LIVE: STS-124 Flight Day 15 (EOM) - Deobit, Re-Entry and Landing

[jcopella]

Saw Discovery make her approach & landing to runway 15 from this terrific spot:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=28.643114,-80.747441&spn=0.003258,0.00457&t=h&z=18

Seems to be a little weather station for either KSC or the wildlife refuge -- there were no roadblocks, but even so we had a visit from KSC Security, who gave us the ok to stay (in case we needed it .  There's a slight hill -- maybe 20ft in elevation -- that gives you a terrific view almost to the SLF threshold.  Touchdown is obscured by the treeline, though, but we had plenty of elevation to still observe the gear coming down.

Recommended.

[ichilton]

Now uploaded:

Click Here to go to the "STS-124 Mission Videos: Interviews, Press Conferences etc" thread

Thanks!!

Ian

[BigKiai]

Any chance this was cause by a flying flame trench brick? Seems like an awefully remote chance it was - but it the hole does appear to have a right angle in it that might match the corner of a brick.

Do they do any type of post-flight analysis to try and determine how damage could occur here?

[kimmern123]

The damage to the flame trench was one the SRB-side of the trench. So the bricks would've been flying away from the orbiter, not towards it.

[BigKiai]

With all the fury of the launch, what if it bounced off of something via a ricochet?

[Chris Bergin]

Any chance this was cause by a flying flame trench brick? Seems like an awefully remote chance it was - but it the hole does appear to have a right angle in it that might match the corner of a brick.

Do they do any type of post-flight analysis to try and determine how damage could occur here?

No chance it was anything to do with the flame trench.

Yes, they do more analysis than it'd take you a year to read! We wrote up just one of those presentations on L2 into this article:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/content/?cid=5445

The team is called DAT. They start work literally as she's launching.

Also, the SSME dome TPS has a history of a minor nik like this also.

[eeergo]

It had something to do with an oversized plug in the tile, IIRC.

I would think any brick impacting some structure so that it would get the chance to ricochet would most certainly be pulverized before it could bouce off. Furthermore, if the damage had had something to do with the trench anomaly, the cameras would have seen it, and none did.

[Chris Bergin]

Any chance this was cause by a flying flame trench brick? Seems like an awefully remote chance it was - but it the hole does appear to have a right angle in it that might match the corner of a brick.

Do they do any type of post-flight analysis to try and determine how damage could occur here?

No chance it was anything to do with the flame trench.

Still the case, but we're following it up after acquiring the thermal imaging video on L2 of the launch that shows the bricks flying, including up into the to the side of the shuttle.

[Lee Jay]

Any chance this was cause by a flying flame trench brick? Seems like an awefully remote chance it was - but it the hole does appear to have a right angle in it that might match the corner of a brick.

Do they do any type of post-flight analysis to try and determine how damage could occur here?

No chance it was anything to do with the flame trench.

Still the case, but we're following it up after acquiring the thermal imaging video on L2 of the launch that shows the bricks flying, including up into the to the side of the shuttle.

I'm thinking Chris meant "...up and to the side...".

[Chris Bergin]

I did, that all-nighter with D-II/Jason-2's messed me up

[Chris Bergin]

Video of large amount of debris flying during STS-124 launch. We *think* it's bricks from the flame trench, but we don't know for sure. It's still being investigated, hense I really backed off from making any statements in the article.

Discovery was never at any risk.

Also includes other post 124 stuff.
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/content/?cid=5456

[catdlr]

Space Shuttle Landing |Approach to the Kennedy Space Center | STS-124

Sep 20, 2025  #nasa #spaceshuttlevideoarchive #returntoflight
The Space Shuttle Discovery concluded its STS-124 mission with a smooth landing at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on June 14, 2008. This flight delivered and installed Japan’s Kibo Pressurized Module to the International Space Station, marking a major milestone in the station’s assembly. After nearly two weeks in orbit supporting construction, cargo transfers, and spacewalks, Discovery and its crew touched down safely on Runway 15, completing another successful chapter in NASA’s shuttle program.

Atlantis STS-124 Astronaut Crew:
Commander:  Mark Kelly
Pilot: Ken Ham
Mission Specialist 1:  Karen Nyberg
Mission Specialist 2:  Ron Garan
Mission Specialist 3:  Mike Fossum
Mission Specialist 4:  Akihiko Hoshide
Mission Specialist 5:  Gregory Chamitoff (Up) / Garrett Reisman (Down)