one]

That's exactly what he did!

[Karsus]

The flight computers on the shuttle are not like your PC. It would be rather difficult to modify the software then load it into the computers.

It would have been much easier to damage portions of the bottom of the shuttle before liftoff. Not that I think that happened, but it would have been much easier.

[snopercod]

Software does NOT deploy the gear. The astronauts must do that manually.

[_Jim]

What if the code were altered in some way M

Get real! This stuff is check-summed to death and there is a helluva a QA chain-of-custody-provess that is in place (software QRA processes) to boot!

[snopercod]

"No temperature increase in LMG wheel well."

This seems to contradict what was said yesterday.

[Reagan Man]

>>>Did the left wheel deploy prematurely?

Don't the shuttle tires inflate prior to deployment and landing? A premature inflation, or deployment would definitely have caused some serious stability problems, increasing the stress levels on the left wing section.

[Cboldt]

See http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/833981/posts?page=103#103 for yesterday's comments (infomally transcribed by others), at least an indication of elevated temperature in wheel well yesterday.

[BossLady]

Had a good laugh over that statement. Sad....but these women reporters are really lame!!! (Ladies...it's called RESEARCH!)

[Jewels1091]

Could the wheel well door pop open without opening all the way? I know someone is going to say this is a silly question...BUT could there have been something as simple as a short in a wire?????