August 8
You can listen to the first "podcast" from space, a message from mission specialist astronaut Steve Robinson, by clicking here. Or read the transcript here. (h/t WizBang)
Our prayers are with the NASA and the Discovery crew, that God may grant them a safe return home.
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Here is a link to NASA's ground tracking for the Discovery.
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Possible landing times and locations for the Shuttle Discovery are:
- 5:07 a.m EDT or 6:43 a.m. EDT in Florida
- 8:12 a.m. EDT or 9:47 a.m. EDT at Edwards AFB in California
- 6:39 a.m. EDT or 8:13 a.m. EDT at White Sands, New Mexico
Discovery's Crew Readies for 2nd Try at Landing (Reuters)
NASA Eyes California, New Mexico for possible Shuttle landing (San Jose Mercury News)
Spaceship Earth (CBS News)
Astronaut Eileen Collins is concerned about the environmental degradation she sees from space. On board the fragile spaceship Discovery, she lamented from her unique vantage point above the Earth: "Sometimes you can see how there is erosion, and you can see how there is deforestation. It's very widespread in some parts of the world... We would like to see, from the astronauts' point of view, people take good care of the Earth and replace the resources that have been used."
... astronauts are actually given training in detecting major areas of environmental degradation that can easily be viewed from space ... They are trained to watch for areas of Amazonia and the Congo tropical forests and compare amounts of deforestation with photos from 10, 20, 30 years ago. Likewise, they watch for how far out into the oceans the silt plumes from the major rivers extend. Or for expansion of the great Sahelian Desert further south into sub-Saharan Africa.
Weekend August 6 - 7
SHUTTLE LAUNCH POSTPONED BY 24 HOURS DUE TO CLOUDS IN THE LANDING AREA
Shuttle Undocks from International Space Station (Pakistan Daily Times)
Discovery Crew Checks Shuttle Before Landing (Reuters)
Tension Grows As 'Discovery' Crew Prepares for Re-Entry (The Independent)
NASA Upbeat About Shuttle's Return (ABC News - Australia)
Discovery Astronauts Ready To Return To Earth (MSNBC)
Space Shuttle Program Faces Critical Juncture (USA Today)
The short launch windows and their infrequency are driven in part by NASA's requirement that liftoff be well-lit so cameras can spot flying debris. The timing is also dictated by the need to line up the shuttle to dock with the space station.
Atlantis also could be delayed by another post-Columbia rule: A second shuttle, in this case Discovery, must be ready to rescue the Atlantis crew if something goes wrong. Turning Discovery around fast enough to fulfill the rescue role will be the "real constraint" to the next launch, Hale said.
NASA had hoped many of the launch restrictions would end after the Atlantis mission. Instead, the restrictions might be extended because of the problems found during Discovery's mission, Hale said.
That could have implications for the space station, which is half-built. No other existing space vehicle is big enough to carry pieces of the station.
NASA plans to retire the shuttle in five years, but it has not settled on a replacement vehicle. A long delay in the next flight and tight launch windows could make it hard to squeeze in the 19 to 20 flights NASA Administrator Michael Griffin has said are needed to finish the orbiting laboratory.
Shuttle Program A Study in Change and Stability (New York Times)
The shuttles reflect decades-old design and show their age. But those who maintain the shuttle, manage it, chart its trajectory and its future know that it embodies transition as well, with regular upgrades like the modern "glass cockpit" digital display that replaced antiquated dials.
Many of the people of the space agency have remained while much around them has changed. And more changes are expected once the Discovery mission is done.
August 5
NASA: repairs to crack in foam may have caused piece to break off (CBC News)
Astronauts remove 2 1/2 years of space station trash before preparing to return (CBC News)
Has the Shuttle become a billion dollar garbage truck now? *sigh*
NASA All-Clear for Discovery's return (Times of India)
RECOMMENDED: As Discovery heads home, cloudy future for shuttle (Retuers)
All along, Hale and NASA Administrator Michael Griffin have made clear the shuttle is nearing the end of its lifespan. Hale said at a briefing at Kennedy Space Center that it reminded him "of an old truck I own."
When one of the shuttle's 2.5 million parts broke, Griffin mused, "I wonder whether I could find a single electronics box in my house that's 25 years old and still works. I don't think I can. It's the same thing with the orbiter."
Designed in the 1970s and first flown in 1981, the shuttle was envisioned as a workhorse vehicle that would make space travel commonplace. Nearly a quarter-century later, after two deadly accidents that have killed 14 crew, NASA describes the shuttle as a test vessel whose useful days are numbered.
Future Astronauts to ride the rocket again (The Age / NYT)
The larger of the vehicles, for lifting heavy cargoes but not people, would be about 100 metres tall, rivalling the Saturn 5 rockets that sent astronauts to the moon. The smaller one, for carrying people, would still dwarf the shuttle, which stands 56 metres tall with its attached rockets and fuel tank.
The spaceships would no longer look like aeroplanes. Their payloads, whether humans or cargo, would ride in capsules at the top rather than alongside the fuel tank — standard practice until the shuttle era. Rather than gliding back to Earth they would deploy parachutes and land on the ground in the western United States.
A main advantage, supporters say, is that the big rocket could lift five or six times as much cargo as the shuttle (roughly 100 tonnes versus 20 tonnes), making it the world's most powerful space vehicle.
Aaah, the good old days ...
August 4
NASA clears Discovery to return to Earth (AP My Way)
After much soul-searching and analysis, NASA cleared Discovery to return to Earth next week, concluding Thursday that there was no need to send the astronauts out on another spacewalk to repair a torn thermal blanket near a cockpit window.
Mission managers could not guarantee that a piece of the blanket won't rip off during re-entry and slam into the spacecraft, but they said the chance of that happening was remote and that it would be riskier to try to fix the problem.
Salute From Space (Newsday.com)
On the shuttle Discovery's 10th day in space, its seven members joined the International Space Station's two-man crew to pay tribute to fallen cosmonauts and astronauts, including the seven who died when the Columbia shuttle disintegrated above Texas 2½ years ago.
Work on Shuttle Fuel Tank Probed (USAToday.com)
NASA is investigating whether the extensive handling of space shuttle Discovery's fuel tank by workers and engineers was partly responsible for a large piece of foam falling off during launch.
RECOMMENDED: Has the shuttle become 'mission impossible'? (Daily Telegraph)
The panicky reaction to the Discovery problems highlights a major culture change within Nasa. The space exploration programme was once about derring-do, but this was less the Right Stuff and more the Fright Stuff.
NASA report had warned of faulty foam application (rediff.com)
An internal 23-page report of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration had warned of deficiencies in the way insulating foam was being applied to sections of the fuel tank, to be used on the shuttle Discovery's current mission.
The report was provided to the New York Times by a person outside the space agency, who is part of an informal network of people concerned about shuttle safety.
It did not recommend against launching the Discovery, but delivered a harsh critique of the quality control and practices at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, a media report said on Thursday, quoting the yet unpublished document.
The more we learn about this, the worse things look for NASA. Stay tuned.
August 3
Green for Launch (Investor's Business Daily) (h/t Double Toothpicks)
After 2 1/2 years and $1.4 billion spent to make the space shuttle safer, the same problem that doomed Columbia now plagues Discovery. Has environmentalism doomed the shuttle program?
Poll: Public Up In Air On Shuttle (CBS News)
Americans have become more concerned about the costs and risks of the Shuttle program. While a majority still thinks the Space Shuttle is worth continuing, the program receives its lowest level of support in this poll since CBS News started asking about it in 1986.
2 Tugs, and the Protruding Strips that Vexed NASA are Gone (NY Times)
DIY triumph 224 miles above the Earth (Guardian Unlimited)
Okay ... if I see a Home Depot logo painted on the Shuttle during its next flight, I'll know that we're really in trouble. On second thought, maybe Frank or Genevieve could come up with a better design ...
RECOMMENDED: A spacewalk, and a mentality shift (Christian Science Monitor)
Throughout most of the shuttle era, "the approach was to ask if anybody could sit up and prove there was a danger," says Howard McCurdy, a NASA historian.
"Now the question is: Can anybody prove that this is not a danger? It is a shift. NASA is going back to the approach it had during the 1960s."
NASA Mulls Another Spacewalk to Repair Shuttle (Los Angeles Times)
The crew of space shuttle Discovery resolved one problem Wednesday with protruding "gap fillers" during a first-ever space walk under the craft, only to face yet another potential danger in a "poofed-out" insulation blanket under a cockpit window.
Repaired Shuttle still not cleared for landing (Reuters)
Discovery's Damaged Blanket Prompts Wind Tunnel Tests (Space.com)
August 2
"Delicate Task" for Shuttle Astronauts (Chicago Tribune)
By sending an astronaut Wednesday to remove material dangling from the shuttle Discovery's underbelly, NASA hopes to head off a safety threat that mission managers admit they do not fully understand.
... The outcome of Wednesday's spacewalk will be one measure of whether NASA has made needed improvements to its safety culture--or has simply become paralyzed from a surplus of caution.
Post-Columbia changes at the agency have extended to the new, $857,000 room in Houston where Hale's mission management team decided to try a repair. The high-tech conference room is festooned with written reminders of how previous teams went wrong.
One poster reads, "People in groups tend to agree on courses of action which, as individuals, they know are stupid." Another one says simply, "None of us is as dumb as all of us."
NASA set for unique Shuttle fix (BBC News) - includes a good explanation, with photos, of what astronaut Steve Robinson will be trying to do
Shuttle Repair Decision Didn't Come Easily (Washington Post)
When NASA finally announced Monday that it would undertake an unprecedented spacewalk to repair the underside of the space shuttle Discovery, officials portrayed the job as almost routine. But the decision was anything but routine, and NASA needed four days to make it.
Even then, Discovery's astronauts had misgivings about touching the most sensitive and vulnerable part of the orbiter without being certain anything was wrong.
Mr. Fixit in a new world of danger (Melbourne Herald Sun) - astronaut Steve Robinson, that is
RECOMMENDED: NASA Eyes Damaged Thermal Blanket on Discovery's Hull (Space.com)
Despite clearing another hurdle in efforts to prove the integrity of the shuttle Discovery’s heat shield, mission managers are still studying a puffed-up thermal blanket to ensure it won’t rip off during reentry and hit the spacecraft.
... engineers have cleared Discovery’s wing leading edges for the return flight to Earth, but are now discussing whether a damaged thermal blanket just below a crew cabin window on the orbiter’s nose could potentially inflict damage the spacecraft if it pulls free.
"For heaven's sake Miles, don't touch the foam!"
August 1
NASA plans spacewalk to repair Discovery (The Globe and Mail)
Space Center, Houston — NASA announced Monday that it will conduct a spacewalk to fix two worrisome pieces of filler material protruding from Discovery's belly.
... Astronauts have never ventured under an orbiting shuttle before, and have never attempted to fix their ship's thermal shielding in flight.
NASA orders risky spacewalk to repair heat shield (Reuters.co.uk)
NASA "goofed" re-entry risk (Melbourne Herald Sun)
AUSTRALIAN astronaut Andy Thomas [currently on board the Discovery] has questioned NASA over the launch of Discovery last week amid admissions the space agency "goofed" on key safety checks.
Shuttle Spacewalk Restores Space Station's Steering Mechanism (Voice of America)
Two U.S. space shuttle astronauts went on another spacewalk to restore the steering gear on the International Space Station ... U.S. astronaut Steve Robinson and Soichi Noguchi of Japan spent about seven hours in the frigid vacuum of space outside the shuttle Discovery. They replaced a failed space-station gyroscope, a rapidly spinning mechanism that helps the station maintain its stable position. They repaired another faulty gyro during their first outing Saturday.
RECOMMENDED: NASA sets its sights on a new way to go (New York Times / International Herald Tribune)
For its next generation of space shuttles, NASA has decided to abandon the futuristic design principles that went into the current model and rearrange the shuttle's parts into a safer, stronger, more powerful family of traditional rockets, space agency officials and private experts say.
The plan features two rockets that would separate the jobs of hauling people and cargo into orbit and follow the customary approach of putting the payloads on top - as far as possible from the dangers of firing engines and falling debris.
By making the rockets from shuttle parts, the new plan would draw on the shuttle's existing network of thousands of contractors and technologies, in theory speeding its completion and reducing its price. (emphasis added)
Great. All we need is NASA building hot-rod/jalopy spacecraft from left-over Shuttle parts. I wonder who the design team will be? Bet it would make a cool reality TV show...
July 31
NASA gives Shuttle the all clear but delays its return (Times Online)
Managers at Nasa have decided that Colonel Eileen Collins and her team of six astronauts will remain in orbit for one day longer than planned, to assist their two colleagues aboard the International Space Station (ISS) with some chores.
The extension will also allow for a “scavenger hunt” aboard Discovery, in which the astronauts will scour the spacecraft for items they can do without on the return journey — such as spare food and water, laptop computers, printer paper and cleansing wipes — and hand them over to the ISS team.
NASA Chief: Foam Problem My Fault (FoxNews)
Dangling Material A Problem for Shuttle (FoxNews)
A couple short strips of fabric dangling from Discovery's belly may require an unprecedented repair by spacewalking astronauts, if engineers determine there's even a possibility that the problem could endanger the shuttle during descent, NASA said Sunday.
Teams of experts were scrambling to understand just how serious the problem was, with "strong arguments" raging on what to do, if anything.
The trouble has nothing to do with foam or other launch debris, but rather the accidental slippage of ceramic-fiber cloth used to fill the thin gaps between thermal tiles, which some engineers worry could trigger potentially treacherous overheating during re-entry.
RECOMMENDED: How NASA overlooked a series of problems (New York Times / International Herald Tribune)
In the dawn of the shuttle program, NASA rules said no foam should be allowed to hit the shuttle and possibly damage the fragile heat-resistant tiles that cover its aluminum skin. But fidelity to those standards relaxed over time. Foam fell off the PAL ramp in two early missions, including the one in June 1983 on which Sally Ride became the first American woman in space. There may have been many more incidents, but dozens of shuttle missions have been launched at night with no visual record of foam, and the tanks themselves are at the bottom of the ocean.
Why NASA Can't Get It Right (Time.com)
A glorious launch. A wayward chunk of foam. And another black eye for the space agency. Should the shuttle fleet stay grounded?
... No one knows why the foam flaked off in such large chunks.
Disturbing Shuttle Discoveries (Steve Chapman, Chicago Tribune)
"Obviously, we were wrong" could serve as the epitaph for the entire space shuttle program, which has never lived up to expectations and has rarely justified its existence. In recent years, it has become a gold-plated Corvair--obsolete, horrendously expensive and unsafe at any speed.
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