Originally posted by: compudog
Rick D. Husband
William C. McCool
Michael P. Anderson
David M. Brown
Kalpana Chawla
Laurel Clark
Ilan Ramon
May you Rest in Peace...
Originally posted by: StinkyPinky
Originally posted by: Nemesis77
Originally posted by: StinkyPinky
I know Europe has the European Space Agency or whatever it's called, but that seems pretty useless.
Useless? Hardly.
What do they do then?
Originally posted by: StattlichPassat
Originally posted by: ElFenix
cnn has video from wfaa in dallas
D/FW area viewers- check out NBC5. They're showing amateur video and stills that you're not seeing on national news from various angles and zooms- incredible.
Originally posted by: StinkyPinky
Originally posted by: Nemesis77
Originally posted by: StinkyPinky
Originally posted by: Nemesis77
Originally posted by: StinkyPinky
I know Europe has the European Space Agency or whatever it's called, but that seems pretty useless.
Useless? Hardly.
What do they do then?
Oh I don't know, operate Ariane-boosters (that are responsible of launching large part of worlds satellites) from Kourou, send and operate satellites, conduct research... Why don't you find out yourself?
Yeah, like I said. Pretty useless considering the size and wealth of Europe. Compared to USA and Russia at least.
Originally posted by: StinkyPinky
I admit it's more than I thought, but you have to admit it's pretty sad compared to what Europe should be doing. Europe has large amounts of wealth, and highly skilled people. They should be far ahead of the likes of Russia and China. With the EU it will hopefully improve.
Originally posted by: CaptnKirk
Having worked on the manufacture of the Shutle, I have a fairly intimate amount of knowledge of it's structure.
The TPS - Thermal Protection System, consists of the Tiles in the high energy exposure zones, and a blanketing material
in the non-dynamic exposure areas
There was a confirmed report of a peice of 'Insulation' that had come off at launch and struck the left wing, written off as 'Minor' concern.
If the tiles at the strike impact area had been cracked they may have had portions shake loose from the strain isolation pads they mount on,
or even had an edge exposed during re-enrty that may have allowed aerodynamic overpressures to strip that tile and the adjacrnt tiles
free from the mounts - exposing the aluminum airframe to the temperatures and pressures of atmospheric heating - you have 'Burn Through'
A burn through would have extended on through the structure resulting in shedding the affected wing, and at the point of catostrophic failure of
that wing component, the resulting aerodynamic asymetry would have caused the shuttle to roll and tumble, causing the structure aft of the
crew compartment to shear and open the cargo doors and structuraly disintigrate. That's the senario of how the Challenger came apart also.
40 miles in altitude at 12,000+ MPH is a velocity rate of almost 3 1/2 miles per second, 18,300 feet per second. not much is going to be left.
the major parts that do impact will still be traveling between 200 and 250 MPH when they strike - unsurvivable.
I always thought that the most likely failure would be on re-entry. I was very supprised that the Chalenger blew, and I was standing watching it
climb when that happened. This is a sadly stunning day for our Space Program.
Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Originally posted by: CaptnKirk
Having worked on the manufacture of the Shutle, I have a fairly intimate amount of knowledge of it's structure.
The TPS - Thermal Protection System, consists of the Tiles in the high energy exposure zones, and a blanketing material
in the non-dynamic exposure areas
There was a confirmed report of a peice of 'Insulation' that had come off at launch and struck the left wing, written off as 'Minor' concern.
If the tiles at the strike impact area had been cracked they may have had portions shake loose from the strain isolation pads they mount on,
or even had an edge exposed during re-enrty that may have allowed aerodynamic overpressures to strip that tile and the adjacrnt tiles
free from the mounts - exposing the aluminum airframe to the temperatures and pressures of atmospheric heating - you have 'Burn Through'
A burn through would have extended on through the structure resulting in shedding the affected wing, and at the point of catostrophic failure of
that wing component, the resulting aerodynamic asymetry would have caused the shuttle to roll and tumble, causing the structure aft of the
crew compartment to shear and open the cargo doors and structuraly disintigrate. That's the senario of how the Challenger came apart also.
40 miles in altitude at 12,000+ MPH is a velocity rate of almost 3 1/2 miles per second, 18,300 feet per second. not much is going to be left.
the major parts that do impact will still be traveling between 200 and 250 MPH when they strike - unsurvivable.
I always thought that the most likely failure would be on re-entry. I was very supprised that the Chalenger blew, and I was standing watching it
climb when that happened. This is a sadly stunning day for our Space Program.
I believe this is a very likely scenerio. Thanks for your input and keep up the good work.
Originally posted by: LennyZ
it looks like it is time to junk the shuttle program and go back to "disposible" launch vehicles.
or unmanned vehicles.
Originally posted by: Iceman91
People are already trying to gain from this tragedy. A guy on E-bay had listed what he called a "fuel valve" that he found in his backyard... Thank goodness E-bay already took it off.
:disgust: