Discovery crew checks for damage

[Guest Glenn]

Source: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/ ... 61,00.html

 

THE crew of the space shuttle Discovery have spent their first day in space scouting their ship for heat shield damage that might have occurred during their night-time launch - the first since the Columbia disaster in 2003.Engineers will spend the next few days studying images collected by the astronauts, who painstakingly manoeuvred a sensor-laden, 50-foot extension to the shuttle's robot arm over the ship's wings and nosecap.

 

Those areas absorb the most heat during the shuttle's re-entry into the atmosphere during landing.

 

In-flight inspections have been a routine part of shuttle missions since flights resumed last year after the Columbia disaster.

 

Columbia was hit by a piece of falling foam during launch which smashed into a wing, causing damage that led to the ship's breakup and the deaths of its seven crewmembers during a landing attempt 16 days later.

 

NASA's three post-Columbia shuttle launches have all be conducted during daylight hours so cameras would have a clear view of any debris falling off the fuel tank.

 

After two tank redesigns and two successful flights, NASA decided it was ready to lift the night-time launch ban, which severely restricts the number of opportunities to fly the shuttle to the International Space Station.

 

Without the flexibility to launch in darkness, NASA would not have enough time to finish assembling the half-built International Space Station before the shuttle fleet is retired in 2010.

 

The shuttles are the only ships suitable for space station construction and at least 14 missions, including Discovery's, are needed to complete the station.

 

The shuttle can only be launched at precise times when the station is within reach of the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida and when sun angles and other conditions are suitable for the shuttle to be in orbit.

 

In addition to the inspections, Discovery astronauts checked out the space suit needed for three spacewalks planned to upgrade the station.

 

The primary goal of Discovery's flight is to deliver a new external structural segment for the station and rewire the electrical system.

 

Discovery is also carrying a new resident crewmember for the space station. Sunita Williams will swap places with outgoing station flight engineer Thomas Reiter, with the European Space Agency.

 

The shuttle is due to arrive at the station at 5:05pm EST Monday (9.05am Tuesday AEDT).

 

The 12-day flight is expected to wrap up with a landing at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on December 21.

[Guest ~HG~]

I am not sure that continuing construction of the space station is a good idea at all.

 

It is now so old that one would think that when completed it will not be suitable to be deployed for what it was designed to do.

 

I think they would be better off building a station on the moon instead.

 

 

[Guest Glenn]

They are going to be building a station on the moon.

 

 

[Guest MattyMan]

I am not sure that continuing construction of the space station is a good idea at all.It is now so old that one would think that when completed it will not be suitable to be deployed for what it was designed to do.

 

I think they would be better off building a station on the moon instead.

Definitely couldn't agree with you more. I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't suitable to do what it was designed to do, due to it's age.