• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

The next shuttle launch...

shadron

Philosopher
shadron
Joined
Sep 2, 2005
Messages
5,918
...is scheduled for 1445 EST on Thursday, Feb 7. May be viewed, as always, on NASA TV at http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/live_tv.html. Chances of launch in spite of weather are currently estimated at 40%.

Be there or be square.

(Some people think I'm a wee bit over the top about this, but I've tried to never miss a launch where I wasn't tied to a tree or otherwise detained since Vanguard 3. So live with it.)
 
The van full of goons to tie you to a tree may be rolling down the street at any moment... keep your eyes peeled.

btw, may be a scrub due to weather, no?

ETA: Also, brace yourself for yet another, "Human spaceflight is the worst evil since Hitler," smackdown thread. ;)
 
Last edited:
oh no no.... Human spaceflight ROCKS! I can't wait till we get back to the moon - assuming some idiot politician doesn't screw it up.
 
Yep. Everytime you mention manned space flight someone pops up and rails on about what a waste of time and money it is.

The countdown continues
 
DrBaltar said:
oh no no.... Human spaceflight ROCKS! I can't wait till we get back to the moon - assuming some idiot politician doesn't screw it up.
Click to expand...
As long as you prohibit politicians from flying on lunar missions, then can't screw up the moon.

Vote "NO" to Congressmen in space this November. :D

OBTW: Yay NASA, yay astronauts, but manned flight to Mars?

DR
 
Last edited:
DrBaltar said:
oh no no.... Human spaceflight ROCKS! I can't wait till we get back to the moon - assuming some idiot politician doesn't screw it up.
Click to expand...

Or the media.

There was a news paper article saying how vibrations popping up on simulations and tests of the new booster could/would cause the entire spacecraft to come apart.

NASA responded saying the they were well aware of the vibration problem and that these things pop up as the normal part of system designs. You redesign to reduce or eliminate the vibrations. That's all part of the process and is not necessarily a problem. That is unless the contractor starts cutting corners due to deadline pressures. (i.e. the O-rings on the Challenger tradgedy.)
 
uruk said:
Yep. Everytime you mention manned space flight someone pops up and rails on about what a waste of time and money it is.
Click to expand...

When is the next lunar waste of time and money mission, and can I go too? I'll even stay there and keep things running until the next waste of time and money crew to arrive. In fact, if enough time and money is wasted to establish a permanent lunar colony, I'd like to emigrate. Heckfire, maybe I'd even run for governor of the Lunar Waste Of Time And Money Settlement!

("... waste of time and money..." pfft!)

:D
 
uruk said:
Yep. Everytime you mention manned space flight someone pops up and rails on about what a waste of time and money it is.

The countdown continues
Click to expand...

Well I know. I had a supporting role in Viking (oops, does that date me as bad as Vanguard? I guess not.) so I know about the robot exploration troops, and I commiserate with them, but eventually we need some of the race to move off the planet, IMHO. Not for science, not for lebensraum, but for human growth.
 
The Kilted Yaksman said:
IMO, going back to Luna is a waste of time. Why fight another gravity well?
Click to expand...

Water. Mass. Aluminum and other materials. Stable platforms. Radio silence (on the farside). Lower, but nonzero gravity. Oxygen. Exercise. Experience off earth.
 
Fnord said:
When is the next lunar waste of time and money mission, and can I go too? I'll even stay there and keep things running until the next waste of time and money crew to arrive. In fact, if enough time and money is wasted to establish a permanent lunar colony, I'd like to emigrate. Heckfire, maybe I'd even run for governor of the Lunar Waste Of Time And Money Settlement!

("... waste of time and money..." pfft!)

:D
Click to expand...


See!

:D
 
shadron said:
Well I know. I had a supporting role in Viking (oops, does that date me as bad as Vanguard? I guess not.) so I know about the robot exploration troops, and I commiserate with them, but eventually we need some of the race to move off the planet, IMHO. Not for science, not for lebensraum, but for human growth.
Click to expand...

I remember Viking. I still have the news paper clippings and the press release books.

I agree with you. Robotic exploration is great and wonderfull but I think it's high time we start to learn how to live and work out there. And make it cheap and safe so that the private sector can take over.
 
shadron said:
Water. Mass. Aluminum and other materials. Stable platforms. Radio silence (on the farside). Lower, but nonzero gravity. Oxygen. Exercise. Experience off earth.
Click to expand...

Not to mention He3, a much smaller gravity well, vast expanses of realestate to build on without having to worry about destroying ecosystems or causing the extinction of little critters.
 
Darth Rotor said:
As long as you prohibit politicians from flying on lunar missions, then can't screw up the moon.

Vote "NO" to Congressmen in space this November. :D

OBTW: Yay NASA, yay astronauts, but manned flight to Mars?

DR
Click to expand...
The mission to Mars is not just a plant the flag, hooray America mission. It's about capability to get beyond the Earth-Moon system and take advantages of the vast amount of resources in our solar system. So rather than just setting off for Mars, we're going back to the moon to develop the technologies to increase our capabilities and do it right.

Mars is several orders of magnitude harder than going to the moon. Because of the orbits, when we get to Mars it would be easier to stay on Mars than to do any mission and come back to Earth. Staying on Mars until the next Mars-Earth transit window means staying on Mars for over 500 days. Plus there's a 2 week period when Mars is on the opposite side of the sun where communication with Earth is impossible. So like I say we have a lot of work to do before we can tackle that. But once we do, we are going to have some kick ass capabilities, and the resources of the solar system belong to the nation who can tap it.


Ah, here they come right on cue...
Fnord said:
When is the next lunar waste of time and money mission, and can I go too? I'll even stay there and keep things running until the next waste of time and money crew to arrive. In fact, if enough time and money is wasted to establish a permanent lunar colony, I'd like to emigrate. Heckfire, maybe I'd even run for governor of the Lunar Waste Of Time And Money Settlement!

("... waste of time and money..." pfft!)

:D
Click to expand...
My dad worked for the space program. He went to get gas once and the gas station attendant was whining about how all our money is being blown in space. After filling up he gave the gas station attendant money for the gas saying "Here's some of that money that is lost in space".

There are no shuttle or lunar missions with briefcases full of money. It all gets spent on the ground. It goes back into the US economy via high tech jobs. Some of that gets spun off. Computers were room sized until the requirement to make microprocessors for the lunar lander came up. Nasa hired IBM to "miniaturize" the computer and they made it happen. Sure it would have happened eventually, but it accelerated development on a technology that everyone has benefited from. There are so many other spin-offs it's cliché to bring it up. But nevertheless, it's true.
 
Sts-122

The good news: no technical issues exist at this time.

The bad news: the weather's not looking cooperative.

NASA said:
Weather is the watch word at NASA's Kennedy Space Center after meteorologists updated their launch forecast to give space shuttle Atlantis a 30 percent chance of acceptable conditions on Thursday.

Forecasters expect a cold front to move over Kennedy on launch day and bring with it clouds and storms. Meteorologists also think the front may stall over Central Florida, so they also lowered the chances for acceptable weather if launch attempts are made Friday or Saturday.

Friday's forecast calls for a 60 percent chance of acceptable weather, while Saturday's forecast sets the odds at 70 percent for acceptable conditions.
Click to expand...

I'm really looking forward to seeing the Columbus and Kibo modules installed (over this and the following two flights). And then... it's time to service and upgrade Hubble (drool).
 
At the 9 minute hold, weather is green; possible cross-wind problem for emergency landing. Thunderstorms are a possible threat. All systems are green. The 9 minute hold is 40 minutes long by design.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom