Space Shuttle (finally) launches!

[Manticore]

Finally! Great....... (http://au.news.yahoo.com/050726/19/v8t5.html)

Godspeed people......

[DexterII]

Man, I had to Tivo it but it was awsome I love the smoke and sh**.

[Zxanphorian]

I saw it live on the tv! :B

[Twisted Metal]

Yeah the smoke and flames look friggin awesome, this is better than the new years ball dropping. :tup:

[seagreenbeetle]

Yeah the smoke and flames look friggin awesome, this is better than the new years ball dropping. :tup::stupid:

yes yes, it was a grand sight... one that i have been waiting in anticipation for quite a long while.
i am really hoping that everything goes smoothly; im pretty sure that this is one of the most checked over and watched missions ever.
::fingers crossed:::clap:

[JaFO]

I heard they already lost something on the way up ... so don't give up hope yet.

[Manticore]

I thought this (http://msnbc.com/modules/spaceshuttle/discoverylaunch/) was a pretty cool..........

[tool]

Has anyone besides me seen a space shuttle launch in person? Seeing it on T.V. sucks ass after you see it in person. All the smoke and flames are nothing compared to the sound the shuttle makes. I was three miles away when I saw one my junior year of high school, and at first when the shuttle is taking off it is completely silent, and then you hear the biggest boom ever, it is incredibly loud and lasts for quite a while.

[Vers Vlees]

im wondering how many shuttles has NASA left anyway??. They lost 2, The Challanger in 86 and the Colombia in 2002?.

[Traxis]

The shuttle owned a bird (http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050726images/) on the way up. Poor bird. :(

http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050726images/bird.jpg

[seagreenbeetle]

Has anyone besides me seen a space shuttle launch in person?

no, and i have always wanted to go see the launch! someday i will get off my ass and go see it.;)

[Renegade Retard]

Has anyone besides me seen a space shuttle launch in person?

Me!

im wondering how many shuttles has NASA left anyway??. They lost 2, The Challanger in 86 and the Colombia in 2002?.

Atlantis
Discovery
Endevor
Enterprise (very first shuttle, used as a prototype and to test atmospheric gliding, never launched into orbit)

[Freon]

he, I knew they was an Enterprise shuttle and that it was not made up by the Star Tre: Enterprise show :p

[das_ben]

Well, I hope everything goes alright with the last couple of missions. But the time to put the Shuttle program to rest has definitely come [ten years ago], all the money would be better spent on unmanned probes that actually do serve a purpose.

[BITE_ME]

The shuttle owned a bird (http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/050726images/) on the way up. Poor bird. :(

I have a cool picture of a bird, that tryed to out run a 200MPH car. It's on my laptop, So ill post it latter.

[Manticore]

Has anyone besides me seen a space shuttle launch in person?
No, but if I ever get to your United States I would like to. Now what would be super cool beyond belief is riding the mutha. 17,000+ MPH. That's a need for speed!

[SomewhatSuicidal]

I saw one in person, but it was from Orlando, so we had to use binoculars.

[Justin286]

In related news, the shuttle fleet is grounded again.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/07/27/space.shuttle/index.html
NASA today grounded the space shuttle program while engineers determine the effects of debris falling from Discovery during blastoff, the agency said. It is not clear whether any debris actually hit Discovery or the extent of any impact. Discovery took off Tuesday -- the first shuttle launch since the 2003 Columbia disaster -- with a battery of cameras installed watching for falling debris, the cause of Columbia's disintegration on re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

[Dragon_Myr]

They said some foam from one of the rockets (ET?) fell off. This foam seems to improve airflow over them. Appearently, this foam is what caused Colombia to explode a few years ago and was their focus for fixing for this launch. Unfortunately, they completely forgot about it. :/

So when can we start living on the moon? It's time for a new shuttle program. All they need is a strip of LIM/LSM magnets 1 mile long and a new shuttle so we can start launching things into space like in Ace Combat 5 for the PS2. :p

[Renegade Retard]

The insulation foam came off the external fuel tank, not the booster rockets.

The correct terminology for the shuttle is Shuttle Orbiter. It was desinged for orbit only, not to fly to the moon, Mars or a giant meteor like in Armegeddon.

If we want to go to one of these other places, we need to build a new vehicle.

[Vers Vlees]

Now that the shuttle program has been put on hold. How is it going to affect the construction of the international space station

[8-4-7-2]

Resting until they either get their act together or construct a new launch vehicle. They can resupply the ISS with personell and food/oxygen, but the transport of new modules always depended on the Shuttle

There has to be something better than that flimsy foam crap to insulate the tank

[Shambler[Bishop]

ISS doesn't look good...28 missions are required to finish it IIRC and that many missions seems to be totally out of the question.

[8-4-7-2]

They should at least install the modules that are already being assembled at the moment. Like the European Columbus. I think Russia and Japan also have a module each under construction.
Otherwise that's billions wasted

[Renegade Retard]

There has to be something better than that flimsy foam crap to insulate the tank

I think the problem is that, since the external tank disintegrates in the atmosphere after it's released, there's really no way to research the effects of the flight on the tank.

[Manticore]

They said some foam from one of the rockets (ET?) fell off. This foam seems to improve airflow over them. Appearently, this foam is what caused Colombia to explode a few years ago and was their focus for fixing for this launch. Unfortunately, they completely forgot about it. :/

So when can we start living on the moon? It's time for a new shuttle program. All they need is a strip of LIM/LSM magnets 1 mile long and a new shuttle so we can start launching things into space like in Ace Combat 5 for the PS2. :p
The foam damagaing the heat shield tiles caused the problem; not the foam itself. Perhaps we need an orbital elevator like in Kim Stanley Robinson's "Mars" trilogy books.
The insulation foam came off the external fuel tank, not the booster rockets.

The correct terminology for the shuttle is Shuttle Orbiter. It was desinged for orbit only, not to fly to the moon, Mars or a giant meteor like in Armegeddon.

If we want to go to one of these other places, we need to build a new vehicle.
Without a lifting system so we can put things into orbit (with an efficient energy usage/expenditure to reach orbital velocity) the chances of constructing a vehicle to go to Mars or back to the moon are just about zero.... let alone servicing the ISS.

.....this current development totally bums me out on a space exploration level.:(

Now they have to worry about getting these people back to earth in one piece. Yes orbital journeys are always going to be risky (so is crossing the road) but this just makes the stakes higher; again.

[Shambler[Bishop]

Without a lifting system so we can put things into orbit (with an efficient energy usage/expenditure to reach orbital velocity) the chances of constructing a vehicle to go to Mars or back to the moon are just about zero.... let alone servicing the ISS.


Well AFAIK that's what they're working for next...except the chances are payload and crew will go up seperately which makes more sense. (less risk for crew..smaller area to shield from heat etc.)

An elevator like that can't happen untill that nanotube stuff (I think that's what it's called) is perfected, google around a little...

[Manticore]

-Shambler-']An elevator like that can't happen untill that nanotube stuff (I think that's what it's called) is perfected, google around a little...
Yeah, all that stuff including carbon nanotube construction is speculative at best, but it made for a good sci-fi read in the books........

[BITE_ME]

Pics of a bird that "I think I can out fly 200MPH car".