Discovery ready to fly

[philw]

http://www.news.com.au/world/discovery-ready-to-fly-last-mission/story-e6frfkyi-1226010477400

Discovery 'ready to fly' last mission


The space shuttle Discovery is "ready to fly" on its final mission to the International Space Station. Discovery, which first flew in 1984, will be the first shuttle to enter retirement when it concludes this mission / AFP, Getty

NASA said today that the space shuttle Discovery is "ready to fly" on its final mission to the International Space Station and weather looks good for launch on February 24.

"Over the last few months the team has been very busy effecting repairs to the external tank and making it stronger than ever," said NASA test director Steve Payne.

"We have also resolved a problem with a hydrogen vent system leak and are now ready to fly again," he said.

Mr Payne said there was one small interior leak on a reaction control system regulator but described the issue as "minor" and one that NASA has seen before, so it was not expected to impact the launch planned for 4:50 pm (8.50am Friday AEST) on Thursday local time.

"Our launch countdown is proceeding smoothly and is on schedule," said Mr Payne.

Shuttle launch weather officer Kathy Winters expected Thursday to be mainly sunny and breezy, with only a 20 per cent likelihood of unfavourable weather for the launch at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

"Overall, the weather looks good," she said.

Discovery was initially scheduled to fly in November 2010 but cracks emerged on the external fuel tank just ahead of the launch, postponing the mission until now.

Discovery, which first flew in 1984, will be the first shuttle to enter retirement when it concludes this mission. The other two remaining in the fleet, Atlantis and Endeavour, are slated for their final flights later this year.

Tanking is set to begin on Thursday morning at 7.25am (11.25pm AEDT) and that should take about three hours to complete, Mr Payne said. The six-member crew is to arrive at the launch pad at around 1.30pm(5.30am AEDT) .

The 11-day mission aims to deliver spare parts and install a new module to the International Space Station.

The Permanent Multipurpose Module will provide room for extra storage and space for experiments.

Discovery will also bring Robonaut 2, which NASA has described as "the first dexterous humanoid robot in space."

Astronauts will first test how it works in microgravity before figuring out how upgrades could graduate the robot to a full-fledged space assistant.

Discovery returns to Earth on March 7, and when it is retired the shuttle will have flown more missions than any other spacecraft, NASA said.

"I can tell you it has generated a lot of interest," Payne said.

"People are starting to realise that they either see one now or they don't get to see one at all, so we have had some pretty good crowds come the last couple of times we expect an equally large crowd for this one," he said.

"It is always impressive to watch so I am sure we will have a full house."

can not wait to see what they end up replacing them with

[JC5123]

http://www.news.com.au/world/discovery-ready-to-fly-last-mission/story-e6frfkyi-1226010477400
can not wait to see what they end up replacing them with

Nothing.    The new mission for NASA is to tell the Muslims what wonderful contributions they have made to science.


http://thehuntsvillepatriot.com/2010/07/the-new-goal-of-nasa-appease-muslim-world/

[billt]

I had a pass back in 1980 and got to see the fourth launch of Columbia. Mattingly and Hartsfield were the pilots. The sound was unbelievable. The whole ground shook. This video is pretty good as far as the sound. Watch when the blast from the nozzles hits them after it rolls over at around 35 seconds into the launch. The girl on the right runs off camera, and the one on the left makes the sign of the cross.  Bill T.

[jnevis]

Orion was SUPPOSED to replace the Shuttles but Obummer has all but killed all funding to develop them.  Still working on it though.

[billt]

Orion was SUPPOSED to replace the Shuttles but Obummer has all but killed all funding to develop them.

Yet still another reason to hate the SOB!  Bill T.

[Sponsor]

[tombogan03884]

Govt. has gone about as far s they can in space exploration. The next step is to spur the private sector into finding a way to make it worth going.

[billt]

The private sector will never go to Mars, or be able to supply the International Space Station for that matter. That in itself is a pressing need at the moment. It's hard enough to do in itself without trying to attach a profit margin to it. We've been the leader in space for decades, now we have to hitch a hide with the Russians. Less than half of what we spend on these worthless illegals would fund NASA, plus put us well on a course to land a man on Mars in 20 years. Instead that worthless POS wants NASA to kiss muslim ass. He makes me want to puke!  Bill T.

[Timothy]

Having grown up with the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions and all the excitement was cool but, I don't see any reason to keep spending money to travel to the moon again, Mars, or any other system for that matter.  It has nothing to do with Obummo.  I've felt this way for years.

I know, progress, science, technology, blah, blah, blah....

It's my opinion, nothing more.  I've felt for at least twenty years that NASA was a welfare state for engineers.

[JC5123]

It's my opinion, nothing more.  I've felt for at least twenty years that NASA was a welfare state for engineers.

I actually find myself agreeing with you here. I have respect for NASA as one of the few government agencies that I would fight tooth and nail to support. Because I feel that we as a species cannot advance toward our potential any further until we leave this planet.

However, it also seems that after we landed on the moon, NASA has had no real vision for the future. They just kind of quit after that. Since then what have they REALLY accomplished that has inspired the world to push the boundaries of what we thought was possible. I guess it's just like every other government agency, do just enough so that your budget doesn't get cut next year.

[Timothy]

I honestly don't think we can survive as a species, regardless of where we end up.  We have 6 billion humans on this planet who don't get along very well.  Changing the scenery ain't going to change that...

again, just my .02...