Shuttle May Fly Again In '04 186
giantsfan89 writes "A report from CNN says that a shuttle (possibly Atlantis) could fly again next fall. "The latest launch window is September 12 to October 10, NASA said Friday." A conference call referenced in the NY Times (free reg or via Google News) says it'll be an uphill battle (obviously) but that 'I'll also guarantee you that we're getting an awful lot smarter about this and we're going to come back stronger and safer as a result.'"
Article Text (Score:2, Informative)
The space agency decided in recent weeks that it needed more time to develop systems for detecting and repairing damage to shuttles in orbit, forcing the agency to retreat from plans to launch in March or April.
The space shuttle fleet has been grounded since the Columbia disaster in February in which all seven crew members died. Insulation debris from the external fuel tank has been blamed with damaging the leading edge of the left wing soon after launch, which doomed the Columbia as it returned from space.
Modifications to the external tank design, development of a boom to inspect the shuttle's exterior during orbit and kits for repairing tile and wing damage are under way.
The latest launch window is September 12 to October 10, NASA said Friday.
If NASA sticks with its current rotation, the Atlantis would be next in line for space flight.
Free Link (Score:2, Informative)
That should be *somewhat* stronger and safer (Score:4, Informative)
When the shuttle launches again, the current problems will still remain:
- There is still no viable crew escape system. During launch you theoretically have a chance to abort as long as the emergency doesn't involve the SRBs. In reality though, there is not much you can do. A mid-launch abort is more of a fantasy concocted to make astronauts and the public feel better. Once you're in space, hope that you can either get to the ISS (assuming all your navigational and propulsion systems are working properly), or that there is another shuttle almost ready to go...and you manage to survive the shuttle-to-shuttle transfer.
- Repairing the shuttle is still pretty iffy. NASA developed a substance that can be injected into small breaches in many parts of the shuttle to ensure the craft survives re-entry. Note I said *some* parts. The repair does not work on leading edge of the wing and you couldn't really hope to fix it in orbit even if you happened to have just the right spare part with you. (which is unlikely in of itself)
Repairing the shuttle can actually inflict more harm on the craft. There is a good chance anyone going over the side to look at the heat tiles will actually damage more in the course of the repair.
- The launch systems....mainly the SRBs are still horribly broken technologies that are absolutely not fault-tolerant whatsoever. Hundreds of things usually go wrong with the shuttle during the course of a mission. Little things here and there. If something goes wrong with the SRBs, you will probably die.
Re:That should be *somewhat* stronger and safer (Score:3, Informative)
That would be the case if an untrained spaceperson does that (like those on Columbia). However it is trivial now to establish means for safe inspection, and all astronauts can be trained to use them.
I don't work for NASA, but even I can think of soft rubber shoes and gloves that would allow you to touch the surface w/o damaging it. The spaceman would be weightless, so no static pressure would be applied; he only needs to keep his moment in check, which is easy as long as he is not in a hurry (and does not weigh a ton :-)
Re:safer? (Score:1, Informative)
Energia was the most expensive booster ever built (Score:3, Informative)
At one launch per year (which was a tentative plan) it did not make financial sense to keep Buran around and that's in essence why it was canned and rocket-based stuff was not.
Re:Shuttles are unnecessarily complex (Score:2, Informative)
Re:That should be *somewhat* stronger and safer (Score:2, Informative)
Spaceflight now (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/0310 03target/) indicates that there are multiple technical goals for the first return to flight mission: "Mission STS-114, currently assigned to the shuttle Atlantis, will include a robot arm extension and sensors to look for damage to the ship's heat-shield tiles and leading edge panels; a spacewalk to test tile and leading edge repair techniques; another spacewalk to install a new gyroscope on the space station; and supply and equipment transfers to and from the lab complex"
As for the repair techniques and possibility that additional damage could occur... I would think that the RMS would be used as the work platform, as it has for other satellite-service missions. Depending on the kind of repair (I'm envisioning some caulk or spackle-like substance), it should be fairly easy to apply without too much danger of additional damage. The problem with this inspection or repair with Columbia was that there was no robot arm onboard for this mission. CAIB report, however, demonstrated that a scaffold/ladder of some kind could have been devised to allow inspection and access to the left wing leading edge.