Mike's Noise

Space Shuttle Atlantis scheduled to return after successful mission

... And now for something completely different ...

After a near-perfect launch on Sept. 9, the space shuttle Atlantis is preparing to return home tomorrow, Sept. 20, competing an 11-day mission centered around the International Space Station.  The AP reports, "The 115-foot-long solar wings they added will generate power for the space station once it's rewired during the next mission, slated to launch in December."

UPDATE: Debris spotted alongside the ship keeps Atlantis in space for another day.  Was it a trash bag?  Hopefully they'll be home tomorrow.

Let's pray for their safe return.

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They made it home safely at 6:21 am EDT.  Congradulations to the crew for a good flight.

Crack found in Shuttle foam

Spaceflight Now reports:

Engineers inspecting the shuttle Discovery's external tank following Sunday's launch scrub found a crack in the tank's foam insulation near a bracket holding a 17-inch oxygen feed line in place. Some engineers believe the crack must be repaired but senior managers say a variety of options are on the table, from fly as is to making repairs.

... Engineers also found a small piece of foam insulation resting on the surface of Discovery's mobile launch platform that may be associated with the crack. The crack is located near a bracket toward the top of the hydrogen section of the external tank that holds the liquid oxygen feedline in place. It is not yet known what might have caused the crack, although extreme temperature differences because of the presence of super-cold propellants could have played a role.

Definitely not good.

In order to comply with 1990's environmental regulations that banned the use of freon, the foam insulation on the Shuttle's main fuel tank was reformulated using a different aerosolizing agent.  The first shuttle to use the newly formulated foam flew in 1997, and since then NASA has had nothing but trouble with the foam insulation.

UPDATES:

CBS News has photos of the crack and the chunk of foam that fell off:

It looks to me like this dislodged piece is the same one shown cracked in the photo above.  What do you think?

Says NASA spokesman George Diller, "We don't know if it's a problem or not."

Right up there with "a major malfunction," I'd say.

Now NASA says it's a go for July 4th:

NASA managers decided to go ahead with the launch attempt because of three criteria: They are confident enough foam still is on the bracket to prevent a large piece of ice from forming; that the area of foam where the piece dropped was still intact; and they don't believe the area will be exposed to extreme heat during ascent.

Hope and pray.

Space Shuttle Discovery set for launch this afternoon

After being grounded for nearly a year, the Space Shuttle Discovery is ready again for launch.  Liftoff is scheduled for around 3:49 PM EDT today.  NASA wants to keep several projects, including the boondoggle International Space Station, roughly on schedule.  As a result, NASA decided to continue Shuttle flights until the program is scheduled to be terminated around 2010.

But there is still that pesky foam insulation.  From today's AP story:

NASA engineers redesigned the external fuel tank after the Columbia accident, and again after a piece of foam insulation came off the tank during a mission last year. In the most recent change, more than 35 pounds of foam have been removed in what NASA describes as the biggest aerodynamic change ever made to the shuttle's launch system. NASA tried other design changes to the ice-frost ramps, such as removing foam, but they didn't hold up well in wind tunnel tests.

The 1-pound slab of foam insulation broke off Discovery's external fuel tank two minutes after liftoff last year and, unlike in the case of Columbia, missed hitting the shuttle. NASA responded by grounding shuttle flights for almost a year.

I have been vocal about my dislike of the Shuttle program and the dangerously inefficient bureacracy of NASA.  But all that aside, I hope you will join me in praying for a safe flight and a successful mission for the Discovery today.

UPDATE:  Storm clouds postponed the launch.  They'll try again tomorrow.