NASA woes
 

http://www.nasa.gov/

for those who haven't had the news on this morning.

Just have one thing to say ... those were some really old shuttles. And with alot of technical problems due to the age. I'm not that suprized.

man, this sucks. we just had an astronaut in speaking in one of my classes a few weeks ago about how safe the space program is (i go to purdue university and over 1/3 of all astronauts are our alumns). makes you wonder sometimes i guess. i heard they had some sort of insulation problem on one of the wings just after takeoff...

They were coming in, not taking off.

i know, but since some of the insulation was damaged, they're thinking that may be a factor when the shuttle was re-entering the atmosphere

they recenty had to re-weld the engines due to micro-cracks, maybe thats what gave

no engine failures, no structural fatigue... its all about a missing or loose tile from that foam chunk falling off...

yeah, thats the insulation i was talking about. the insulation on the space shuttle feels like styrofoam sort of.

Like Joe, the space quest is also an interest of mine.

Until we know for sure, anything said would be speculation.

There was a piece of insulating foam (from the main tank, which holds liquid hydrogen and oxygen, and keeps it cold) that came off, and bounced off of the left wing.

It was the third time in a row that it happened. However... the ground crew assesed it as non-threatening to flight safety. Maybe they were right, maybe not.

In the mean time, all flights are cancelled, until the cause of the disaster is understood.

What is known is that there was a hydraulic failure detected, possibly an overheat condition on the left wing, loss of some non-critical sensors, then complete loss of contact, at 8h16am central time at which point, the shuttle Columbia was at an altitude of slightly more than 200'000 feet (~8 miles), speed of over 12'000 mph ( > mach 18), and at that critical re-entry point, where things get the hottest.

I don't believe that the age of the orbiter had anything to do with it.

I believe that they will have to put in place a procedure by which they examine the shuttle's tiles, and make repairs, before re-entry. If that's the case, flights will be on hold for many months.

In the mean time, the Russians can keep re-supplying the ISS (International Space Station).

The purpose of the flight was strictly scientific, and was not related to the ISS. Some data from the science experiments was transmitted to the ground, some was not.

200k Feet = 40 miles :)

correct me if im wrong.

but havent they finished the re entering phase?? i mean, 40 miles is pretty low right? i read they were flying something like mach 3.

so, that should mean that it wasnt an insulation problem.

well, i guess its time to finish the venture star project and replace those old shuttles before they fall apart.

no they were at peak re-entry temp. Mach 18, and 200,000 feet.

just 4 minutes before the loss of contact they were traveling at around mach 25 and 350,000 feet.

its not over until the shuttle hits the landing strip...deployed ths chutes...and all the support vehicles have come to a complete stop...

And then some.