Discovery

[Candy]

Discovery Crew Preps for Landing Today

"We're looking forward to coming home," Commander Eileen Collins radioed to Mission Control upon crew wakeup at 8:30 p.m. EDT Sunday.

Image above: On Discovery's flight deck, STS-114 Commander Eileen Collins, center, is flanked by Mission Specialist Steve Robinson on the left and Pilot Jim Kelly. Robinson will serve as the flight engineer on the flight deck during re-entry. Credit: NASA

[Candy]

Landing Waved Off for Monday

Due to low clouds at the Kennedy Space Center landing site, Mission Control Houston has waved off both landing opportunities for Space Shuttle Discovery today. STS-114 Commander Eileen Collins and the rest of the crew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery will return the orbiter to normal flight operations for another day. The next opportunity is at 5:08 a.m. EDT Tuesday.

Image above: Space Shuttle Discovery in orbit. Credit: NASA

[Mr. Manly]

For the sake of the space program, and the lives of the astronauts of course, I really hope nothing goes wrong. I think they have really blown everthing out of proportion this time as far as tile damage goes, but it still has me nervous.

[Lance]

I think they have really blown everthing out of proportion this time as far as tile damage goes, but it still has me nervous.

I think CNN is blowing everything out of proportion. They are trying to make everything sound spectacular.

[MM_Dandy]

It's not really blown out of proportion. Well, not terribly, anyway. The re-entry has always been precarious. We're (because it is in the news) just being made more aware of it now.

[Candy]

Plus, the publicity gets people talking about NASA. My co-workers are always talking to me about what they see and hear on the news about Space Travel. I've got them interested in Virgin Galactic, too.

[Lance]

CNN's "talkback question of the day" last night was "Should this be the last shuttle flight?" To me, that's getting a bit carried away.

[Superluminal]

Since this has been the most photographed shuttle flight ever. It makes me wonder what kind of damage shuttles have landed with in the past? I remember one of the early flights had tiles missing on the bottom of the spacecraft.

[Lance]

I seem to recall hearing that they expected to lose some times on every flight and it was only if there were contiguous tiles missing would there be a problem. Like a gaping crevice in the leading edge of your wing.

[Candy]

I just had a date with a very nice engineer. He works for the company that makes the tiles for the shuttle's. I didn't ask him a whole lot of questions, but I will the next time I talk to him. He did mention that there are many factors that would cause the tiles to fall off. I did ask if this has always been happening, and he didn't know the answer off hand.

[hazzard]

In my mind they are already on the ground,safe. :)

[Candy]

Dang, I overslept. I'm glad they are safe. :D

[Candy]

Ok, I was wrong, it was a friend of the man I went out with last night. He emailed me this response.

My thoughts on the tiles are purely speculation as I was talking with my
friend the hard part of this is that there is no way to look at evidence.
The small pieces that fall off burn up on launch and the rockets fall from
the sky into the water and do not offer that much evidence.

I have thought of the following.

1. The steel that is around the foam is not holding (duh) this could be because
of a defect caused by a new person or machine fabricating them
2. There a 3 different types of foam around the fuel cells, for heat and cold
maybe they are not binding as they should (different glue)
3. My thought is that the foam goes for rest to 29,000 ft/sec and some how
becomes fluid and bulges the tanks. (I am probably wrong)

I like to trouble shoot stuff I get to do this at work but not on as a cataclysmic scale.

[Candy]

Japanese Happy Shuttle Returned Safely

CHIGASAKI, Japan (AP) - Hundreds of students, officials and hometown well-wishers let out a cheer as the space shuttle Discovery returned safely to Earth with Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi on board.

About 400 people gathered at a school gymnasium in Noguchi's hometown, Chigasaki, to watch a live broadcast showing the return of the shuttle and its seven astronauts. The coastal city is just south of Tokyo.

"Welcome back!" the crowd shouted with a mixture of joy and relief as Discovery touched down at Edwards Air Force Base in California, completing a 14-day test flight. Anticipation has been high since a potentially deadly chunk of foam insulation came off the redesigned fuel tank during lift off, narrowly missing the Discovery.

Oh, aren't they sweet! :D