#261386 - 26/07/2005 12:26
Godspeed Discovery
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addict
Registered: 02/04/2002
Posts: 691
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lets hope for a safe flight
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Oliver
mk1 30gb: 129 | mk2a 30gb: 040104126
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#261387 - 26/07/2005 13:01
Re: Godspeed Discovery
[Re: oliver]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 19/01/2002
Posts: 3584
Loc: Columbus, OH
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About eight of us were gathered around a computer watching it live over the internet when the UPS guy walked in to deliver a package and said that just about every office he'd been to, someone had it on.
Looks like we're safely in orbit.
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~ John
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#261388 - 26/07/2005 13:03
Re: Godspeed Discovery
[Re: JBjorgen]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 13/07/2000
Posts: 4181
Loc: Cambridge, England
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We were certainly watching it here at Empeg. The footage from the on-tank camera as the orbiter separated was very, very cool.
Peter
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#261389 - 26/07/2005 13:26
Re: Godspeed Discovery
[Re: peter]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5916
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
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I keep thinking the CAPCOM is saying "Go ahead honey". I was very disappointed when I realised he was saying "Go ahead Eileen"...
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#261390 - 26/07/2005 13:27
Re: Godspeed Discovery
[Re: peter]
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addict
Registered: 02/04/2002
Posts: 691
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my thoughts exactly, especially when they said this was the first footage ever of the tank separating from the shuttle. I need to go over to my buddies house with HD, and watch the rebroadcast in HD 
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Oliver
mk1 30gb: 129 | mk2a 30gb: 040104126
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#261391 - 26/07/2005 13:37
Re: Godspeed Discovery
[Re: andy]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Quote:
Go ahead Eileen
I swear (well he means) At this moment you mean everything.
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Bitt Faulk
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#261392 - 26/07/2005 15:00
Re: Godspeed Discovery
[Re: oliver]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 06/04/2005
Posts: 2026
Loc: Seattle transplant
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Beautiful launch.
I'll have to search around for more videos- didn't get to watch live.
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10101466 (2x60GB, Eutronix/GreenLights Blue) (Stolen!)
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#261393 - 26/07/2005 18:07
Re: Godspeed Discovery
[Re: Robotic]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 23/08/2000
Posts: 3826
Loc: SLC, UT, USA
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The mission control room stuff is pretty amazing. Straight out of a movie. They have live updates of all kinds of visualizations of the shuttle in orbit, it's robot arm, position over earth... cool stuff. I'm leaving the streaming video window up. Aint' technology grand.
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#261394 - 26/07/2005 19:01
Re: Godspeed Discovery
[Re: oliver]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 05/01/2001
Posts: 4903
Loc: Detroit, MI USA
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 Is it true they spotted debris falling?
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Brad B.
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#261395 - 27/07/2005 00:24
Re: Godspeed Discovery
[Re: SE_Sport_Driver]
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addict
Registered: 02/04/2002
Posts: 691
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I was watching the end of day 1 press briefing and actually with just the live cameras they spotted 3 separate pieces of debris. That specific one was classified as "what the hell is that thing?"
A small piece of tile got chipped near the front landing gear cover. They said they believed it to be around 1.5 inches big.
And the last item, which by the way I totally predicted to my buddies, was the bird flying around before launch got hit by the main fuel tank before the shuttle completely cleared the tower.
Hopefully they were wrong about the tile chipping away, but either way it's looked like a very small piece compared to the last incident.
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Oliver
mk1 30gb: 129 | mk2a 30gb: 040104126
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#261396 - 27/07/2005 02:41
Re: Godspeed Discovery
[Re: oliver]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 23/08/2000
Posts: 3826
Loc: SLC, UT, USA
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Haha... I just randomly tuned in to the live feed, and they played music from Groundhog Day (LOVE that movie) to wake up the Astronauts. Hahah..
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#261398 - 27/07/2005 19:08
Re: Godspeed Discovery
[Re: Dignan]
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addict
Registered: 02/04/2002
Posts: 691
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Oliver
mk1 30gb: 129 | mk2a 30gb: 040104126
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#261399 - 28/07/2005 03:37
Re: Godspeed Discovery
[Re: oliver]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/12/2000
Posts: 2665
Loc: Manteca, California
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Quote:
That specific one was classified as "what the hell is that thing?"
Disappointing to see that, after all the fuss.
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Glenn
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#261400 - 28/07/2005 08:52
Re: Godspeed Discovery
[Re: gbeer]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 05/01/2001
Posts: 4903
Loc: Detroit, MI USA
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I wonder if it's been happening all along but now we just have 100 cameras showing us what we were blind to all these years.
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Brad B.
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#261401 - 28/07/2005 09:02
Re: Godspeed Discovery
[Re: SE_Sport_Driver]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 15/08/2000
Posts: 4859
Loc: New Jersey, USA
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I think you are correct. The problem is that it is random where / if the foam will strike the shuttle. The last strike hit one of the most sensitive and fragile areas - the leading edge of the wing. I would not doubt that foam has been hitting all along over the decades, but that was the first time it caused damage to a critical / sensitive spot.
I wonder if NASA would be better off not worrying about falling foam and concentrate on some kind of sacrificial (burn up on landing) "bumper" to protect the leading edges of the thermal protection system. This way if something hits at any time the shuttle is up or going up, you are still somewhat protected. This could also answer a "what if" situation of something (space junk) hitting the shuttle while in orbit.
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200GB with 48MB RAM, Illuminated Buttons and Digital Outputs
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#261402 - 28/07/2005 10:06
Re: Godspeed Discovery
[Re: pgrzelak]
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addict
Registered: 02/08/2004
Posts: 434
Loc: Helsinki, Finland
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With the fleet now grounded, I'm wondering about the future of the shuttle program. It was limping along to a slow end before, but now I wonder if they cannot find a timely and cost effective way to resolve the foam from falling off, if they won't just end the program here and now. With the end of the shuttle what becomes of the ISS? How much more time does Hubble have, with out any more shuttle flights? Too bad so much of the budget is tied up with this "send some people to Mars" nonsense... I'd like to see more programs along the lines of the rovers and the Cassini missions.
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#261403 - 28/07/2005 12:42
Re: Godspeed Discovery
[Re: petteri]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Quote:
How much more time does Hubble have, with out any more shuttle flights?
Until 2010 or so. No more shuttles were scheduled to service it any more anyway. It has effectively already been decommissioned.
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#261405 - 02/08/2005 08:10
This does not bode well...
[Re: oliver]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 15/08/2000
Posts: 4859
Loc: New Jersey, USA
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Greetings! Well, it looks like NASA is going to have them try to repair the "tile chinking". In some ways, I hope they are not doing this just for the sake of testing a new procedure and possibly risking the astronauts / craft. In other ways, I suspect the ground control folks were worried enough about a safe return to approve this. Lastly, I wonder how long this kind of thing has been going on, and it was just never either noticed or made public.
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Paul Grzelak
200GB with 48MB RAM, Illuminated Buttons and Digital Outputs
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#261406 - 02/08/2005 10:42
Re: This does not bode well...
[Re: pgrzelak]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 13/09/1999
Posts: 2401
Loc: Croatia
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Quote:
Lastly, I wonder how long this kind of thing has been going on, and it was just never either noticed or made public.
Oh, it was not secret. I remember reading here and there about number of cracked, gouged or simply lost tiles having to be replaced after every flight (that was one factor in making initial turn-around time promises wildly off-mark).
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#261407 - 02/08/2005 12:45
Re: This does not bode well...
[Re: pgrzelak]
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veteran
Registered: 25/04/2000
Posts: 1529
Loc: Arizona
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Quote:
Lastly, I wonder how long this kind of thing has been going on, and it was just never either noticed or made public.
That part has a lot of people worried. Previously, we knew that the tiles got damaged and some were actually lost, but they just went with the flow because nothing happened before. Now, they are looking at the shuttle while in orbit at a level never experienced before. Its a case of 'if you look hard enough, you will find something wrong'. How much will they find that would put the shuttle at risk and how much is a normal occurance is a question we can't answer.
The lining between tiles was found sticking out before, but they never knew how long it was before re-entry (admittedly, a lot further back along the underside than the current protrusions). There is no data on how much the material is going to burn up. They are taking extra precautions now when we don't have the data on whether it will make the matter worse, better, or not affect it at all.
- Tim
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#261408 - 07/08/2005 22:52
Re: Godspeed Discovery
[Re: oliver]
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old hand
Registered: 16/02/2002
Posts: 867
Loc: Oxford, UK
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The absense of posts in this thread no doubt reflects how well things have gone so far with the STS-114 mission.  I've been watching NASA TV via the web as much as possible during the past week and I'm planning on getting up early to follow the re-entry precedure. The return to earth schedule is here for anyone that's interested. This is the first time that I've followed a Shuttle mission this closely and it has been really eye-opening to hear talk of server "U:" drives and dialogue about downloading camera memory cards etc. Eye-opening in so much as "I can actually relate to some of the technologies being used in space"! Also, Canadarm - what an awesome piece of technology! That thing can "walk" the ISS like an inchworm (or a slinky)!
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#261409 - 07/08/2005 23:19
Re: Godspeed Discovery
[Re: AndrewT]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 27/06/1999
Posts: 7058
Loc: Pittsburgh, PA
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Indeed. Getting the NASA channel on DirecTV is awesome. No matter how many times I see the cameras pan across the "blue marble" from outer space, it still amazes me. With all the cameras they had available this time around, there were some really cool shots of the docking & undocking with the space station.
Does anyone know what NASA's plans are 5-10 years down the road in terms of manned spaceflight? I know the shuttle program is nearing its end, but I haven't heard about anything replacing it.
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#261410 - 08/08/2005 02:11
Re: Godspeed Discovery
[Re: wfaulk]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5916
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
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Quote:
I swear (well he means) At this moment you mean everything.
...and mission control just couldn't resist it any more:
"The crew was awakened at 7:39 p.m. CDT by the song 'Come on Eileen' by Dexy’s Midnight Runners. It was played for Discovery's Commander Eileen Collins from the Mission Control Team."
http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/news/STS-114-26.html
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#261411 - 08/08/2005 04:00
Re: Godspeed Discovery
[Re: andy]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 23/08/2000
Posts: 3826
Loc: SLC, UT, USA
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While on a paragliding trip this weekend to Elk Mountain, North of SF in CA, we stumbled across a bunch of NASA talk on our HAM radios! We were on our way up to launch and turned on our HT's to our usual channel, only to find NASA talking to the shuttle about all sorts of inane stuff! It was on a simplex channel (147.405 to be exact) which was really weird. We couldn't quite figure out why they were using that channel or if it was just signal bleed or what. Anyhow, it was pretty awesome to listen in. If only all government agencies were as transparent!
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#261412 - 08/08/2005 04:20
Re: Godspeed Discovery
[Re: loren]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5916
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
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I was amazed when watching a bit of NASA TV the other day to find them setting up a NetMeeting (presumably Microsoft NetMeeting) conference call with the shuttle.
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#261413 - 08/08/2005 11:01
Re: Godspeed Discovery
[Re: loren]
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old hand
Registered: 14/04/2002
Posts: 1172
Loc: Hants, UK
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Quote:
While on a paragliding trip this weekend to Elk Mountain, North of SF in CA, we stumbled across a bunch of NASA talk on our HAM radios! We were on our way up to launch and turned on our HT's to our usual channel, only to find NASA talking to the shuttle about all sorts of inane stuff! It was on a simplex channel (147.405 to be exact) which was really weird. We couldn't quite figure out why they were using that channel or if it was just signal bleed or what. Anyhow, it was pretty awesome to listen in. If only all government agencies were as transparent!
I've just looked into it, and it seems that amateur radio licencees in the US can retransmit shuttle audio. Here is a list, your frequency seems to be listed. I believe this is just a community effort to enable as many people/schools etc. as possible to be able to listen in, although I expect these days many schools use NASA TV either by satellite or over the 'net.
Gareth
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#261414 - 08/08/2005 12:42
Re: Godspeed Discovery
[Re: andy]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3996
Loc: Manchester UK
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My god haven't they heard of MSN Messenger?
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