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Space shuttle launch

Thanks! I had forgotten. No matter how many of these I watch, it never gets old. Amazing every time.
 
Originally posted by: allisolm
Thanks! I had forgotten. No matter how many of these I watch, it never gets old. Amazing every time.
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I remember watching the Mercury launches and it is no less thrilling to me today than it was as a 5 year old.
 
sweet! I started watching 40 seconds before liftoff.

Does anyone else get a really worried watching this? I've seen too many videos of failed space launches to really relax until the solid rocket boosters detach.

Also, right now, is the large fuel take iced over? (Just curious as to why it's completely white, maybe it's just washed out)

out of range for the fuel tank camera ... I was hoping to watch separation.
 
Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
sweet! I started watching 40 seconds before liftoff.

Does anyone else get a really worried watching this? I've seen too many videos of failed space launches to really relax until the solid rocket boosters detach.

Also, right now, is the large fuel take iced over? (Just curious as to why it's completely white, maybe it's just washed out)

out of range for the fuel tank camera ... I was hoping to watch separation.
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EVERYBODY is worried---there's no certainty as to what is going to happen. That's why they're such a big deal.
 
It's a very sobering feeling to be up in space and realize that one's safety factor was determined by the lowest bidder on a government contract.
Alan Shepard
 
You know you've seen too many launches when you completely ignore the fact that it's launching right out your window ...
 
Well at least this time they do know how serious the tile problem can be. They now carry repair kits to fix broken tiles. I was surprised how easy the tiles were to break. The director took one in his hand and broke it with just a hard tap.
 
Originally posted by: Jeff7
Hmm, not good - minor damage to the thermal tiles.
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Let's hope it is just minor. It really does look minor compared to the rather large hole that supposedly brought down Columbia. This is of course something they should have been monitoring since day one but given the number of small nicks they have seen since they have been keeping a close watch on the issue and given how many launches it took before something disastrous happened I'm sure there were many previous missions where shuttles suffered much more damage that just went unnoticed.

At any rate I am REALLY glad that they decided to go ahead with this mission. Of all the shuttle launches over the years to the Space station which arguably doesn't advance science much at all, it's nice to see a shuttle mission that is truly helping to advancing scientific knowledge! On all the previous missions astronauts were more than willing to risk their lives for much less.
 
Originally posted by: Modelworks
Well at least this time they do know how serious the tile problem can be. They now carry repair kits to fix broken tiles. I was surprised how easy the tiles were to break. The director took one in his hand and broke it with just a hard tap.
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The tiles were designed almost entirely for their thermal properties not their resistance to damage.
 
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