23. July 2011 by RC Davison.

     The end of the shuttle era came on Thursday, July 21 at 5:57:54 a.m. when Atlantis came to a full stop on the runway at the Kennedy Space Center.  The amazing image below is a fitting finish to an amazing program, regardless of any arguments about traveling to low Earth orbit versus going to the Moon or Mars.

Here’s a link to a larger image.

     Some statistics for Atlantis:  It has traveled 125,935,769 miles while it orbited the Earth 4848 times and spent a total of 307 days in space.  It’s good to have all the shuttles back safely on the ground.

On a Orbital Maneuvers related note: I’ve put up a video promo for the book on YouTube.

Till next time,

RC Davison

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7. March 2011 by RC Davison.

     Well, actually, take a ride on the outside of Discovery on the solid rocket boosters (SRBs). NASA has 3 cameras on the SRBs: Forward (near the top of the SRB looking down); Intertank (near the top but facing the main fuel tank); Aft (near the bottom of the SRB looking up).

      The NASA video shows the launch from all three cameras on each booster. Each camera offers a unique perspective of the launch with the Intertank cameras providing the additional element of sound. It’s a wild ride anyway you look at it!

      Below is a list of key events on the video with their time-stamp if you don’t want to watch it real time. Some amazing footage to be sure!

STS-133 Launch SRB camera views:

SRB Left Forward Camera

• 2:25 - SRB separation

   

• 2:40 - Can see Discovery blazing on toward orbit

   

• 5:30 - SRB starts to settle down under its drogue chute

   

• 6:15 - Ocean surface detail can be seen

   

• 6:40 - SRB engine nozzle extension is jettisoned and impacts the water about 7 seconds later.

   

• 6:52 - The SRB hits the water

   

• 7:40 - The SRB floats vertically in the water

SRB Left Aft Camera

• 7:50 - The launch sequence repeats itself but with the camera view from the left SRB aft camera located near the bottom of the booster.

   

• 10:10 - Booster separation (The video is clearer on this camera.)

   

• 10:40 - Catch a glimpse of Discovery

   

• 14:40 - Spash down

SRB Left Intertank Camera (with sound)

• 14:45 - SRB left Intertank camera (Location looking at the ribbed side of the Main Fuel Tank). The video starts just before separation which occurs at:

   

• 15:17 - Note the separation engines in the nose cone pushing the right SRB away from the shuttle.

   

• 15:25 - Neat shot of right SRB as its engines sputter out

   

• (Interesting to hear the pops, clicks, hisses, moans and groans of the SRB as it descends.)

   

• 17:45 - You can see the exhaust trail from Discovery’s launch

   

• 18:00 - Catch a view of Discovery moving into orbit.

   

• 19:14 - Main chutes deploy at 19:23 as the reefing lines are cut opening to the first stage and at:

   

• 19:30 - Chutes fully deployed

   

• 19:45 - Impact on the surface

   

• 20:20 - Can see the SRB nose cone parachuting toward the ocean

   

SRB Right Forward Camera

• 20:32 - SRB Right Forward camera

   

• 22:58 - SRB separation

   

• 23:12 - Nice view of Discovery

   

• 25:00 - SRB engine nozzle extension is jettisoned

   

• 25:16 - Ocean impact

SRB Right Aft Camera

• 25:45 - SRB Right Aft camera

   

• 28:00 - SRB separation

   

• 28:38 - SRB Right Intertank from the point of main chutes deployed

   

• 28:46 - The chute reefing lines are cut and they open up more, slowing the booster

   

• 28:53 - The chutes are fully deployed.

   

• 29:09 - Splash down

  
  Hope you enjoyed the ride!!

  Till next time
  RC Davison
  

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26. January 2011 by RC Davison.

Friday, the 28^th of January is the 25th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Hard to believe it was that long ago. As I’ve been watching the recent developments with the shuttle Discovery (STS-133), with the series of delays due to faulty valves early on and then the discovery of numerous cracked stringers in the external fuel tank, it’s got me wondering if we are seeing a repeat of the same mentality that caused the disasters with Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003.

The O-ring problem on the solid rocket boosters that doomed Challenger first occurred on STS-2, the second flight of the shuttle Columbia that occurred on November 12, 1981. The problem was looked at by Thiokol, the company that designed the boosters, and they did some testing at elevated stress levels that turned up nothing, so it was written off as an anomaly. But, for the 15 shuttle launches that occurred between 1984 and the Challenger accident, all but three showed O-ring damage. It had not caused a problem up to that point and this deviation was normalized as routine—until January 28, 1986. The Challenger crew paid the cost of that behavior with their lives.

The same normalization of deviations applied to the foam and ice coming off the large external fuel tank that frequently pelted the shuttles, damaging their delicate ceramic tiles that form the heat shield for the vehicle. Foam falls off all the time, but it never caused a problem, so it must be okay to keep launching. February 1, 2003 proved that to be wrong when Columbia (STS-107) reentered the atmosphere with a hole in a leading edge carbon-carbon panel of the left wing, which allowed super-hot gases to destroy the structural integrity of the wing and the break up of the shuttle. Another crew paid the ultimate price for NASA accepting the abnormal as normal.

Today we are looking at the final launch of Discovery sometime towards the end of February 2011, postponed from the initial launch date back in November 2010. Did we get lucky this time? Could these cracked stringers in the main fuel tank have caused a failure of the tank as the shuttle raced into orbit? Equally important; is this a problem that has been there all along and it’s been accepted as the norm? I don’t know. I do know that I’m glad they found it and that repairs are under way to fix the problem. Hopefully we will see another successful mission for Discovery at the end of February. With the end of the shuttle program looming ever closer, NASA needs to be even more vigilant to ensure that the final missions launch and land without any problems.

If you want a nitty-gritty view of NASA from the inside, check out Mike Mullane’s book Riding Rockets. It gives you a peak behind the golden curtain NASA puts up for the general public. Very interesting.

Till next time,

RC Davison

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17. November 2010 by RC Davison.

     In novel, Orbital Maneuvers, the crew was able to return to Earth using the CRV or the Crew Return Vehicle.  NASA just posted a rather neat picture of the CRV hanging from the wing of the B-52 mother-ship.

     This is not a full size vehicle of the X-38 but only 80% scale model that was used for drop testing.  It’s very unfortunate that the CRV was not finished, as it would have provided an alternative to using two Russian Soyuz capsules as escape vehicles for a full space station crew compliment.  With the end of the space shuttle’s tour of duty drawing near, we are even more dependent on Russia to get to and from the ISS.  A situation that I sincerely hope does not place politics and international relations above the space science and research we’ve worked so hard to create and do on the ISS.

There is more information and pictures on the CRV and the Soyuz capsule on the website.

Here’s a link to a larger picture of the X-38.  Also, check out NASA’s Picture of the Day site for a daily fix for images of and about space and NASA technology.

Till next time,

RC Davison

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10. November 2010 by RC Davison.

     Thanks to the efforts of Emily Lakdawalla of the Planetary Society, there is a really neat image that shows to scale the International Space Station next to the nucleus of comet Hartley 2.  (Note that this is a composite picture created using graphic manipulation software.)

     We have an appreciation for how big the space station is relative to the shuttle but seeing it next to the comet gives one a better sense of how big this small comet is.   Check out Emily’s blog, she does a great job posting the latest developments in planetary science.

Till next time,

RC Davison

Posted in Solar System, Humans in Space | 3 Comments »

1. November 2010 by RC Davison.

Space Shuttle Discovery sits on the pad awaiting another leak (actually 2) to be repaired. this time in the pressurization system on the right maneuvering system.  About two weeks ago they were fixing a fuel leak.  Maybe this is routine as shuttle launches go, or maybe it is showing that time and space are beginning to take their toll.

(Shuttle Image courtesy Larry Tanner, United Space Alliance.  Click for larger image.)

I fear that we are pushing our luck with each launch of these complex machines.  Although well maintained and serviced, they are still operating with equipment and systems that are beyond their specified operating lifetimes.  From an engineering perspective, that’s not a good thing to be doing.  It angers me that we, as a country, have not had the foresight and energy to build a successor to the shuttle fleet such that we could retire these work-horses and continue exploring space and servicing the International Space Station (ISS) without interruption.  We dropped the ball as far back as the  1970’s when the last Apollo missions were canceled.

At this point there are no quick answers.  Commercial space flight may come about in the near future, but that is highly dependent on how successful the initial flights are, and if these companies can make money off the venture.  I’m not very comfortable being tied into using another country to get to the ISS, but for now that is all we’ve got.

For today, I hope Discovery has a flawless mission and returns safely to Earth with her crew.  The time has come for her to return to Mother Earth and reach no longer for the stars.

Till next time -

RC Davison

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