Atlantis return put off amid worry over safe re-entry

Member 96

:) You got my five. In fact the flying spaghetti monster watches over my Subaru on a daily basis.

"110%" - it's the new 70%

Member 96

http://www.venganza.org/[^]

"110%" - it's the new 70%

Jorgen Sigvardsson

He's got a keen eye. You can have it too, but it requires lots of practice!

-- Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Jorgen Sigvardsson

rAmen.

-- Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

El Corazon

John M. Drescher wrote:

I really can not believe they still have not fixed this problem considering the fact that most (if not all) of the launches since the disaster have damaged the heat shield.

actually, about 50% +- of the launches in the history of the shuttle have damaged at least one tile. If I recall correctly, the first shuttle launch and return actually had the most damage of any, they perfected the glue following that launch. It all depends on which tile is lost.

_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)

Lost User

El Corazon wrote:

they perfected the glue following that launch.

Considering the situation, 'perfected' might not be the best term here. ;P

El Corazon

Mike Mullikin wrote:

Considering the situation, 'perfected' might not be the best term here.

actually, the glue isn't the problem.... it's ice on the vehicle (icy fuels == icy surfaces == dicy situation) and other "strikes" to the vehicle. Hitting a bird at post mach is nasty, especially when it is multiple mach. In most cases the ice breaks off in small chunks leaving small scars, occasionally that cracks a tile and air-resistance pulls the tile or part of the tile off. Too large of a hit, either ice chunks or once struck a big bird (not the big bird), and there is more severe damage. There is foam insulation you can add to reduce the ice buildup, but then you have foam falling off (there is foam in places and this happens too) and striking the vehicle. It has to be light enough to lift (too heavy means more fuel or less payload) and too thick means increased drag and air resistance which increases the chance of foam coming off.... All in all it is more complex than most imagine. :) and yes, I knew you were joking. :) I just love playing the straight man. ;P;P

_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)

S Douglas

El Corazon wrote:

fourth could stay, with a stretch. but for full evac, only the pilot and co-pilot returning, or heaven forbid an orbital ditch and all the crew 7+3 staying on board the space station would so overburden the current filtering and oxygen system as to need immediate international assistance for the USA.

Captain obvious, why wouldn't you keep the shuttle attached to the space station until assistance could be rendered. By doing so there is no extra burden on the ISS. Once relief is dispatched then the shuttle could be scuttled (I don’t know how many docking ports the ISS has) :~

NormDroid

ah:)

.net is a box of never ending treasures, every day I get find another gem.

Anish M

My 5! too for that.

Dan Neely

the shuttle doesn't have the needed longterm life support capacity. While it is theoretically capable of doing an emergency landing on the longest runways of major airports, NASA would prefer to wait out bad weather at the official landing sites so there's some margin available, but not the month plus needed to prep another shuttle for launch.

-- You have to explain to them [VB coders] what you mean by "typed". their first response is likely to be something like, "Of course my code is typed. Do you think i magically project it onto the screen with the power of my mind?" --- John Simmons / outlaw programmer

El Corazon

S Douglas wrote:

Once relief is dispatched

Thus the problem. The USA, as Dan pointed out, takes a month to prep another launch, assuming everything goes right (which hasn't happened yet). An emergency evac would require international assistance, thus the problem. The shuttle would add 2 to 4 days to the ISS support of 10 people. After that point it would have to be scuttled to allow docking of another vessel, but that would have to be a Russian, French, or Chinese rocket. You can imagine the difficulty with begging assistance from one of those three? There are a few other space-capable nations, but I don't think their launch window ability is any less than our own, thus the crux of the matter: time.

_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)