Shuttle launch goes smoothly

Nick · Post by **Nick** » July 4, 2006, 4:03 pm

So far....

Really spectacular launch as always. Just watched it on nasa tv there now, love this sort of thing. Here's hoping all goes well over the next fortnight.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » July 4, 2006, 4:10 pm

I had really hoped to be able to watch it at home after watching pre-launch coverage in HD over the weekend. The shots they had were amazing, and the vehicle was standing still!

Siji · Post by **Siji** » July 4, 2006, 4:50 pm

Godspeed.. let's hope they make it back ok. The last thing NASA needs right now is another failure to push them back even farther.

cadalano · Post by **cadalano** » July 4, 2006, 6:31 pm

just reminded me of this picture.

this is the columbia. probably the last flight but i cant remember. cool pic anyway, hmmm?

Metanis · Post by **Metanis** » July 4, 2006, 8:07 pm

Nick wrote:So far....

Really spectacular launch as always. Just watched it on nasa tv there now, love this sort of thing. Here's hoping all goes well over the next fortnight.

I agree 100%

Kaldaur · Post by **Kaldaur** » July 5, 2006, 12:48 am

Amen. I firmly believe our future lies in the heavens, even if it won't happen in my lifetime.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » July 5, 2006, 3:44 am

Space exploration is one of the few things to rally around these days. I don't really care how expensive it is. It's one thing I'm happy my government spends my tax money on.

On the flip side, we dropped the ball in creating a next generation replacement for the Shuttle. It's going to be years and years before we have something else and the Shuttles are 1970's (35 years old) techonolgy with a couple modifications.

Moonwynd · Post by **Moonwynd** » July 5, 2006, 10:43 am

I just read on CNN that the shuttle lost 5 pieces of foam. NASA said it happened after the 2 minutes and 15 seconds window and that it poses no harm.

NASA also said that chunks of ice broke off the external fuel tank but that this is fairly common.

They have analyzed about 40% of the launch data and footage and right now their only concern thus far is that a shim used to separate the heat tiles fell out.

I have witnessed two launches live from Kennedy...they are the most spectacular things I have ever seen. I think we may need to seriously start thinking of scrapping the shuttle program in favor of a better vehicle.

cadalano · Post by **cadalano** » July 5, 2006, 1:57 pm

shuttle program should have been scrapped a long time ago. its been a waste of resources ever since it was started due to underutilization, both of the payload capacity and the rate of flights that they were supposedly capable of. like buying a year long disney pass and only going once, the program was never used enough to justify the massively overbudget bill that we paid

theres a lot of cool shit here about designs on the table for the next generation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_Exploration_Vehicle

VeeshanVault

Shuttle launch goes smoothly

Shuttle launch goes smoothly

Re: Shuttle launch goes smoothly