Author Topic: LIVE: STS-121: July 4th Launch / Flight Day 1 (Read 190512 times)

Shuttle Man · « **Reply #500 on:** 07/05/2006 03:17 am »

Once again, the best mix of interactive factual coverage. Very proud of what this site is doing. Thank you and Go Discovery!

realtime · « **Reply #501 on:** 07/05/2006 03:19 am »

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Flightstar - 4/7/2006 10:27 PM

Excellent coverage as always. A delight to see some many people caring and being interested. I thank you all.

May be an obvious point to most on here, but some sites seem to be getting carried away with the good news from Wayne Hale.

I think a lot of people really wanted this one to go well. What you're seeing reflects that. And being that it's the 4th of July, national pride was also lent to the event.

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STS-300 won't be stood down until after the OBSS inspection and analysis on the ground. Only then will it be know how clean the ascent was.

That's true. Being a perpetual worry-wart with little patience, I'm itching to see the hi-res photos. All of them. Right now.

NASA_Twix_JSC · « **Reply #502 on:** 07/05/2006 03:21 am »

Echo the praise from KSC, may this be a return to regular flight operations with the STS and bow out in style.

Thanks to Chris, the site and everyone on here for the coverage and support. You have no idea how much it means.

astrobrian · « **Reply #503 on:** 07/05/2006 03:29 am »

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realtime - 4/7/2006 10:06 PM I'm itching to see the hi-res photos. All of them. Right now.

Yeah me too. I noticed how great the launch pictures and video were today. With landing being the morning it should be some more of the same with picture quality

James (Lockheed) · « **Reply #504 on:** 07/05/2006 03:59 am »

Ditto to the notes of thanks above. As always, we aim for when we her wheel stop when it comes to Shuttle missions.

Zoomer30 · « **Reply #505 on:** 07/05/2006 04:03 am »

Did a search and did not see this. Sounds like the only "tech" issue was right after the throttle up call, the CMD came back as "Go at throttle up, UHF only". They come back with something about some "expected data hits, would clear up soon."

Seems they had a small issue with the S band and where only using UHF.

florin · « **Reply #506 on:** 07/05/2006 04:16 am »

I would be amazed to find out that it was plasma. I am pretty sure that it was only the thrusters that controlled the space shuttle doing the final corrections of trajectory. The flames appeared close to ET separation and as far as I remember, ET separation takes place at apogee which means that it takes place at the highest point in orbit (the altitude of the operational orbit). When the shuttle separates from ET both objects are on an elliptical orbit (they separate at apogee) and then some OMS burns take place that raise the perigee of the space shuttle. However the ET continues on the same elliptical orbit and reenters atmosphere at perigee.
Thus there is no reason for us to believe that those flames were plasma generated by the friction with air (altitude of the orbit is well in the "vacuum"

)... the space shuttle would have been at that time at the altitude of the operational orbit.

Maybe some of the people that actually work "with space shuttles" can clarify this dilemma.

Florin Mingireanu

noname_77065 · « **Reply #507 on:** 07/05/2006 06:43 am »

Today was definitely a lot of fun. Hopefully we have 12 more days of non-stop fun.

rfoshaug · « **Reply #508 on:** 07/05/2006 08:36 am »

If I'm not very wrong, the ET separates from the orbiter at a quite low altitude (110 km?) compared with the operational orbit. They then coast up to apogee (maybe 200 km) about 45 minutes later, where the orbiter makes its OMS2 burn to circularize the initial orbit, while the ET starts to go back down for reentry and an impact into the Indian Ocean.

I believe the ET separation is below the altitude of entry interface (120 km) when they return. So what we saw might be plasma, or it might be the flames from the thrusters (although in that case it looked like they were deflected aerodynamically by the extremely thin air).

Then again I could be totally wrong.

Tahii · « **Reply #509 on:** 07/05/2006 08:57 am »

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Jason - 5/7/2006 11:34 AM

Did anyone else see a big reflection on the back side of the ET on ascent? Just after the roll program. I also noticed something in the video just replayed. It was in the intertank area.

I asked this earlier, and Jim said it was normal. Certainly looked wierd.

FutureSpaceTourist · « **Reply #510 on:** 12/08/2024 04:10 pm »

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Experience the full countdown to liftoff in this rare 6-hour launch countdown video of the STS-121 Space Shuttle mission. The coverage begins with the fueling operations for the external tank and associated ice inspections. Hours later, the crew of Discovery departs the Operations & Checkout building for the launch pad, culminating in the final countdown and liftoff to the International Space Station.

Discovery STS-121 Astronaut Crew:
Commander: Steve Lindsey
Pilot: Mark Kelly
Mission Specialist 1: Michael Fossum
Mission Specialist 2: Lisa Nowak
Mission Specialist 3: Stephanie Wilson
Mission Specialist 4: Piers Sellers
Mission Specialist 5: Thomas Reiter

FutureSpaceTourist · « **Reply #511 on:** 12/22/2024 07:24 am »

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STS-121 Launch Captured from High Altitude NASA WB-57 Aircraft

Shuttlesource
21 Dec 2024
#STS121 #NASAWB57 #SpaceShuttleDiscovery

Experience the STS-121 Space Shuttle Discovery launch with amazing footage filmed from high altitude by NASA’s WB-57 aircraft. This rare and stunning perspective shows the shuttle’s ascent through the atmosphere and provides a remarkable view of the twin Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) separating from the orbiter as it powers its way toward orbit.

The WB-57, equipped with specialized high-resolution cameras, flew above the launch site to capture this critical phase of the mission.