Shuttle Discovery Lands Safely 668
Tuxedo Jack writes "CNN and NASA report that the space shuttle Discovery has landed safely at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Concerns for its safe return were raised when spacewalks were necessary to repair the vehicle when external components were damaged; however, the shuttle landed safely with Commander Eileen Collins at the control yoke."
Re:What was that? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:What was that? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:What was that? (Score:5, Informative)
It was one of the Auxilliary Power Units (APUs) that power Discovery's systems during re-entry and landing. These generators are powered by rocket fuel, so what you saw (and I saw as well) was the steady pulsing of exhaust from one of the APUs. They power things like the ailerons, rudder, and other vital systems for the orbiter.
Re:woman driver lands shuttle safely (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Almost Home (Score:2, Informative)
Re:"Pilot" (Score:3, Informative)
8:07 a.m. - Discovery's wings leveling as it approaches the landing site. Now that the orbiter has gone subsonic, Commander Eileen Collins has assumed control. She'll fly Discovery on a 194-degree right overhead turn to align with runway 22.
Sure sounds like she's landing it to me.
Re:woman driver lands shuttle safely (Score:2, Informative)
Re:"Pilot" (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/launch/landing
Re:"Pilot" (Score:3, Informative)
The Shuttle is only computer controlled through the supersonic portion of flight, at around ~50,000 feet the controls are given to the Copilot for a relatively quick period. Following that, the pilot at around 30,000 feet assumes control, and guides the shuttle in while maintaining a trajectory within the glide slope.
Before posting mis-information like you've done today, check your facts first.
Re:Trying to stay ontopic (Score:2, Informative)
I loved the coverage and always looked forward to more shuttle articles.
According to the BBC, about $1m... (Score:2, Informative)
Groan... (Score:5, Informative)
1. pushes the button for which base to land at
2. lowers the landing gear
and they only do number 2 because they don't like to feel completely like passengers.
Neither point is accurate and somewhat condescending. Rather than going by somebody who claims to be an expert on everything, why don't you look at the source?
Start with NASA MISSION EVENTS SUMMARY [nasa.gov] and scroll down to "Deorbit" and "Entry" to see what the shuttle astronauts really do when the shuttle leaves orbit (a lot more than just press a button).
As to the landing gear control, this is a safety of flight issue and is discussed in SHUTTLE AVIONICS Design Constraints and Considerations [nasa.gov] in the "GNC" section. The decision to make the gear down command a manual operation has nothing to do with making the astronauts not "feel completely like passengers".
myke
No big surprise (Score:3, Informative)
Re:"Pilot" (Score:3, Informative)
This is manually controlled because once the landing gear is lowered, it cannot be retracted while in flight.
If there was some fault in the computer system that prematurely lowered the landing gear, during liftoff or while in orbit, the shuttle would be unable to re-enter the atmosphere.
Re:'Return to Flight' mission... (Score:3, Informative)
The foam panels on Columbia took out critical tiles on the leading edge of the wing. Previous shuttle tile damage had been limited to less critical sections.
The Columbia disaster is a classic example of what happens when external events and political pressures interfere with the engineering process.
Re:Almost Home (Score:4, Informative)
Re:What is with that foam on the ET? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:What was that? (Score:3, Informative)
When I first saw it in infrared it reminded me a lot of the space shuttle Columbia coming back on a flight where one of the APU's caught fire and flames were seen pulsing out the back. A quick check of the visual feed showed that it was just hot gases.
A video of the fire is available at John Young's website. [johnwyoung.com]
Commander vs shuttle pilot. (Score:1, Informative)
The "shuttle pilot" handles the maneuvering of the craft while in orbit, and is a "co-pilot" during takeoff and landing where the "commander" is the actual pilot.
In today's landing, Eileen personally handled the landing.
Re:Almost Home (Score:5, Informative)
Atop [spacepix.net] a [nasa.gov] 747 [theaviationzone.com].
Columbia was destroyed by freon based foam (Score:3, Informative)
On tanks constructed after ET-93, NASA replaced BX-250 with BX-265, which used HCFC 141b as a blowing agent. BX-265 is not without its problems, however, and NASA is working on replacement formulae.
Re:What was that? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:IM transcript (Score:1, Informative)
ty == thank you
Re:Good to hear they are safe (Score:2, Informative)
"As a result of the foam problem, NASA grounded the shuttle fleet, saying the spacecraft would not fly again until the insulation issue is fixed. Sept. 22 was tentatively set for shuttle Atlantis to take off on the next mission but NASA managers acknowledge that date is unrealistic."
HTH (Score:4, Informative)
Re:woman driver lands shuttle safely (Score:3, Informative)
Re:woman driver lands shuttle safely (Score:4, Informative)
I've read that in studies that factor in senority and working hours, that the difference disappears.
The idea is that women tend to work fewer hours/take longer leaves than men, and this leads to the difference.
Heck my mother(an accountant) says the exact same thing. And she's the highest paid worker in the office.
Re:What was that? (Score:1, Informative)
Re:"Pilot" (Score:4, Informative)
OK, let's look at the facts, which you clearly didn't do, or did you just forget to put your references in? This is from the landing 101 page at NASA's web site. [nasa.gov]
Which facts were you referring to?
The fact is, shuttle pilots train for years and do hundreds of landing approach practice runs, and it's pretty sad when slashdotters, who have no idea and who think that cynicism is the same thing as sophistication, post bullshit like you just did.
Perhaps it makes you feel better to imagine that, but for a random twist of fate, it could have been you pressing that landing gear button. Well, it wasn't and you couldn't. Accept it, and move on.
Re:woman driver lands shuttle safely (Score:2, Informative)
Given how (more) precious an opportunity to fly the shuttle is, I'd be surprised to see any commander do this. Consider that Col. Collins' career in space is probably over, not through any fault of hers, but simply to make room for other mission commanders.
JRS technical info about the mission (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html [planet4589.org]
Shuttle and Station
-------------------
The Shuttle has completed its return-to-flight mission, but continuing problems with debris marred the otherwise successful flight.
Discovery was launched at 1439:00 UTC on Jul 26, reaching a 54 x 229 km orbit at 1447 UTC. The OMS-2 burn at 1517 UTC raised the perigee out of
the atmosphere, with a 155 x 230 km orbit. NC-1 and NC-2 burns resulted in 226 x 285 km and 270 x 287 km orbits, as the Shuttle slowly matched
altitude and speed with the Station in a 350 x 356 km x 51.6 deg orbit. Meanwhile, external tank ET-121 fell back into the Pacific with reentry
at around 1550 UTC.
Spectacular camera views from the External Tank showed minor tile damage during ascent, and the loss of a half-meter piece of foam from the ET at
the time of SRB separation. Although the foam did not hit Discovery, the failure to stop large foam loss (a 15-cm piece was also lost from near
the bipod ramp) will have to be investigated and fixed before Atlantis can fly the next mission.
On Jul 19 the Station crew flew Soyuz TMA-6 from the Pirs docking port, undocking at 1038 UTC, and redocked with the Zarya docking port at 1108 UTC.
On Jul 28 at 1118 UTC Discovery docked at the Space Station. Hatch opening was at 1250 UTC. The first spacewalk was carried out on Jul 30
and saw tile repair tests in the payload bay, and installation of a mounting bracket for the ESP-2 stores platform on the Station's Quest module.
The second spacewalk on Aug 1 saw replacement of the Station's CMG-1 gyro. The third spacewalk on Aug 3 saw installation of the ESP-2 platform,
and the removal of two protruding pieces of tile gap-filler material from the Shuttle's heat shield.
Discovery undocked from Station at 0724 UTC on Aug 6 and landed safely on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base at 1211 UTC on Aug 9.
Re:What was that? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:woman driver lands shuttle safely (Score:2, Informative)
The differences in pay for men and women are that men and women tend to work in different types of jobs. Not many men would take a job as a secretary or hair stylist, not because those jobs are "typical women's jobs", but because they don't pay enough. Until fairly recently, this was true of school teaching positions too, but now that teachers are getting paid much better, more and more men are taking school teaching positions.
As soon as they start paying secretaries the same thing as an engineer, I'll be a wonderful secretary.