Free Republic

PALMDALE - The tragedy was felt nationwide when the space shuttle Columbia and its seven-astronaut crew were lost five years ago today when the orbiter broke apart during re-entry. The loss was especially acute for the hundreds of people at The Boeing Co.'s site in Palmdale, birthplace of the shuttles and home to their various modifications. From the earliest years of the space shuttle program, the employees of Rockwell International, which later became part of Boeing, have felt a personal connection to the space program and to the astronauts. "I've never seen anything like it. There's just something special about...

MMT decide to try for a Sunday launch attempt for STS-122 The Mission Management Team (MMT) have concluded their meeting on flight rationale for proceeding with the launch of Shuttle Atlantis on STS-122, deciding to make a launch attempt on Sunday at 3:21pm Eastern, in a one minute launch window. The main reason for waiting an extra day would be to finalize Flight Controller procedures for watching the tank closely during ascent, in the event of ECO (Engine Cut Off) sensors were deemed unreliable. The launch could be delayed longer if those procedures are not finalized.

This will be the official thread for the landing of the Space Shuttle Discovery.. What a mission!!!!

Looks like the Expedition 16 crew will be bring Discovery home about mid day Wednesday A friend sent me these images. Some of he best I've ever seen Hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

This is going to the be the live thread for the Space Shuttle Discovery. The reason why I'm posting this now it is because I have to work tomorrow...

A powerful Apollo-era crawler-transporter slowly carried the shuttle Discovery from the Vehicle Assembly Building to launch complex 39A today for work to ready the ship for blastoff Oct. 23 on a complex space station assembly mission. The three-mile trip began around 6:47 a.m. and the orbiter's mobile launch platform was "hard down" at the pad by around 1:15 p.m. NASA had hoped to move the ship to the pad last week, but the trip was delayed after engineers discovered a hydraulic leak in the shuttle's right main landing gear strut. Four seals in the strut mechanism were replaced, clearing the...

This is will be the official Space Shuttle Endeavour Landing Thread.

The space shuttle Endeavour left the International Space Station (ISS) a day ahead of schedule and has started its journey home to get the jump on what looks to be a diminishing threat from Hurricane Dean. The spaceship, which launched on August 8, is set to land at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on Tuesday (US time), a day earlier than planned. NASA had ordered the early return on fears Dean could turn toward the Texas coast and Johnson Space Centre, home of Mission Control, in Houston. But forecasters say the storm is instead on a collision course with Mexico....

This is the live launch thread for the Space Shuttle Endeavour. If you can't see it live on tv go to www.nasa.gov Ad Astra!

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A week before Endeavour's planned liftoff, NASA was analyzing a cabin leak in the space shuttle Tuesday. The leak was detected over the weekend. NASA thought it fixed the problem by tightening a loose bolt, but testing Monday night confirmed air was still escaping from the crew cabin, said NASA spokeswoman Tracy Young. Engineers have yet to pinpoint the leak, which could require so much work that NASA might not be able to launch Endeavour on Aug. 7. NASA's planned launch of the Mars lander Phoenix later this week could also interfere with Endeavour's flight. The...

EDWARDS AFB - Personnel at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center are working around the clock to prepare the space shuttle for its ferry flight back home to Florida, expected this weekend. Atlantis landed at the backup site at Edwards Air Force Base on June 22, after stormy weather at Kennedy Space Center in Florida prevented its landing there. The orbiter will be mounted atop the 747 shuttle carrier aircraft for the cross-country journey. If all goes well, Atlantis may leave as early as 6 p.m. today, NASA officials said. Otherwise, the next opportunity will be shortly after sunrise Saturday morning....

Well it was a good mission despite the minor setback... The Shuttle will be landing at the Cape at 1:54 pm edt. Details about the landing can be viewed here at Spaceflightnow

HOUSTON -- Seven astronauts aboard NASA's shuttle Atlantis cast off from the International Space Station (ISS) Tuesday, leaving the orbital laboratory with a more balanced look after installing new starboard solar wings. "We'll see you back on planet Earth," Atlantis commander Rick Sturckow told the space station's Expedition 15 crew as the shuttle departed. Atlantis undocked from the space station at 10:42 a.m. EDT (1442 GMT) as both spacecraft passed 213 miles (342 kilometers) above the Coral Sea off the coast of Australia. Sturckow and his STS-117 crew arrived at the ISS on June 10 and performed four spacewalks to...

When Mark Polansky reaches space, he'll have brought a little piece of Jersey with him. The astronaut is scheduled to lift off tonight from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard Space Shuttle Discovery. He is commanding the STS-116 mission to the International Space Station. But his journey began as a boy growing up by Roosevelt Park in North Edison, a pharmacist's son who devoured books on science, was glued to the television for all the early space launches and pretended a cardboard box was a spaceship. "I loved geography. I loved the idea of exploring," Polansky said. "I figured...

Expedition Six NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit performs a series of microgravity experiments with water spheres and effervescent antacid tablets. In the second of four videos, Pettit inserts a tablet into a 50-millimeter sphere and observes the fizzy results.

This is will be the official thread for the Space Shuttle Discovery landing at KSC or either at Edwards or White Sands.

Will the Shuttle go or not... It all depends on the weather...

This is the official live thread for the Space Shuttle Discoery launch thread.. Weather permitting of course...

Hong Kong's Wen-hui-bao carried the picture of China's space shuttle under development, which could take orbit in 2020.