Space Shuttle STS-121 - Mission ULF1.1 to the International Space Station

Launching next Wednesday would suit me. :)

We'll have to see what the MMT come up with. My guess is they'll want to fix it.
 
Visage said:
I can only assume you meant to say 'I hope they delay the launch until its fixed' ;)
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Not necessarily. If it is a critical flaw, then yes I certainly expect it to be fixed, which is most likely going to cause a delay. However what I sort of meant was, I hope the fault is not serious enough to warrent a fix or a delay.
 
Dirty minds. :p

Looks like they're going to go for it if they possibly can, but obviously, if they think the tank is going to be compromised as a result of the foam loss, they won't.
 
In true 'Science Fair' spirit, NASA Engineers have dangled a camera off an 8 foot length of flexible pipe and gone to look at the damaged area. :)

Result: we are once again GO for launch. :cool:

This is what caused all the consternation:
T3-83b.jpg


And this is where it came from:
T3-83a.jpg


NASA TV coverage resumes 9AM today.
 
I hope it all goes well, but i still don't like the idea that it is built by the lowest bidder. I know economics play a big part but it is lives we are talking about, so paying that bit more is surely worth it.
 
So there are bits of foam falling off while it sitting there do nothing, I would be extremely concerned if I was them!

HEADRAT
 
HEADRAT said:
So there are bits of foam falling off while it sitting there do nothing, I would be extremely concerned if I was them!
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They've had foam come off from those bracket areas before under similar circumstances. The 'foam' they use is more like polystyrene and has a tendency to chip off if any pressure is applied, which can happen if those brackets get wet (due to rain) while the tank is full and then the launch is scrubbed.

All pretty well understood and well documented. As they said in the press conference, this would have raised little or no concern pre-Colombia, but now they take every foam loss seriously.
 
Berserker said:
As they said in the press conference, this would have raised little or no concern pre-Colombia, but now they take every foam loss seriously.
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Excactly, they went from being very carefull to overly sensitive.

I hope that they will continue with the Shuttle, it would be very sad to lose the Space Shuttle after losing Concorde.
 
jmc777 said:
I take it they'd inform the astronauts about this?
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Obviously, but I doubt the Astronouts will mind that much.

I know I wouldn't mind a (small) security risk if I would get the chance to experience something only a very small percentae of people have ever experienced.
 
jmc777 said:
I take it they'd inform the astronauts about this?
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Astronauts were represented at both MMT meetings discussing the foam loss yesterday and no concerns were voiced. I think they said there was a five-fold safety margin on this foam even after the piece came off (bearing in mind they know how much is supposed to be there and they have the piece that came off). The area has just been re-inspected with expected frost on the feed lines, but no ice.
 
Backup circuit breaker has blown on the SRB heater system, but there's a contingency plan for this and it's fixable, so they're going to send someone out to replace the breaker. Launch unaffected (unless something unexpected happens).
 
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