Something's Up With The Space Shuttle (Missing)

[busmaster11]

How hard is it to employ retrorockets during re-entry to decelerate it so heat won't be a problem?

 

[cavemanmoron]

Originally posted by: Kanalua

Originally posted by: cavemanmoron
i had to go to my work, and shovel snow away from several flagpoles,
so that the flags could be lowered,to half staff...

saddest work duty i have Ever done.

Thanks for your service...every little part helps...

Thanks,
My boss called me,asked "what are you doing?"
I replied,uh watching about the Space Shuttle; I Just found out about it.
He said,"We need you to go to work,and plow out,shovel out All the flagpoles at work,
So the flags can be put to half staff."
I went in,some flagpoles had over 3 foot of snow at the base,
One had 8 foot snowbanks,i had to use a big bucket loader to break thru,in order to be able to get to it

 

[Adul]

Originally posted by: busmaster11
How hard is it to employ retrorockets during re-entry to decelerate it so heat won't be a problem?

the ammount of fuel required to do such a thing is prohibitied.

 

[Adul]

this is sucha tragic event

 

[StattlichPassat]

Originally posted by: cavemanmoron

Originally posted by: Kanalua

Originally posted by: cavemanmoron
i had to go to my work, and shovel snow away from several flagpoles,
so that the flags could be lowered,to half staff...

saddest work duty i have Ever done.

Thanks for your service...every little part helps...

Thanks,
My boss called me,asked "what are you doing?"
I replied,uh watching about the Space Shuttle; I Just found out about it.
He said,"We need you to go to work,and plow out,shovel out All the flagpoles at work,
So the flags can be put to half staff."
I went in,some flagpoles had over 3 foot of snow at the base,
One had 8 foot snowbanks,i had to use a big bucket loader to break thru,in order to be able to get to it

Thank you, caveman. I appreciate your work.

 

[cliftonite]

How many shuttles does NASA have?

 

[Grasshopper27]

Originally posted by: cliftonite
How many shuttles does NASA have?

NASA has 3 orbiters left...

Pathfinder (MPTA-098)
Challenger (STA-099,OV-99)
Enterprise (OV-101)
Columbia (OV-102)
Discovery (OV-103)
Atlantis (OV-104)
Endeavour (OV-105)

That is the list of the original orbiters, Pathfinder was a simple static test vehicle. Enterprise was supposed to go into space, but never did. Challenger was a static test article that was converted for space flight and later lost in 1986, and Columbia was lost today...

Discover, Atlantis, and Endeavour are left...

Hopper

 

[CaptnKirk]

Known:

Possible thermal tile damage during launch, Insulation found on pad after lift-off. Any ice associated with the insulation would have been melted.
Re-entry sensors report rising temperatures in left wing.
Sensors report high tire pressure.
Sensors report Zero Hydro - inboard & ourboard, thats the flaps & alierons.
(The landing gear are spring loaded - no hydraulics, released 45 seconds before touchdown)
Rise in temp sensors.
Sensors report zero tire pressure.
Wing temp sensors fail.
Contact lost.

If a burn-through happened, any heating of the wheel well may have caused the main landing gear tires to explode.
They are big, heavy, mounted on aluminum rims, and filled with nitrogen for thermal safety.
Lots of debris and high pressure.
Force from the rupture of the tires would have stripped off the landing gear door exposing an even larger area
to aerodynamic heating during the most critical portion of re-enter.
That is locnted right at the juncture of the wing root to the fuselage, exposed - and aluminum looses its structural
intergity to anealing above 450 F, and melts above 1100 F - 1200 F, alloy specific,

As the aluminum looses its tensile strength and yeild strength to anealing, (heating up)
it begins it soften, sag, and fold - further exposing the damaged area.

Aerodynamic pressure on the non-symetric fuselage & right wing initiates the tumble sequence.
Wing separates, cargo doors are shed. crew cabin and tail strucrure separate from cargo hold walls & floor structure.
Various displays of plume observed in the resulting dibris trail would have marked release of parts from
landing gear door, tile and tires fragments, hydraulic fluids, and combustion of aluminium fragments.

10 mile wide by 100 mile long debris field.

The Enterprise was built and flown for landing tests only, not space capable - on display in Cape Kennedy.
Columbia was first flight vehicle.
Challenger was only vehicle designed to be capable of re-entry from Polar orbit, it was OV-99.
Discovery has the most missions.
Atlantis, and Endeavor are the last 2 to enter the fleet. We have 3 left.

 

[bolido2000]

Dammed
I still remember watching the Challenger disaster on TV.

 

[rockyct]

I almost got up at 4:30 AM PST to watch it fly over California. It was supposed to be seen for a few hundred miles in every direction. Maybe now people will realize that you can't keep on cutting NASA's budget. Plus, they scapped the new shuttles which would have been much cheaper to fly.

 

[MSantiago]

3 by my count. In order of production they were:

Enterprise (never went into space)
Columbia
Challenger
Discovery
Atlantis
Endeavour

With Challenger and Columbia gone, that leaves 3.

 

[Grasshopper27]

Originally posted by: CaptnKirk
The Enterprise was built and flown for landing tests only, not space capable - on display in Cape Kennedy.

Enterprise was originally supposed to go into space. Challenger was a static test article used for engine tests. It was later found to be cheaper and easier to convert Challenger for space flight than to do the modifications to Enterprise.

Columbia was first flight vehicle.

Actually, Columbia was the second, it was built 7 months after Enterprise.

Challenger was only vehicle designed to be capable of re-entry from Polar orbit, it was OV-2.

Any shuttle can return from a polar orbit.

Discovery has the most missions.

This is true.

Atlantis, and Endeavor are the last 2 to enter the fleet. We have 3 left.

This is true, Atlantis was added in the mid-80s, Endeavor was built to replace Challenger.

Hopper

 

[Grasshopper27]

Originally posted by: MSantiago
3 by my count. In order of production they were:

Enterprise (this was just a glider mockup and was never intended to go into space)
Columbia
Challenger
Discovery
Atlantis
Endeavour

With Challenger and Columbia gone, that leaves 3.

Sigh... Challenger was never meant to fly, it wasn't even designed to do landing tests at first. It was a static test article used for engine testing. Enterprise was the first shuttle built to fly into space. During testing it was found that so many changes would have to be made, it would actually be cheaper to modify Challenger to fly into space.

So Challenger was renamed from STA-099 to OV-099.

Enterprise was OV-101, Columbia was OV-102.

Hopper

 

[NogginBoink]

Originally posted by: exp
The first manned mission to Mars should drop off a plaque or similar memorial dedicated to people of every nationality who gave their lives during space exploration...maybe a list of their names, that would be cool.

Also, I haven't read this entire thread so my apologies if this has been pointed out...but has anyone else noticed that all three of NASA's major disasters (Columbia, Challenger, and Apollo-1) occurred within the same week? Freakish.

The United States has, I believe, left a plaque on the moon in remeberance of the Soviets who lost their lives in the space race.

Seeing as how we went to the moon during the height of the Cold War, this was a particularly notable gesture of the goodwill of humanity.

 

[NogginBoink]

Originally posted by: busmaster11
How hard is it to employ retrorockets during re-entry to decelerate it so heat won't be a problem?

It's very hard.

The fuel used to fire the retrorockets is heavy. In any kind of flight, spaceflight included, weight is the enemy. You end up adding more fuel to lift the fuel. The problems are more involved than they appear on the surface.

 

[A5]

Pathfinder (MPTA-098)

This shuttle is sitting out at the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. Very sombering to drive by it today (Next to the world's only standing full-sized Saturn V rocket)

 

[Grasshopper27]

Originally posted by: A5

Pathfinder (MPTA-098)

This shuttle is sitting out at the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. Very sombering to drive by it today (Next to the world's only standing full-sized Saturn V rocket)

I went to Space Camp twice and Space Acadamy once when I was younger...

Pathfinder sitting outside mounted up like it is, a sight to behold...

Hopper

 

[ThePresence]

Originally posted by: Bluga

Originally posted by: katka
:Q Directly over Bush's home state too!

Doesn't that say something?

No.

 

[CaptnKirk]

During my tenure at Rockwell, in Palmdale - I climbed all over the Fatigue Vehicle - which as you may noticed I edited, that it was in fact OV-99.
It was always planned to retrofit it for space flight. The Enterprise was the vehicle built for ALT - Approach and Landing Tests. I watched 3 flights.
Trekkies spoke too soon, they could have had one that flew if they had been patient.

OV-99 was built and sent to the test chamber at Lockheed.
OV-101 was built second - and never flown in space, that was going to be Constitution, but named Enterprise due to Trekkie pressure.
OV-102 built 3rd was first launched - Columbia.
OV-103 flew second - thats Discovery.
OV-99 returns from Test and is retrofitted for spaceworthiness, Challenger.
OV-104 is built - Atlantis, additional funding request is submitted.
OV-105 is authorized Endeavour to replace Challenger.
Pathfinder dosen't count - mock-up shop aid.

P.S. - The cockpit windshield is a two glass system, like a thermos bottle - cockpit within a cockpit.
Part numbers start with OV70-xxect.

The TPS for the Challenger was different, it had more grey - modified density, the others have more black
Thats the surface finish, core ceramic is white, bonded with thermal resistant silicone RTV's.
Solid boosters for Polar orbit were made from composite to save weight. You have a reduction of
40% payload to orbit, due to loss of the rotational inertia from the Earths spin.
We have never retreived a manned vehicle from polar orbit.
Challenger was designed to provide a "Once Around Abort" - which is to abandon the launch over the South Pole during climbout,
and make a 1500 mile left turn coming in over the North Pole for return to Vandenberg.
Hawaii is too far of a right turn.

When Challenger was lost SLC-6, was de-activated from Shuttle cabability and converted to other Launch Vehicle capability.

 

[Grasshopper27]

Originally posted by: CaptnKirk
During my tenure at Rockwell, in Palmdale - I climbed all over the Fatigue Vehicle - which as you may noticed I edited, that it was in fact OV-99. It was always planned to retrofit it for space flight. The Enterprise was the vehicle built for ALT - Approach and Landing Tests. I watched 3 flights.

*shrug*

NASA's own materials disagree with you, but it doesn't really matter for this conversation.

Trekkies spoke too soon, they could have had one that flew if they had been patient.

NASA wanted to give it to them, having them on their side is a powerful way to promote the program.

OV-99 was built and sent to the test chamber at Lockheed.

STA-099 is Challenger, it was meant as a static platform for engine tests. It was renamed OV-099

OV-101 was built second - and flown first, thats Columbia.

OV-101 is Enterprise, not Columbia

OV-102 flew second - thats Discovery

That is Columbia, not Discovery. Discovery is OV-103... Atlantis is OV-104... Endeavour is OV-105

Hopper

 

[rchiu]

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: Bluga

Originally posted by: katka
:Q Directly over Bush's home state too!

Doesn't that say something?

No.

What about first Israel astronautes on the shuttle, exploded over the town Palestine, TX.....freaky:Q

 

[Nighthawk69]

From CNN.com

In Hemphill, near the Louisiana state line, hospital employee Mike Gibbs reported finding what appeared to be a charred torso, thigh bone and skull on a rural road near what was believed to be other debris. Billy Smith, an emergency coordinator for three East Texas counties, confirmed the find.

... very disturbing.

 

[MainFramed]

Originally posted by: LedZeppelin

Originally posted by: Hanpan
Link to Bush's speech

Fixed link.

Thank you.

 

[Adul]

Originally posted by: rgwalt


This morning all I could thing was "Good Lord, not again...".

Ryan

that is what went through my mind when I found out

 

[conjur]