Discovery not out of the woods yet

[beefhole]

After a succesful launch, it looks like there may still be some complications to Discovery's mission.

CNN article here.

Theories range from bird strikes to "We don't know what the hell that was".  Here's to hoping they get it all sorted out and Discovery can continue on to a succesful mission without a hitch.  NASA is still trying to figure out the severity of the problem, if there is one.

[RichieB16]

You know, it seems to me that they are being a little over board with the debris issue.  I know thats what caused Columbia to be destroyed but the fact is there is no way to competely prevent it.  There has been impacts on EVERY space shuttle mission and thats just the way its going to be.  They have done a lot of work to improve it, but I don't expect it to be completely prevented.  Every shuttle mission has had tiles lost and damaged during launch-launch is a violent event.

I think this is just media hype.  But, I'm very happy to see Discovery in orbit and watching the launch on TV was a real treat (especially with the camara on the external fuel tank sending video images).  It was an awesome site.

[legoalex2000]

no kidding, that was a cool view. glad they did it.

mabye it was a "loose tile" just to create hype. my friend was saying that and i was like, A: your right, or B Shut up.

Ramos

[RichieB16]

I think they are just being very careful because of what happened with STS-107.

[beaky]

Well, they've had dinged tiles, etc. noticed after previous flights; it's not necessarily cause for alarm.
 What's important is now they have a procedure to check for significant damage before re-entry, something that may have made all the difference for Columbia.

[TacitBlue]

Woods? I thought they were in space



Seriously though, you can't be too safe. I think they do need to find a better way to attach those tiles if they keep falling off.

[RichieB16]

What's important is now they have a procedure to check for significant damage before re-entry, something that may have made all the difference for Columbia.

Thats true, and your right-thats what is importnat now.  Not only do they have a way to check for damage and repair minor problems, there is also a plan in the event that the damage is severe enough that the shuttle can't return they can stay at the space station until a rescue shuttle is prepaired (something that Columbia couldn't have done).

They said that their new repair systems couldn't repair a hole the size Columbia had but their "safe haven" emergency plan with ISS is the backup for that problem.  Now, all of our shuttles can dock with the station (Columbia was the only that couldn't) so that seems like a good backup plan.  The only problem now is that all our missions have to involve ISS-but that may change as NASA begins to feel safe again.

[RichieB16]

Just as a follow up, I found a really nice quote from flight director Paul Hill about the tiles and the new camara's.  

"...we are now going to have all these fabulous pictures of the bottom of the vehicle. We're going to see a lot of white dings, many or all of which I expect we will have in our flight history as cases we have landed with and were absolutely no impact. But we have talked about this a lot, now we're going to be presented with all of this and there is this concern that folks will over react, that we see little things that clearly are within the capability of the vehicle to bring us to the ground but now that we can see it, we may over react."

[Fozzer]

Woods? I thought they were in space ???

;D

Seriously though, you can't be too safe. I think they do need to find a better way to attach those tiles if they keep falling off.

Call in the experts...>>>

http://www.sandtoft.co.uk/index.php?pag ... 89a4bc493b

Paul... ... ...!

[legoalex2000]

you know, mabye they could use larger tiles, or smaller tiles, both have their pros and cons, or they could use that new heat shield for the X-51 or whatever it is. solid bottom.

cause when was the last time you heard a few tiles come off a 747 from a trans atlantic flight?

dont think this tile idea is the best anymore.

Ramos

[Paz]

when was the last time you heard a few tiles come off a 747 from a trans atlantic flight?

 When was the last time a 747 had to return from space and withstand the 3000 degree re-entry temperatures?

[beefhole]

When was the last time a 747 had to return from space and withstand the 3000 degree re-entry temperatures?

Paz has a point.... it hasn't been required to do that since the early 70s.

[Craig.]

It now appears they wont be making anymore shuttle flights until the falling debris of Foam can be completely stopped. I have a feeling that's going to be impossible to fix. Better hope then they dont have to send up Atlantis hadn't they.

[afi0yz]

Those tiles will always fall off thats why they have more than one layer of them.

And keep in mind that the tiles on the shuttle arent like ones you would find on your floor they are pretty thick but extremly brittle, without a coating that nasa puts on the bottom you could break them pretty easy

[RichieB16]

The problem is not with the tiles, the tiles work great-theyare better than any other heat shield for a spacecraft ever devised.  The problem is they are ceramic and as a result they are brittle.  NASA needs to minimize impacts with the tiles-not prevent them.  It seems to me (from what I've read) the goal would be to not stop the foam from coming off the tank during launch but to design a foam that doesn't come off in huge chunks.  Bare in mind, the Columbia accident was a combonation of several really unfotuante things.  First off, that was the biggest piece of debris to hit a spacecraft during launch in American history.  Second, it hit the shuttle in the worst possible place.  The mass of the foam chunk caused the damage.  Thats what they have been working on, is to make it so the foam doesn't come off in such big pieces.  And, if it does and it damages the shuttle-there is a plan in the works to fix the problem.  

In the end, the tiles work just great-there is no reason to abondon them for something else.