STS-133 Shuttle Mission to the International Space Station Launches Thursday 21:50 GMT

Cosimo · 26 Feb 2011 at 18:26

GJ02 said:
sim man
what holds the shuttle to the launch pad ? and at what point is it not supported ?

You've seen the answers. The whole thing is supported by the SRBs. This will give you a picture:

http://nasatech.net/Pad39ALSRB100921/

Merlin5 · 26 Feb 2011 at 18:29

simulatorman, why is it that there aren't heat tiles on the whole of the orbiter, only the underside? I know the underside gets most of the heat plasma build up on the way back through earth's atmosphere, but doesn't the rest of the body get an enormous amount of heat too?

GJ02 · 26 Feb 2011 at 18:38

simulatorman said:
You've seen the answers. The whole thing is supported by the SRBs. This will give you a picture:

http://nasatech.net/Pad39ALSRB100921/

lol i thought i was going mad then, the picture was moving ! lol

Cosimo · 26 Feb 2011 at 18:40

Merlin5 said:
simulatorman, why is it that there aren't heat tiles on the whole of the orbiter, only the underside? I know the underside gets most of the heat plasma build up on the way back through earth's atmosphere, but doesn't the rest of the body get an enormous amount of heat too?

The whole shuttle is covered with varying degrees of protection. Explained here:

http://depts.washington.edu/matseed...e/Space Shuttle Tiles/Space Shuttle Tiles.htm

More:

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

Berserker · 26 Feb 2011 at 18:41

VaderDSL said:
Obviously it is held by that large protective cover for the large portion of its stay at the launch pad, not sure on the name of it though.

The Rotating Service Structure is mostly for access and protection, not support. Prior to tanking, almost all the weight is the full Solid Rocket Boosters (571,000 kg each). The orbiter, even full, is a tenth of that, and the ET even less. All this means that the RSS would do more harm than good if it tried to offer any support.

Merlin5 · 26 Feb 2011 at 18:48

simulatorman said:
The whole shuttle is covered with varying degrees of protection. Explained here:

http://depts.washington.edu/matseed...e/Space Shuttle Tiles/Space Shuttle Tiles.htm

More:

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

Thanks! It's amazing that the composite quilted blankets on parts of the body don't burn up, those temps are still from 700c up to 1200c.

the_candyman · 26 Feb 2011 at 19:09

Yo the space shuttle is about to dock with the ISS

Sweeeeeeet

the_candyman · 26 Feb 2011 at 19:20

And they are docked. Well done team

Merlin5 · 26 Feb 2011 at 19:23

Another question

The robotic arms of the shuttle and the ISS will work together to install the first payload to the ISS. So, since there's no EVA today, presumably this piece of equipment must just get slotted into place by the arms, with no nuts and bolts to screw in?

Westyfield2 · 26 Feb 2011 at 19:31

the_candyman said:
And they are docked. Well done team

Was it streamed online or something? :confused:

the_candyman · 26 Feb 2011 at 19:35

Yeah it was buddy. links are on the first page of this thread

Westyfield2 · 26 Feb 2011 at 19:38

the_candyman said:
Yeah it was buddy. links are on the first page of this thread

Ah right, cheers. I hadn't looked at the opening post since Oct 2010!

Berserker · 26 Feb 2011 at 19:39

Merlin5 said:
Another question The robotic arms of the shuttle and the ISS will work together to install the first payload to the ISS. So, since there's no EVA today, presumably this piece of equipment must just get slotted into place by the arms, with no nuts and bolts to screw in?

Before anyone dares mention screws - absolutely not! You don't want spacewalkers going anywhere near screws. They'd go everywhere. They had to build all kind of special gizmos to stop screws getting loose when they were servicing Hubble. That was full of screws that were never meant to be taken out - except they had to be taken out.

Bolts? Yes. But in this case, it'll either be a motor-driven capture claw, or motor-driven bolts, or both. Power and data will be mechanically connected too.

Merlin5 · 26 Feb 2011 at 19:47

Cool, thanks for the info Berserker.

Cosimo · 26 Feb 2011 at 20:03

Merlin5 said:
Cool, thanks for the info Berserker.

Cargo transfer will be on Flight Day 4
Spacewalk 1 on FD 5
PMM installed on FD 6
Spacewalk 2 on FD 7

The two spacewalks:

You can find more into in the mission pack links in first post.

Cosimo · 26 Feb 2011 at 23:07

How to build a space station:

Combat squirrel · 27 Feb 2011 at 00:59

Shot from an american student science project, cost about $50-60 probably (£30-40), shows the vapour trail from Discovery entering orbit.

Merlin5 · 27 Feb 2011 at 02:53

I'm going to look out for discovery tonight. http://spaceweather.com/flybys/

For my town on 27th feb:

ISS - Discovery - rise time: 07:02:12 pm - direction:W - transit time :07:04:39 - elevation: 88° - magnitude: -4.0 (very bright)

Not sure which way is west though, guess I'll swing around all directions, there's a 2 minute window before it disappears.

2StepSteve · 27 Feb 2011 at 03:16

Merlin5 said:
I'm going to look out for discovery tonight. http://spaceweather.com/flybys/

For my town on 27th feb:

ISS - Discovery - rise time: 07:02:12 pm - direction:W - transit time :07:04:39 - elevation: 88° - magnitude: -4.0 (very bright)

Not sure which way is west though, guess I'll swing around all directions, there's a 2 minute window before it disappears.

You are not sure which way is West? Blimey! Do you at least know which direction your garden/back of the home is facing?

Google maps will help you of not!

Merlin5 · 27 Feb 2011 at 03:21

Yes I'll check with google maps, good idea. Don't know which direction my garden faces

Seems the front of my house is directly west facing so I'll just look straight ahead and upwards.