Page 1 of Space Shuttle `Discovery` successfully launched today...

No-one seems to have mentioned this yet - cool video here :

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4716463.stm#

Must be amazing to see it live from Cape Canaveral.


why take life so seriously..its not like you are going to make it out alive

When they were blasting the engine cylinders away, something came off the space shuttle. They think it may be tile or something :(

Hopefully the repair kit they have will ensure their safe return.

I`m glad it got off OK, and I hope they come back OK too (NASA saying "problems or not, we`ll launch tomorrow" wouldn`t have filled me with much confidence if I was an astronaut! :D) but we`ve had pictures on the news all week of starving kids in Niger, and call me a spoilsport, but I can`t help but think the money it must cost to fire people into space could have been better spent on sorting the people on Earth out first.

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They think it may be tile or something
Hopefully the repair kit they have will ensure their safe return.

If I were with them, I would be out there in a spacesuit and inspect the whole underbelly of the craft for missing heat tiles, as if your life depended on it.

Which it fact, it does :/

There is a major switch in thinking of blast off and re-entry, now that the X-prise has been won with a flimsy carbon fibre private spacecraft with NO heat tiles.

This brilliant piece of engineering allows the wings of the craft to fold upwards and come back to Earth with drag, ie, a slow pace, so slow in fact , as to not need heat tiles. Then the wings fold open to glide in.

Also on take off it is lifted to a high alttidue by a mother craft and thus uses less fuel to get into space.

Mans ingenuity is really amazing,

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but we`ve had pictures on the news all week of starving kids in Niger, and call me a spoilsport, but I can`t help but think the money it must cost to fire people into space could have been better spent on sorting the people on Earth out first.

Quite agree XFG. I realised why bush wouldn`t sign up to kyoto when i saw what came out of the shuttle too - a bit more polar ice cap gone. No wonder they keep invading countries to secure oil - i mean, i know they like big enginges but what MPG do you get from a shuttle? Don`t fancy filling that up at my local BP :D



...look into my eyes

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There is a major switch in thinking of blast off and re-entry, now that the X-prise has been won with a flimsy carbon fibre private spacecraft with NO heat tiles.

This brilliant piece of engineering allows the wings of the craft to fold upwards and come back to Earth with drag, ie, a slow pace, so slow in fact , as to not need heat tiles. Then the wings fold open to glide in.

My understanding is that while this is technically correct, the shuttle goes into high orbit, while the winner of the X-Prize was only for sub-orbital flights (the edge of space).

All credit to Starship 1\Mr Rutan for winning the prize, but the shuttle does need that extra kick to get it needs to be & the heat resistant tiles to get it down.

But yes with more work it is possible to reach space in a more cost effective manner, the Shuttle was designed in late 60`s early 70`s like Concorde both were ground breaking feats of engineering that by the time they came into practice & continual use were already out of date.

NASA expected it to be their workhorse (& it is) but havent managed in the intervening years arranged\budgeted\researched its replacement, leaving them rather dependent on a vehicle that is technically 30 years old & running on old 8086\8088 processors with less RAM than a BBC Model B.

The shuttle is due to be retired in 2010 & seems to me a great big hole in the US`s plans when you consider the statement that accompanied todays launch of Discovery.

Paraphrasing what was on the BBC video feed but essentially correct.....

"The space shuttle Discovery, taking America\man to the Moon, Mars & beyond"



I quite like the Helpdesk people in a benevolent (as opposed to malevolent) way as they do some valuable work in preventing us being inundated by every halfwit who can work a phone.

This item was edited on Wednesday, 27th July 2005, 00:05

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8086\8088 processors with less RAM than a BBC Model B.The shuttle does have new computers!!
however, NASA only just got the money it did get to build the shuttle, but was not given the money to build the shuttle they had wanted to build, and so it was always built down to a price. Most of the problems (at least the ones we know about) have been down to it being the cheap bargain basement model, rather than the one they had planned to build.


Cracking toast, Gromit!

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The shuttle does have new computers!!

I stand corrected but a few years back as I recall, there was a bit of a hunt on for 8088\8086 processors.

As with all things in a controlled enviroment "if it ain`t broke etc etc".



I quite like the Helpdesk people in a benevolent (as opposed to malevolent) way as they do some valuable work in preventing us being inundated by every halfwit who can work a phone.

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but we`ve had pictures on the news all week of starving kids in Niger, and call me a spoilsport, but I can`t help but think the money it must cost to fire people into space could have been better spent on sorting the people on Earth out first.
It`s natural to think along these lines, but to take that thought out to extremes, we would have to question every "non-value-added investment" that any indivudual or organisation makes..i.e. Millions spent developing Playstations or Xboxes when there are clearly better uses of that cash (life saving) .
We`re led to believe the experiments and studies going on up there (shuttle and ISS) and supposed to be for our benefit anyway...let`s hope that`s true!

Neil.

Totally agree. I like to think that ive got somewhat of a social conscience, but to my mind, the search for knowledge is one of the greatest things a person can do.

I would be dissapointed if they ever got rid of the space program. The problem is, there is always something `more worthy` to spend our money on, but where does it stop? Like is said, they are trying to advance the human race. Its not like they are wasting the money on cocaine and hookers.......