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Space Shuttle Atlantis Delayed Again
Posted by
CowboyNeal
on Fri Sep 08, 2006 06:29 AM
from the mom-says-i'm-grounded dept.
from the mom-says-i'm-grounded dept.
eldavojohn writes "An electrical short cause the space shuttle Atlantis to be delayed since a lightning strike to the pad and Tropical Storm Ernesto caused delays. From the article:
'Liftoff was only hours away Wednesday morning when engineers reported a short in one of three fuel cells that supplies electricity for all the on-board systems, including the crew compartment.' It also points out that 'The faulty cell is currently operational even with the short. But after the 2003 Columbia disaster, which killed all seven astronauts, NASA says it has adopted an aggressive, safety-conscious approach to launching.' It causes one to wonder whether pre-Columbia-disaster NASA would have just replaced the fuel cell on the fly without telling anyone — and whether or not that is an ethically sound choice."
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Fuel Cell Supplier (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Fuel Cell Supplier (Score:4, Funny)
Dell has identified a potential issue associated with certain batteries sold with the NASA Shuttle(TM) series. In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and other regulatory agencies, Dell is voluntarily recalling certain Dell-branded batteries with cells manufactured by Sony and offering free replacements for these batteries. Under rare conditions, it is possible for these batteries to overheat, which could pose a risk of fire, explosion, or firey death.
Parent
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Nasa were smart and paid for onsite maintenance.
If only. (Score:4, Funny)
Great timing there... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Great timing there... (Score:5, Informative)
it really pays to check a primary source. like
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/in
Parent
Re:Great timing there... (Score:4, Insightful)
I think NASA has come to the realization that space craft don't need to land like aircraft and that space vehicles need to be designed for launching to and operating in space and not for the landing which is what the shuttle was designed for. Also, modern day astronauts could care less about the space vehicle handling like a airplane (which is what the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts wanted).
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Tad unfair (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Major projects invisioned / started around the late 1950s / 1960s...
* World Trade Center Complex in NYC
* Supersonic Concord
* U.S. Interstate system
* The Internet
* The Space Shuttle
Much of what is holding back progress these days in the U.S. is the lack of will, not technology.
Ron
If it's broken ... (Score:4, Insightful)
As long as they test it properly after replacement, what's the problem?
Re:If it's broken ... (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
Re:If it's broken ... (Score:4, Insightful)
For those who insist that the private sector is always preferable my I remind you what happened to the Herald of Free Enterprise http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herald_of_Free_Enterp rise [wikipedia.org] or, for that matter, how much better UK trains are running in the Hatfield area http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatfield_rail_crash [wikipedia.org] since privatisation.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:If it's broken ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:If it's broken ... (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
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One article I saw said the faulty pump is between the payload bay and the heat shield of the spacecraft. You would have to disassemble the whole stack and much of the orbiter to replace one little motor. That might be six months of work and if you think you can get by safely without this motor it may be worth the risk.
On again? (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
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No you can't. Every mission that's lost one fuel cell has been brought back early, because they can't risk losing another.
Given how heavy the current payload is, you seriouly don't want to have to bring it back to Earth unless you really, really have to (e.g. an early engine failure during the launch where there's no alternative).
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
From the looks of it, it might be another 24 hours (credit to CNN the bias news source):
The scheduled late-morning liftoff of space shuttle Atlantis
Tell me again, Americans... (Score:4, Funny)
Ha, I'm just kidding. Congress would love to see NASA inoperable so they can go back to spending money on bridges to nowhere (Thanks, Ted Stevens!)
Re:Tell me again, Americans... (Score:5, Insightful)
Uh...because being as close to the equator as possible has advantagous trajectory characteristics for many important orbits and with a trajectory heading eastward one needs to be on the east coast so as to minimize time over land while still at low altitudes?
Parent
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Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Ummm because its in the extreme south east of the country. Launches to the north give you a high inclination orbit. Launches further west expose landmass to bits of spacecraft in the event of an abort.
I could suggest that they launch from Cape York [wikipedia.org] but the weather is pretty bad [wikipedia.org] in that general area as well.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Tell me again, Americans... (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:Tell me again, Americans... (Score:5, Funny)
And oranges. It's a well kept secret that rocket fuel is actually distilled orange juice. What colour is the shuttle's fuel tank? Orange. To hide the leaks.
Parent
Hmm .... T minus 4 hours pr so (Score:4, Informative)
Good Update: http://www.spacetoday.net/Summary/3484 [spacetoday.net]
Countdown ticker: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/in
Weather.. sure.. right (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
oh, the misstatements! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
But if one stops working, then mission rules say they have to return to Earth within a couple of days in case another one stops working. It just seems bizarre to me that the new supposedly 'safety-conscious' NASA is going to fly with a possibly duff fuel cell and possibly duff fuel tank sensors, apparently because 'it's never caused a disaster before'.
Dupe!!! (Score:3, Funny)
Apollo 12 (Score:2)
Moo (Score:2)
Can't they just hire Woz to build it for them?
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
That actually make some sense.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
An electrical supply on the ground goes down, you're fine. You just wait for a new one. An electical supply goes down in space, it's likely you're going to face serious challenges just staying alive.
Re: (Score:2)
Who cares? (Score:2)
Sorry, but who cares?
Was that a questioning of their historical policies having been ethically sound? Ummm...
Whether or not it is ethical? (Score:5, Insightful)
The summary asks if it would be ethical to replace the cell or not without telling anybody. Who does the author want them to tell? The only people who have an ethical need to know the conditions of the shuttle and the risks associated with them are the crew in the shuttle and the ground crew. These people, the crew in particular, are taking the risks and making the decisions. These two groups of people are likely to know anyway, astronauts, especially the flight crew, tend to be technical people, it goes with the job. Read about the boring parts of an astronaut's job, including hundreds of hours getting to know the details of the shuttle and the booster assembly. It is often said Murphy was an aircraft engineer, astronauts know this. Space travel is risky and can be dangerous. From Florida to orbit and back is hell on materials, electronics and mechanics. The decision to go or not go under a set of conditions belongs to the crew on the shuttle and the ground crew.
Any errors in grammar, spelling and tone are due to my uncaffinated state. Getting my breakfast apple and Dew now.
"It causes one to wonder" (Score:2, Offtopic)
Old news - Shuttle to launch Friday monrning (Score:2, Informative)
Not a short in the fuel cell (Score:2, Informative)
Nasa has said in the past that it would be unsafe to retreve the hubble and bring it back to earth because of its weight causing problems du
Lightning? Phht. I know the fix... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Lightning? Phht. I know the fix... (Score:4, Interesting)
The poster of the above comment is a friend of mine, aside from being a pre-space shuttle space program junkie and also a big fan of apollo 12, and he explains the above post as this (over IM):
I figured those of us who haven't spent weeks in the Air and Space museum, or read the audio transcripts from all available NASA flights, would want an explanation.
~Wx
Parent
Life Will Never Be Like Star Trek (Score:3, Funny)
It can start off with a captains log, but there's a computer error, so he never gets to complete it. Instead he calls IT to fix the problem. While that's going on the viewer is taken to the engine room where there are all sorts of problems.
I see it as a drama/comedy. There could even be a sick bay that is constantly busy, but the doctors have enough time to have love triangles and all sorts of personal drama amongst the already suspensful disasters.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)