Article

2008-09-19 Science & Technology

Space shuttle moved to launch pad as rescue ship

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Posted by tu3031 2008-09-19 15:54|| || Front Page|| [2 views ] Top

#1 What if both shuttles get damaged and "fail"? Will they have to build a new one cobbled out of the wrecks of the old?

Posted by DarthVader 2008-09-19 16:43|| 2008-09-19 16:43|| Front Page Top

#2 Why send it into the Pacific? ... It would make more sense to park it near the space station for use outside the atmosphere.

Posted by 3dc 2008-09-19 17:09|| 2008-09-19 17:09|| Front Page Top

#3 The shuttle Endeavour is on standby in case the seven astronauts...

The management at NASA hasn't learned a thing. Ok, there's risk. However, if one is saying it's that risky to have a standby on the pad, then why send up 7 astronauts. If its that risky, you reduce the crew to a minimum which also increases the time line in order to get the other up because there is less drain on resources in the vehicle.

Posted by Procopius2k 2008-09-19 17:14|| 2008-09-19 17:14|| Front Page Top

#4 I'm missing something here.

If the higher debris littered orbit of the Hubble is the issue, why not bring Atlantis back to LEO or to the ISS to wait for rescue/repairs?

If the location is the problem is sending a 2nd shttle into harms way the smartest decision? Who's going to rescue the rescuers if needed?

Posted by DLR 2008-09-19 17:29|| http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/ice_ages.html]">[http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/ice_ages.html] 2008-09-19 17:29|| Front Page Top

#5 i like 3dc's thinking, a (redneck)George Jetson-style trailer park with a set of blocks propping up Atlantis. send up a bass boat and an old sofa to complete the set.

Posted by USN, Ret. 2008-09-19 17:40|| 2008-09-19 17:40|| Front Page Top

#6 Why not bring it back to LEO or the ISS? Fuel, physics and orbital mechanics.

Posted by Steve White 2008-09-19 18:28|| 2008-09-19 18:28|| Front Page Top

#7 Are those the last two shuttles left?

Posted by General_Comment 2008-09-19 18:36|| 2008-09-19 18:36|| Front Page Top

#8 I think so, General_Comment. They were supposed to be replaced ages ago, but somehow NASA hasn't got round to it yet.

Posted by trailing wife ">trailing wife 2008-09-19 18:39|| 2008-09-19 18:39|| Front Page Top

#9 Better be careful with these ones then . . . .

Posted by General_Comment 2008-09-19 18:45|| 2008-09-19 18:45|| Front Page Top

#10 like 3dc's thinking, a (redneck)George Jetson-style trailer park with a set of blocks propping up Atlantis. send up a bass boat and an old sofa to complete the set.

Anyone remember the old TV series (I think it was called 'Salvage') where a salvage yard made their own spacecraft to go up and 'salvage' space junk?

Posted by CrazyFool 2008-09-19 19:08|| 2008-09-19 19:08|| Front Page Top

#11 I like one of Heinlein's short stories; I'm afraid I can't remember the title. A gentleman went into organized crime specifically to set up c4sinos on the moon, thus driving the government into a functional space program to follow the Mob there. A clever, if not ideal, way to push a research-oriented program toward practical applications.

Posted by trailing wife ">trailing wife 2008-09-19 19:27|| 2008-09-19 19:27|| Front Page Top

#12 Is this the Hubble repair flight?

Posted by Mizzou Mafia 2008-09-19 19:56|| 2008-09-19 19:56|| Front Page Top

#13 RTFA, duh.

Posted by Mizzou Mafia 2008-09-19 19:57|| 2008-09-19 19:57|| Front Page Top

#14 The show was called salvage one.

ORbits are funny, you could have one oval shaped that went as high as the hubble on one end and as low as the space station on the other. You'd be safe most of the time but occasionally debris might cross your path.

Most of the rubble is in LEO though. Wrenches, paint flecks, chunks of explosive bolts left behind after fifty years of space travel.

Posted by rjschwarz 2008-09-19 21:36|| 2008-09-19 21:36|| Front Page Top

#15 Mr Newton's physics and the math of orbital mechanics are strict masters.

That's why the oritbal changes are not possible with the mass involved and the energy availble in that time frame.

Posted by OldSpook 2008-09-19 22:41|| 2008-09-19 22:41|| Front Page Top