Sign in to follow this  
A l t e r E g o

Space Shuttle

Recommended Posts

:P :o Godspeed and safe journey for the astronauts on their 14 day mission from all of us here at home in Northeastern Florida!!!

 

 

 

All of us here at the house had our tvs tuned in to NASA TV as well as the live feed on the internet, with the new cameras installed onboard we all could watch as the shuttle launched, dropped off the side boosters in SRB separation, and the main tank release allowing the shuttle to begin its orbit. I loved being able to watch it minute by minute.

And yeah, I shed a tear as I watched the shuttle begin to pull away from the launch pad. (what can you expect from someone who had wanted to be a mission specialist on at least one space flight as well as having a relative who worked in Mission Control during the Apollo missions :cheers: Not to mention living only a couple hours drive from the Space Center itself)

 

Not to mention we all jumped here, it has been over two years since the boom of the sound barrier being broken has been heard/felt here in Florida. Next time we'll feel it here is if the Discovery is scheduled to land here in FL.

 

:P :tear::tear: B)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

 

Wow! That was the most intense shuttle launch ever even topping the Discovery first shuttle flight following the Challenger disaster!

 

I really liked the view afforded from the new EFT camera; I always thought they should have had a camera there. The new heaters seemed to do an excellent job of keeping ice from forming on the connect points; I don't think I spotted a single chunk or even any frost anywhere on the vehicle.

 

Can't wait to see if we get to see the crew using the inspection camera boom...

 

Follow every minute of this NASA mission at NASA TV

 

EDIT. Yes Yillira! I had 500 watts of surround stereo shaking my apt with the launch, almost felt like I was in Fla. too. :cheers: Wonder what the neighbors thought? :tear: No problem, they know I get excited with launches. :tear:

Edited by Alterego

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

 

The EFT camera has now revealed a piece of ice or foam did fall off the tank but it appears it did NOT strike the ship, it blew by to left.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

glad to see it go up. everyone in my hometown/area are glad to see one of it's most famous residents go back. everyone here is cheering for eileen collins to have a safe trip.my college which she too graduated from had a little viewing party. i couldn't attend. i didn't wake up in time to get there. it's a really big deal. hope the return home goes as well as the launch.

 

tm :cheers:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

EDIT. Yes Yillara! I had 500 watts of surround stereo shaking my apt with the launch, almost felt like I was in Fla. too.  :cheers: Wonder what the neighbors thought?  :tear: No problem, they know I get excited with launches.  :tear:

343604[/snapback]

LOL, we kinda kept the volumes down in the house because my niece was here and she had just fallen asleep. But the rest of us were glued to the screens. True the sonic boom I had mentioned... there was of course no turning the volume down on that one, she did sleep through it though. Mom and I scurried outdoors with binoculars to try and see the launch for a second or two from the front yard. Sadly too many trees have grown quite a bit from the time of the last launch... and by the time we got to the corner of our property there was only the vapor trail left visible. We missed seeing the actual shuttle because we probably took too long watching it on tv.

 

 

We're also keeping our fingers crossed that a few of our customers got to see the launch, because we were talking about it at work... and they asked if you could really see the launch from here in town (they were from the Midwest, the West Coast, England, and a few other places well away from the southeastern seaboard of the US) So, since we watched pretty much every one we could since I was little (and my mom did when she was growing up...lucky duck!! She got to watch the Apollo missions launch. But I have gotten to see a few Delta rockets launch so I guess I really cannot be tooo cranky about that, lol.), we told them a few of the best places to view the launch and what direction to look in and wished them a good viewing of the shuttle. Same for our coworkers interested in seeing it, we told them from what windows in the store to look out of. Only tough part is, at the time the shuttle launches... our store is changing from breakfast to lunch menu and that sounds easy but it really is quite a process.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

For the full story click here.

 

HOUSTON (Reuters) NASA grounded its space shuttle fleet on Wednesday after learning that large chunks of insulating foam broke off Discovery's external fuel tank during launch, an echo of the problem that doomed sister ship Columbia and its crew 2 1/2 years ago.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

They Need to Find an alternative to the Space Shuttle, There are always gonna be risks using this outdated equipment, they need Something that can take off more like a Plane, But i'm glad for the the astronauts are safe and USA is back flying in Space

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
They Need to Find an alternative to the Space Shuttle, There are always gonna be risks using this outdated equipment, they need Something that can take off more like a Plane, But i'm glad for the the astronauts are safe and USA is back flying in Space

344095[/snapback]

Yeah, they're going to retire the Shuttle by 2010. The new ships that take us back to the moon will be more "Apollo" like if I remember the proposal correctly.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

if they can get a M/A Rocket working, that would work. to the best of my knowledge, a Matter/Antimatter explosion shouldn't create any residual(Sp?) radiation, and provides both substantially more power and much better fuel efficiency than the present system. this could allow a spacecraft to conduct a rolling take off, a mid-flight burn to orbit, and still have enough fuel to provide additional menuevering power once in space.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this