LIVE: STS-120 Flight Day 14 - Undocking - Flyaround - Late Inspections

[jmjawors]

Speedracer - 5/11/2007  4:25 PM  

Wayne's definitely more articulate and diplomatic than Griffin.

They articulate in different ways, both effectively.  But diplomatic... yeah.  Much more so than Griffin.

Hrm... we're moving pretty far afield of FD 14 coverage I think... 

[Ford Mustang]

Kel - 5/11/2007  5:36 PM

Hi res shots from the fly around are up in the gallery

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-120/ndxpage42.html

I missed it this morning as it happened....does anyone know where they were over the earth during the fly around? Pretty rugged terrain on the earth below.

Going over Europe and Asia.  I watched 'em fly over as soon as Discovery undocked.  So, that's where they'd be.

[Ronsmytheiii]

Earth on top picture:

[nathan.moeller]

One word - WOW

[Life_Support_32]

This is the first time that I've actually seen a picture of the space station and thought "wow, it's getting big!"  Too bad the Starboard SARJ couldn't rotate and make this picture really spectacular.

[dotdk]

Why are the P4 and P6 arrays turned with opposite sides?

[jmjawors]

dotdk - 5/11/2007  6:02 PM  

Why are the P4 and P6 arrays turned with opposite sides?

They are "feathered" to protect against thruster firings from the newly-undocked shuttle.   

[charlieb]

For Jim O; Jim - where and how is Gary Coen since he retired long ago?? I will admit Gary was one of the more sociable Flight Directors (he even gifted me a Gemini-3 engineering manual with all sorts of schematics when he left back inthe 90's)...

[dotdk]

jmjawors - 5/11/2007  1:03 AM

dotdk - 5/11/2007  6:02 PM  

Why are the P4 and P6 arrays turned with opposite sides?

They are "feathered" to protect against thruster firings from the newly-undocked shuttle.  

I meant P4 is with the blue side facing the camera and the P6 has the orange side.
Has the side of the panels to do with feathering?

Maybe it's to see the repair?

[jmjawors]

Both angles of rotation (beta and alpha) are used in this "feathering" process.  So yes... the answer to your question is that they are positioned that way because of the undocking.  I don't know if photography considerations came into play, but I sort of doubt it.

[catfry]

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/forums/get-attachment-big.asp?action=view&attachmentid=34906

There's a bit of a scar on the solar array but nothing like it could have been, had the doctor not made a few stitches. I would still have liked to see some close ups of the repair.

EDIT: On further review:
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-120/hires/s120e008602.jpg
Doesn't look perfect but still...

[Jorge]

dotdk - 5/11/2007  6:10 PM

jmjawors - 5/11/2007  1:03 AM

dotdk - 5/11/2007  6:02 PM  

Why are the P4 and P6 arrays turned with opposite sides?

They are "feathered" to protect against thruster firings from the newly-undocked shuttle.  

I meant P4 is with the blue side facing the camera and the P6 has the orange side.
Has the side of the panels to do with feathering?

Maybe it's to see the repair?

Answered (in general) just a few days ago in the ISS assembly Q&A thread:

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=3207&start=293#M202801

[jmjawors]

catfry - 5/11/2007  6:30 PM

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/forums/get-attachment-big.asp?action=view&attachmentid=34906  There's a bit of a scar on the solar array but nothing like it could have been, had the doctor not made a few stitches. I would still have liked to see some close ups of the repair.  

EDIT: On further review: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-120/hires/s120e008602.jpg Doesn't look perfect but still...

I think they look pretty darn good. 

[dotdk]

Would be great if they have pictures from the opposite side so we could see the repair job from another angle.

[Lee Jay]

I think the repair looks surprisingly good from a distance, and more importantly it's functional.  I *think* this one is a post-tensioning closeup.

http://spaceflight1.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-120/hires/iss016e009201.jpg

[Chris Bergin]

As per L2, Discovery's TPS and RCC have been cleared for entry. Will be the basis of the next article I'm writing, along with what the NASA managers said to the teams at the MMT.

Fluffy? I think not, when Mr Hale uses the line: "We showed the world what NASA can do."

[Chris Bergin]

Some other notes. The large registered 'impact' on the WLE is now believed to be a power spike, and the "UFO" noted by Discovery's star tracker was actually a reflection off P6.

[HIPAR]

They can't attribute a UFO sighting to swamp gas up there.  

---  CHAS

[Lee Jay]

HIPAR - 5/11/2007  6:06 PM

They can't attribute a UFO sighting to swamp gas up there.  

---  CHAS

That depends of if the one reporting the sighting was also the one breathing the swamp gas.

[Chandonn]

Lee Jay - 5/11/2007  7:49 PM

I think the repair looks surprisingly good from a distance, and more importantly it's functional.  I *think* this one is a post-tensioning closeup.

http://spaceflight1.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-120/hires/iss016e009201.jpg

Here's a closeup from the flyaround.  You can still see the krinkle, but it seems pretty stable.

http://spaceflight1.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-120/hires/s120e008602.jpg

EDIT: OKAY< so I should haev scrolled up to see the link already posted.  Anyway, the glamour shots of ISS don't show much noticeable sign of the tear.  Hopefully, P6 will soon be back online (ie not shunted).