LIVE: STS-124: Launch Day / Flight Day 1 - May 31

[phardacre]

wow sorry if off topic just saw iss then discovery and et below her from north england. awsome

[nathan.moeller]

T+30 minutes.  All going well.

[nathan.moeller]

wow sorry if off topic just saw iss then discovery and et below her from north england. awsome

Way ON topic!  I'm sure that was an awesome sight!  Thanks for the heads up!

[SpaceNutz SA]

What are the consequenses of the failed Gimbal?

[???]

It happened passed the 2m15s point and is thus of no consqeunce.  Of course the American media is already having a field day with it.

ganbatte kudasai (がんばってください) to those replaying the video at around 3min. I sure hope （希望） they are working hard to figure out what happened.

[Davejfb]

I found this picture of the foam strike

[Chris Bergin]

ganbatte kudasai (がんばってください) to those replaying the video at around 3min. I sure hope （希望） they are working hard to figure out what happened.

Read the posts. It's not a concern at this time. Foam liberation is normal. So long as it's not a hit and not before T+2:20...

[ShuttleDiscovery]

Launch video now on spacemultimedia!!

http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3733&Itemid=1

Lets check those debris events!

[Ford Mustang]

3.5 minutes until OMS-2.

[phardacre]

yeah! discovery was bright white and et was orange as one would expect and say about a thumb width at arms length directly below her, got another iss pass at 23.45 so hope for another viewing but toi see her just after launch thats the best ever

[DaveS]

What are the consequenses of the failed Gimbal?

None. It was the secondary actuator that failed electrically, most likely related to the MDM FA2 failure preflight.

[nathan.moeller]

ganbatte kudasai (がんばってください) to those replaying the video at around 3min. I sure hope （希望） they are working hard to figure out what happened.

They work around the clock.  But remember that the danger zone for foam ends at 2 minutes 15 seconds.  The foam liberation occurred around 3 minutes.  They try to mitigate that sort of thing, but it happens.  As long as it happens outside the danger zone, it's really of no consequence.

[TJL]

Shot from my front yard.

Where's the shot from...Titusville?

[kneecaps]

What are the consequenses of the failed Gimbal?

It's not the 'Gimbal' itself. It's the secondary drive electronics and motor.

No impact for a first failure. A second failure would prevent that OMS engine from being gimballed...I suspect this would mark the entire engine 'failed' apart from deorbit burns (need to check flight rules).

However...no impact in the current situation.

[MechTech]

Where's the shot from...Titusville?

Cocoa.

[edkyle99]

Read the posts. It's not a concern at this time. Foam liberation is normal. So long as it's not a hit and not before T+2:20...

Another space news organization (won't name names) is saying that the first large foam piece seen after SRB sep did not strike the orbiter.

Also, keep in mind that this isn't a launch success until the OMS burn is completed successfully. 

 - Ed Kyle

[psloss]

If there's an issue with foam liberation it may affect the mission, the program, both, or neither.  We won't have to wait that long to hear from the folks looking at the data about any mission impact.

[TJL]

Anyone see the replay of launch from the white room?
Amazing!!

[psloss]

Good config for OMS-2.

[Ford Mustang]

Discovery now in the proper orientation for OMS-2.

MCC-H: Discovery, good config for the burn.