OUTERSPACE : Space Shuttles, Ships, Stations and Interplanetary travel

Space exploration is the physical exploration of outer space.
The politics, science, and engineering behind space flight all fall under the auspices of space exploration.
There are many rationales behind space exploration; among the most common are ones focusing on scientific research or the future survival of humanity. This endeavour has been to some degree a dream and goal of humanity for the past several centuries, but it was not until the development of large liquid-fueled rocket engines during the early 20th century that it really began to be seriously developed.
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NASA's Space Shuttle, officially called Space Transportation System (STS), is the United States government's current manned launch vehicle. The winged shuttle orbiter is launched vertically, usually carrying five to seven astronauts (although eight have been carried) and up to 22,700 kg (50,000 lb) of payload into low earth orbit. When its mission is complete, it re-enters the earth's atmosphere and makes an unpowered horizontal landing.


The Shuttle is the first orbital spacecraft designed for partial reusability. It is also so far the only winged manned spacecraft to achieve orbit and land. It carries large payloads to various orbits, provides crew rotation for the International Space Station (ISS), and performs servicing missions. The orbiter can recover satellites and other payloads from orbit and return them to Earth, but this capacity has not been used often. However, it has been used to return large payloads from the International Space Station to earth, as the Russian Soyuz spacecraft has limited capacity for return payloads. Each Shuttle was designed for a projected lifespan of 100 launches or 10 years' operational life.

The program started in the late 1960s and has dominated NASA's manned operations since the mid-1970s. According to the Vision for Space Exploration, use of the Space Shuttle will be focused on completing assembly of the ISS in 2010, after which it will be replaced by the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV). However, following the STS-114 return-to-flight mission in August 2005, the shuttle was grounded while outstanding safety issues were resolved. It was schedule to launch again on July 1, 2006, despite objections from its chief engineer and safety head.
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STS-121 will be the second Return to Flight Testing after the Columbia accident in 2003. At first, the space shuttle Atlantis was selected for this mission, but after the external tank foam loss issues with STS-114, the launch has been delayed to July 2006, enabling NASA to select Discovery for STS-121. STS-121 will also continue the demonstration of heat shield repair techniques. STS-121 will visit the International Space Station with additional supplies using the Italian built Leonardo multi purpose logistics module. With sufficient supplies, the ISS will be able to accommodate a third astronaut. German European Space Agency Astronaut Thomas Reiter will join Russian commander Pavel Vinogradov and NASA's Jeffrey Williams, making the ISS truly international again.

Discovery is currently on launch pad 39B [as of this posting]at Cape Canaveral in preparation for its July 4 launch date, following rollout on May 19.
It was postponed from the previous launch time, July 1 at 3:49 PM ET due to bad weather, in the form of poor visibility at the Shuttle Landing Facillity, and Anvil Clouds near the launch site. In addition, a ship had entered the SRB recovery area.
The launch was further postponed on its subsequent attempt on July 2 at 3:25 PM ET, again due to poor weather.


* When watching a launch, look for the "nod" ("twang" in "NASAese").
After the main engines start, but while the solid rocket boosters are still clamped to the pad, the offset thrust from the Shuttle's three main engines causes the entire launch stack (boosters, tank and shuttle) to flex forwards about 2 m at cockpit level.
As the boosters flex back into their original shape, the launch stack springs slowly back upright. This takes approximately 6 seconds.
At the point when it is perfectly vertical, the boosters ignite and the launch commences.

* The subject of missing or damaged thermal tiles on the Shuttle fleet only became an issue following the loss of Columbia in 2003 as it broke up on re-entry.
In fact Shuttles had previously come back missing as many as 20 tiles without any problem.

* The shuttle is not launched under conditions where it could be struck by lightning. Aircraft are often struck by lightning with no adverse effects because the electricity of the strike is dissipated through the conductive structure and the aircraft is not electrically grounded. Like most jet airliners, the shuttle is mainly constructed of conductive aluminium which would normally protect the internal systems. However upon takeoff the shuttle sends out a long exhaust plume as it ascends, and this plume can trigger lightning by providing a current path to ground. While the shuttle might safely endure a lightning strike, a similar strike caused problems on Apollo 12, so for safety NASA chooses not to launch the shuttle if lightning is possible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_shuttle

Space Station

Space Station

The space station

is located in orbit around the Earth at an altitude of approximately 360 km (220 miles), a type of orbit usually termed low Earth orbit (The actual height varies over time by several kilometres due to atmospheric drag and reboosts.)
It orbits Earth in a period of about 92 minutes; by June 2005 it had completed more than 37,500 orbits since launch of the Zarya module on November 20, 1998.

In many ways the ISS represents a merger of previously planned independent space stations: Russia's Mir 2, the U.S. Space Station Freedom and the planned European Columbus and Japanese Experiment Module.

Due to the ISS, there is a permanent human presence in space, as there have always been at least two people on board ISS since the first permanent crew entered the ISS on November 2, 2000.
It is serviced primarily by the Soyuz, Progress spacecraft units and Space Shuttle.
The ISS is currently still under construction with a projected completion date of 2010.
At present, the station has a capacity for a crew of three.
So far, all permanent crewmembers have come from the Russian or United States space programs.
The ISS has however been visited by astronauts from a large number of other countries and was also the destination of the first three space tourists.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Space_Station

Interplanetary Travel

Interplanetary Travel

Current achievements in interplanetary travel

NASA's Apollo program landed twelve people on the Moon and returned them to Earth: Apollo 11-17, except 13, i.e. six missions, each with three astronauts of which two landed on the Moon.
Robot probes have been sent to fly past most of the major planets of the Solar system.
The most distant probe spacecraft Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are on course to leave the Solar system.

Robot landers such as Viking and Pathfinder have already landed on the surface of Mars and several Venera and Vega spacecraft have landed on the surface of Venus.
The NEAR Shoemaker orbiter successfully landed on the asteroid 433 Eros, even though it was not designed with this maneuver in mind.

by Stuart Carter
http://www.firstscience.com/site/articles/wright2.asp

Spaceships of the Future

The furthest we have been is the Moon.
If we want to travel into deep space, beyond our own backyard, the Solar System, we'll need a new breed of spacecraft.

It may be the oldest cliché in town, but in the not too distant future science fiction will turn into science fact.
The fantastic spaceships of sci-fi comic books and novels will no longer be a figment of our creative imagination; they may be the real vision of our future.

Engineers and designers are already designing craft capable of propelling us beyond Earth's orbit, the Moon and the planets.
They're designing interstellar spaceships capable of travel across the vast emptiness of deep space to distant stars and new planets in our unending quest to conquer and discover.
Our Universe contains over a billion galaxies; star cities each with a hundred billion inhabitants.
Around these stars must exist planets and perhaps life.
The temptation to explore these new realms is too great.

First things first -
we'll have to build either a giant orbiting launch platform, far bigger than the International Space Station (ISS), or a permanently manned lunar base to provide a springboard for the stars. Some planners feel we should limit ourselves to robotic probes, but others are firmly committed to sending humans. "There's a debate right now about how to explore space" says astronaut Bill Shepherd, destined to be the first live-aboard Commander of the ISS. "Humans or machines - I think they're complementary".



The human problem
Space is the most hostile environment we will ever explore. Even a single five-hour spacewalk requires months of training, and a vast technical backup to keep it safe. The astronauts and cosmonauts who live aboard the ISS will be there for only a few weeks or months; if we want to travel into deep space it could take years. First we'll have to find out just how long the human body can survive in a weightless environment. In zero gravity, four pints of body fluid rush from the legs to the head where it stays for the duration of the mission. Astronauts often feel as if they have a permanent cold, and disorientation can become a major problem. In space there's no physical sensation to let you know when you're upside down and astronauts have to rely on visual clues from their surroundings. A few hours after reaching orbit, one in three of all astronauts will experience space sickness - a feeling rather like carsickness. And weightless conditions lead to calcium being leached from the bones, and problems with the astronauts' immune systems.

Trillions of rocky fragments - meteoroids - roam our Solar System at speeds of up to 150,000 miles an hour. A meteoroid no bigger than a grain of salt could pierce a spaceship window. Protection from the extreme hazards of space is going to need some clever technology. Space is also full of lethal radiation - X-rays, gamma rays and the high-speed particles called cosmic rays.

Down here on Earth we are protected by the atmosphere and by our planet's magnetic field, but in space long haul astronauts suffer gradual but irreversible radiation sickness unless they are carefully shielded. Commander Shepherd is confident the ISS will help us crack the problems "The ISS is going to answer a number of questions about long range exploration in space. A lot of things are going to be pioneered on the space station for future exploration".


Stepping stones
Saturn V is still the most powerful rocket ever built. But even this vast 3000 tonne giant carried only enough fuel to send a tiny manned capsule with just three men on a 250,000 mile journey - a mere drop in the cosmic ocean. It's over a quarter of a century since the last man stood on the Moon (Commander Gene Cernan on the Apollo 17 mission in 1972), and it seems that it will be another quarter of a century before we return to build a permanently manned base there. Bob Forward - who earns his living from designing spaceships of the future - believes we'll have to find a cheap way of reaching the Moon before we think of living there. His slingshot concept may seem radical at the start of the 21st century, but it is certainly ingenious. "If you have something rotating quite fast around another thing on the end of a string, it has a tendency to fly away. You have to decide when to let go (from Earth-orbit) and - like a trapeze artist catching his partner - you have to decide when to catch the payload (in lunar orbit)". A lunar base would become a viable stepping stone to deep space. In the 1990s, the Clementine and Lunar Prospector spacecraft detected frozen water below the lunar surface. This could be mined, melted and broken down to make liquid oxygen and hydrogen rocket fuel needed to blast off into deep space.

But before we leave the Solar System on our interstellar quest we will have to conquer it.
Mars will become our first target.
Whether we'll reach it directly from Earth, from Earth's orbit or from the Moon is anyone's guess but Mars is far from being a barren desert like the Moon.

Mars probably has plentiful supplies of frozen water below the surface and even has 24-hour days! Unfortunately the atmosphere is 95% carbon dioxide, with just a fraction of the Earth's atmospheric pressure and no protective ultraviolet layer. Martian astronauts will have to live in sealed modules, and wear spacesuits to venture outside. Mars would be a tiny colony, like the remote outposts of the early Earth explorers. Mars itself will probably never be a stepping stone to the stars, but it will help us learn if we can live in such a remote and harsh place for years or even a lifetime.

The round trip to Mars will take at least two years - on the most fuel-economical route, the travel time alone will be 9 months each way. So we either have to find much faster propulsion system or ways of helping the human body to cope.

It's only rocket science
Scientists are already experimenting with propulsion systems that may travel much faster than today's conventional chemical rockets. Franklin Chang's plasma rocket may be the answer.
"In a plasma rocket you're continually accelerating," he explains.
A trip to Mars could be cut to 90 days, claims Chang. His rocket harnesses a nuclear process to produce a hot gas plasma. The plasma is magnetically held in a rocket the shape of a bottle and then expelled at very high velocity to provide propulsion. The plasma has to be heated to millions of degrees. Chang believes his system will be too good just to reach Mars. "I think it will quickly be developed for interplanetary travel within our Solar System".
The plasma rocket is now under development at NASA's Houston laboratories.

Another new method of propulsion is already flying through our Solar System. Pushed only by an electronically driven 'ion engine', Deep Space One is already over 100 million miles from Earth.
It works by ionising xenon gas and expelling it with the aid of electric fields, so providing a gentle but constant thrust. The ion engine provides a force about the same as a single sheet of paper exerts on your hand - far too weak to lift a spacecraft from the surface of a planet - but the continuous acceleration has already pushed Deep Space One to a speed ten times higher than any of the manned rockets we use today.


Interstellar travel
To leave the Solar System and carry humans to the stars we will have to find a way of travelling near to the speed of light. Even then a journey could take hundreds or thousands of years. Travelling at 1/10 the speed of light it would take over forty years to reach the nearest star, Alpha Centauri.

One giant source of free energy is our Sun. Bob Forward has designed the solar sail, a craft that doesn't have to carry its own fuel supply. It's driven by the power of the Sun's rays, and it will be the fastest machine ever built. "The sunlight bounces off the aluminium sails and in the process gives it a tiny push," explains Forward. Like the ion probe it will accelerate and accelerate. And it's not a total dream. NASA is already experimenting with deploying large sails in Earth-orbit. Propelled by light, solar sails will travel thousands of times faster than Apollo or the Shuttle.

Asleep or awake?
Even with the perfect spaceship it isn't going to be easy.
In his classic sci-fi novel 2001, Arthur C. Clarke used the concept of suspended animation as a way for humans to cope with long space flights.
He imagined that we would be able to put the human body into hibernation - suspended animation - to escape the boredom of long interstellar missions.

An even more drastic measure might be to freeze the astronauts.
We already use cryogenic techniques to preserve dead bodies and store human embryos. Freezing living adults may not be so far away, but perhaps we won't have to do that. Perhaps we should use our existing technology and send frozen embryos across to the far corners of the cosmos.
It could certainly save on space. Then hundreds of years from now, billions and billions of miles away, the embryos will be thawed and their hearts will start beating. These space-farers of the future will not grow inside a mother's body but will be incubated in a machine. They will be brought up by robot. It may seem strange and radical but one day it might just happen…

"Who's to say in 25 years what we'll be doing in space? I think all estimates may be wildly short of the mark," muses Commander Shepherd.

Robonaut's...Space Walking Robots

Robonaut technology summary:
To meet the dexterous manipulation needs foreseen in future NASA missions, the Automation, Robotics, and Simulation Division at Johnson Space Center is developing Robonaut, a highly dexterous anthropomorphic robotic system.
Robonaut is advancing the state of the art in anthropomorphic robotic systems, multiple use tool handling end effectors, modular robotic systems components and telepresence control systems.
The project has adopted the design concept of an anthropomorphic robot the size of an astronaut in a space suit and configured with two arms, two five-fingered hands, a head and a torso.
Its dexterous pair of arms enables dual-arm operations and its hands can interface directly with a wide range of interfaces without special tooling.
Its anthropomorphic design enables intuitive telepresence control by a human operator.

One of the main problem's with human space exploration is that the human body is too fragile for the harsh conditions of space.
We have learned that space travel can take its toll on astronauts.

Temperatures in space can swing from 248 degrees Fahrenheit (120 degrees Celsius) to -148 F (-100 C).

There also isn't the Earth's atmosphere to shield us from the sun's radiation.
In order to survive, astronauts must wear bulky space suits that cost about $12 million each.
Space suits are not practical for an emergency situation -- for example, if the International Space Station (ISS) were struck by an object and needed to be repaired immediately.
It takes an astronaut at least three hours to prepare for a space walk to perform such repairs.

NASA has recognized the frailty of our bodies and is preparing a new breed of astronauts to perform some of the more difficult tasks in space.
These new space explorers won't need space suits or oxygen to survive outside of spacecraft

Robonaut's Body

Robonaut will have a humanoid design in order to mimic the movements of a real person.



Some versions of the robot use the Segway HT for locomotion.

Robots aren't new to the space program.
Robotic probes and rovers have been traveling to Mars since before man stepped foot on the moon.
In 1965, the Mariner IV planetary probe sent back the first images of the red planet at close range.
In 1997, the Pathfinder rover provided scientists with unprecedented detail of the Martian atmosphere and surface.
What's different about the latest robotic astronaut is that it has a humanoid design with a head, two eyes, arms and five-digit hands.
Let's take a look at the individual parts that make up the Robonaut:

Head --
Two small color video cameras are mounted in the head piece that delivers stereo vision to the astronaut operating the Robonaut. Stereolithography was used to make an epoxy-resin helmet to cover and protect the head piece. The neck is jointed to allow the head to turn side to side and up and down.


Torso --
The torso provides a central unit for connecting the peripheral arm, head and leg attachments. It also houses the control system...

Leg --
The one part of the Robonauts design that deviates from the humanoid look is that it has only one leg.
The leg's only function is to provide support when the hands are unable to.

Arms --
Just like its human counterparts, the Robonaut will have two arms that can move in many directions and have a greater range than our own arms.
The arms will be equipped with more than 150 sensors each and will be densely packed with joints.
Space-rated motors, harmonic drives and fail-safe brakes will be integrated into each arm.

Hands --
Perhaps the most impressive parts of the Robonaut are its hands. Its hands are the closest to the size and ability of human hands inside a space suit. The jointed hand may even exceed the movements of a suited human hand. Fourteen brushless motors to power each hand are inside the eight-inch-long forearm. The hand has four fingers and an opposable thumb. The hand was designed with five digits so that it would be compatible with tools designed for humans. Researchers have demonstrated the Robonaut's ability to pick up a small metal washer with tweezers. Together, the arm and hand unit can lift 21 pounds (9.5 kg), which doesn't sound like much, but in a weightless environment it's plenty of strength.



Controlling the Robonaut
While Robonaut is sent out of the spacecraft to work on repairs or new construction, a human astronaut inside the spacecraft will control it remotely.
The astronaut will be outfitted with a helmet and gloves, and Robonaut will mimic the astronaut's movements.
If the astronaut looks up, the Robonaut's head will tilt backward to do the same.
As the astronaut turns his or her head, whatever the Robonaut's cameras are focused on will be displayed inside the helmet that is controlling the robot's head movements.
This form of remote control is called tele-presence, which virtually puts the astronaut in position to work on a spacecraft without actually being outside the spacecraft.


The primary purpose of Robonaut is to do what humans can't -- make a quick escape from a spacecraft to an environment with no oxygen.
It can depart the spacecraft in the fraction of the time that a human astronaut can. In an emergency situation, when timing is crucial to survival, the Robonaut could save lives of future space voyagers. Robonaut won't be limited to use in space. It could also be used to go into hazardous locations on Earth in place of humans, like volcanoes and nuclear plants.

Robonaut will be powered by PowerPC processors, which has been used in other space applications. The processors will run the VxWorks real-time operating system. NASA says that this combination offers flexible computing and could support varied development activities. The system's software is written in C and C++. ControlShell software is used to aid the development process and provides a graphical development environment, which enhances researchers understanding of the system and code.

With computing power nearly doubling every two years, Robonaut could one day be looked back on as the beginning of a robotic takeover of the space industry.
Robots with artificial intelligence, not man, could be the first explorers to walk on other planets in our solar system.
Can you imagine hearing,
"That's one small step for machines, and one giant leap for robot-kind."
While that is unlikely to happen, the possibilities are exciting.

Its likeness to Star Wars bounty hunter Boba Fett has been noted by some.
This is due to the fact that both Robonaut's and Boba Fett's designers were inspired by the appearance of the Roman Centurion helmet.

http://www.firstscience.com/site/articles/robonaut.asp
http://science.howstuffworks.com/robonaut.htm
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IMB

Wow............................................................................

I.M. Boggled......here ya go....my personal collection of links that I thought you might find interesting. Astronomy/Astrophysics is a hobby/interest of mine as well :smile:
(most should still be active....although there may be the random one that is not)

Future Missions...

ESA Mission Links

A Journey to the Beginning of the Solar System
http://www-ssc.igpp.ucla.edu/dawn/

Aurora - the European Programme for the Exploration of the Solar System
http://www.esa.int/esaMI/Aurora/

Gaia - Mapping the Universe
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/120377_index_0_m.html

Mission to Mercury
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/120391_index_0_m.html

Venus Express
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/120388_index_0_m.html

X-ray Evolving Universe Spectroscopy
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/120369_index_0_m.html

Other Future Mission Links

Prometheus Program
http://prometheus.jpl.nasa.gov/

Kepler Mission-Search for Terrestrial Planets
http://www.kepler.arc.nasa.gov/

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
http://centauri.larc.nasa.gov/LRO/

Mars Exploration Mission
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/future/msl.html

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/

Mission to Pluto
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/

Phoenix Mars Lander
http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/

Searching For New Worlds
http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/SIM/sim_index.html

Terrestrial Planet Finder
http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/TPF/tpf_index.html

Single Aperture Far-Infrared Observatory
http://safir.jpl.nasa.gov/index.asp

Supernova / Acceleration Probe
http://snap.lbl.gov/

James Webb Space Telescope
http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/

Cosmos-1 / Solar Sail
http://www.planetary.org/solarsail/

Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer
http://wise.ssl.berkeley.edu/

Random Astronomy/Exploration Type Links

Cyclops Cassini
http://ciclops.lpl.arizona.edu/

Cassini-Huygens
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/index.html

Explore Mars Now
http://www.exploremarsnow.org/

Extra-solar Planets Catalog
http://www.obspm.fr/encycl/catalog.html

Red Nova
http://www.rednova.com/

SETI
http://www.seti.org/site/pp.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=178025

The Nine Planets
http://www.nineplanets.org/

Deep Impact
http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/

Space.Com
http://www.space.com/news/

Galaxy Evolution Explorer
http://www.galex.caltech.edu/MEDIA/

Discovery is a "Go" for Launch
Mission Status Summary
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ALL SYSTEMS AND WEATHER CONDITIONS are at GO status.
Launch remains scheduled for 2:37:55 p.m. EDT.

All weather conditions remain "go" at this time. Crosswinds at the launch site's emergency runway that would be used if Discovery aborts the mission could be an issue.
The winds cannot exceed 17 knots.

At T minus 20 a hold is routinely declared.
During this built-in hold, all computer programs in Firing Room 4 of the Complex 39 Launch Control Center will be verified to ensure that the proper programs are available for the countdown; the landing convoy status will be verified and the landing sites will be checked to support an abort landing during launch today; the Inertial Measurement Unit preflight alignment will be verified completed; and preparations are made to transition the orbiter onboard computers to Major Mode 101 upon coming out of the hold. This configures the computer memory to a terminal countdown configuration.
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T-9 minutes and COUNTING

Mission Management Team chairman John Shannon has polled his team for a readiness call to proceed with the countdown.
No constraints were reported.
Weather officials say all conditions currently observed and forecast for launch are acceptable!

Engineers are reporting there is a potential for the liquid oxygen inlet temperature to be slightly too warm late in the countdown.
The plan to remedy the situation, if it happens, is hold the clock at T-minus 31 seconds for about a minute to let the normal liquid oxygen drainback cool the temperatures to within limits.


when the current count continues @ T-9 minutes the following will happen:

* Start automatic ground launch sequencer
* Retract orbiter access arm (T-7 minutes, 30 seconds)
* Start auxiliary power units (T-5 minutes, 0 seconds)
* Arm solid rocket booster range safety safe and arm devices (T-5 minutes, 0 seconds)
* Start orbiter aerosurface profile test, followed by main engine gimbal profile test (T-3 minutes, 55 seconds)
* Retract gaseous oxygen vent arm, or "beanie cap"
(T-2 minutes, 55 seconds)
* Crew members close and lock their visors
(T-2 minutes, 0 seconds)
* Orbiter transfers from ground to internal power
(T-50 seconds)
* Ground launch sequencer is go for auto sequence start (T-31 seconds)
* Activate launch pad sound suppression system
(T-16 seconds)
* Activate main engine hydrogen burnoff system
(T-10 seconds)
* Main engine start (T-6.6 seconds)

T-0

* Solid rocket booster ignition and liftoff!





The 15-story tall, rust-colored external tank is the only shuttle element that isn't reused.
It feeds more than half a million gallons of fuel to the shuttle's three main engines during launch.


Orbiter: Discovery
Mission: STS-121
Launch: July 4, 2006
Time: 2:38 p.m. EDT (1838 GMT)
Site: Pad 39B, Kennedy Space Center, Florida

Today's countdown was given a "go" last night by the Mission Management Team following analysis of an area of cracked insulation foam spotted on an upper section of the external tank.
During a routine inspection Sunday night after the draining of the external fuel tank, a crack was discovered in the foam near a bracket that holds the liquid oxygen feedline in place.

Extensive inspection showed that the area around the crack is intact and there is no concern for overheating around the bracket, as there is adequate foam still in place around the strut.
Additional borescope inspection of the tank revealed that the metal bracket itself has no cracks.

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Mission Status Summary



The crew module hatch swung shut at 12:22 p.m.

The astronauts began boarding the shuttle at 11:14 a.m. EDT.
All seven were aboard by 11:54 a.m.

Weather forecast calls for 80 percent chance of good conditions today.

The precise target launch time is 2:37:55 p.m. EDT (1837:55 GMT).

STS-121 HAS LAUNCHED


An excellent Non-Nasa "Mission Status Center" Site run by an ex-Shuttle Flyboy.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts121/status.html

I'm telepathically "chatting" with the "Nauts" right now.




U.F.O.'s...(Fact or Fiction?) Unidentified Flying Objects
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=15787



PsychedelicMess,
Thank You for your imput with all the relevent links.

IMB

http://www.futurehorizons.net/time2.htm
http://www.futurehorizons.net/time.htm

Time travel...for $600

I.M. Boggled said:

I'm telepathically "chatting" with the "Nauts" right now.




U.F.O.'s...(Fact or Fiction?) Unidentified Flying Objects
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=15787

Click to expand...

ROFL

Why is SETI keeping secrets ??

Why is SETI keeping secrets ??

I found this blurb and was pretty amazed it was kept quiet ...

According to Dr. Steven Greer, yes, SETI has received multiple extraterrestrial signals. This news he says, is confirmed by senior employees within the SETI program.

This is what Greer had to say at a recent Exopolitics Conference:

"We have confirmation - and I'm not going to give the name yet because we are trying to coax this guy out of the closet - but one of the senior people in the SETI project, which is the Carl Sagan Search for Extraterrestrial project, has confirmed to the Disclosure Project that they have received multiple extraterrestrial signals," Greer said.

"but that now they are getting external human, probably NRO or NSA jamming of those signals and they are getting very frustrated. "

Greer continued, "The question is why hasn't the SETI project, funded by Paul Alan the co-founder of Microsoft, come forward with this information? I'm a little uncomfortable even mentioning this, except for the fact that the public needs to know that this effort, which has received a great deal of mainstream media attention, has actually confirmed to us from two inside sources that they have received extraterrestrial signals and have confirmed them as being extraterrestrial and that they have become increasing in frequency and number."

Dr. Steven Greer is head of the the Disclosure Project, a non-profit organization with almost now 500 former military, intelligence, and government employees who go on record about their various experiences with aliens and alien technology.

Since the National Press Conference of 2001, viewed by millions of people across the globe, Steven Greer has been referred to as the authority on the truth about extraterrestrials.

For Greer to come out and make a statement of this magnitude, something is defiantly up. We will wait patiently to see whether or not these SETI insiders take the stage and become whistle blowers for this monumental secret.

Watch the video below of Dr. Steven Greer at the conference while he discusses this new SETI situation.

http://www.alienvideo.net/seti-makes-contact-video.htm

Very interesting!! thanks for all the info....

GUINEAPIGS IN SPACE!!!!




your space-pig friend guineapig

FnordTech will be doing rip-roarin' biz once this SETI thing gets out.......

6 July 2006
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5154396.stm?ls
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The space shuttle Discovery has docked with the International Space Station (ISS) after a two-day trip from Earth.

It arrived at the orbital outpost at 1052 EDT (1452 GMT), and the hatches between the two craft were opened around 100 minutes later.

Discovery performed a "backflip" before docking so the ISS crew could inspect the ceramic tiles on its underbelly.

These tiles form part of the shuttle's heat shield, vital for protecting the craft on its fiery descent to Earth.

Discovery's seven astronauts - five men and two women - were greeted with hugs and smiles by the ISS crew Pavel Vinogradov and Jeffrey Williams as they entered the space station.

Before docking, Commander Steve Lindsey took manual control of Discovery about 300 metres (1,000ft) from the ISS.

He performed the flip about 180m (600ft) below the station, so that Vinogradov and Williams could take pictures of its belly.

The nine-minute, 360-degree manoeuvre is among several measures Nasa has taken to increase safety since the Columbia disaster in 2003.

Live pictures of the docking sequence were broadcast around the world as it began about 220 miles (350km) above Earth, each craft travelling at about at 17,500 mph (28,200km/h).

As the shuttle's jets cut off and space station latches automatically hooked onto the shuttle, a Nasa mission control commentator - at the Johnson Space Center in Texas - said: "Contact confirmed."

Delivering the payload

Discovery is making the 115th flight of the American shuttle programme.

The spacecraft will unload almost 13 tonnes of equipment and supplies to the space station.

One of the shuttle's crew members, Thomas Reiter from Germany, will also stay on at the ISS for a six-month mission, along with Vinogradov, a Russian, and Williams, an American.

This will make Reiter the first European Space Agency (Esa) astronaut to get an extended stay on the platform.

Fellow Discovery crew members Mike Fossum and British-born Piers Sellers plan to carry out two or three space walks during their visit to the ISS.

At least one of these will be devoted to testing techniques that could be used to repair small defects on the shuttle's surface tiles.

Discovery is expected to spend at least eight days docked with the space station, before beginning the return journey to Earth.

It is scheduled to return to the Kennedy Space Center on 16 July.

Extensive checks

On Wednesday, Nasa flight director John Shannon said photographs of the shuttle taken by the crew had found no apparent damage.

Some unusual streaks on the right wing were thought to be bird droppings.

"Overall the tank performance was really outstanding," said Mr Shannon. "It has just been a great day in space for the crew and the vehicle."

Nasa officials hope the clean bill of health so far indicates they have solved the problem of falling foam from shuttle fuel tanks that caused the Columbia disaster in 2003.

A suitcase-sized chunk of insulation foam broke away from Columbia's external tank on lift-off and punched a hole in the vehicle's left wing.

This allowed superheated gases to get inside the orbiter's structure, causing it to tear apart as it made its descent towards Earth.

Some foam was also seen to break away from Discovery's tank during Tuesday's launch but Nasa officials do not believe they were of sufficient size, or moving at sufficient speed, to damage the orbiter.

Story from BBC NEWS.
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Verite...interesting stuff...you've cued a renewed interest by me in S.E.T.I. ,
I'ma readin' away on Wazzup with them..."curiouser and curiouser", said alice...
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I can't wait for the movie
"GUINEA-NAUTS In SPACE: THE CAVIES REVENGE

HEHE
(cavies = guinepigs)
don't ya just hate jokes ya gotto 'splain to folks ]

I personally think that sending people up in a machine designed in the early 70's, that uses computers less powerful than a palmtop and is in shit shape is a serious crime.

NASA has fucked the dog in a big way for a long time.

Their original plan in the 50's and early 60's was for reusable space planes, of which the end result was the X-15. If they had followed that track, planes that take off from a runway and achieve orbit would have been reality 10-20 years ago, easy.

Instead, they totally changed the program once the Russians put a man on top of a ballistic missile, for totally political reasons, and opted for the "Spam in a Can" school of space travel.

Yet again, another instance of politics interfering in science in a big and deliterious way.

Outdated shuttle...without a doubt...not a bad first attempt given the existing knowledge at the time., I'll give them that though ...
A Modern Redesign of the launchable semi truck..."it's a good thing" .
stats @ a 2% +/- death rate on launch/reentry currently with U.S. shuttle craft.
screwindapooch to keep the NASA funding coming.....I'm actually suprised that they launched with all the various reservations by the head safety engineer ... and various et al types.

So far so good.
Me, I be prayin' for a very safe, error free return of our Shuttle Crew...AMEN

They all got big ol brass ones, even the the women "nauts".
Brave people everyone of them..

IMB

Where's Waldo?
http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/6822/planeetatjathdeteq4.jpg