Space Shuttle

Post by **Zebedee** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 10:21 pm

If anyone's interested, the Shuttle is due to launch at about 11:30pm. The NASATV broadcast is streaming quite nicely from their website...

brad_88 · Post by **brad_88** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 10:36 pm

oh shit yeh that looks awesome as thanks zebedee never seen a live shuttle launch before. i hope there isnt any delays lol

brad_88 · Post by **brad_88** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 10:37 pm

if anyones gonna be watching it i dont think its launchin at 11 30 it just had a shot of the countdown and it said 18 minutes.

Post by **yorky** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 10:59 pm

Launch has been scrubbed for at least 24 hours due to a faulty sensor

Post by **Zebedee** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 11:00 pm

Brad Michau wrote:if anyones gonna be watching it i dont think its launchin at 11 30 it just had a shot of the countdown and it said 18 minutes.

Yep that's confusing isn't it

There's two countdown clocks. The one you see on the TV screen has built-in pauses in the countdown. On the NASA website there's a different clock that shows the "real time" till the launch taking into account all the scheduled countdown pauses.

This page explains it.

However it's all academic now - the launch has been scrubbed due to a faulty eco sensor. (Don't ask me what it means, I'm just relaying what I heard on the stream).

They're gonna try again in 24 hours time, so if you're still interested, come back this time tomorrow night.

brad_88 · Post by **brad_88** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 11:03 pm

awwwwwwwwww dam it hahaha ah well spewin.

Post by **Zebedee** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 11:07 pm

If I can, I'll record the stream ... no promises though

madmikey · Post by **madmikey** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 2:44 am

I've seen the last 2 launches and landings thanks to nasa tv and the space walks and all activities during the mission... It's awesome, gotta love modern technology...

Atlantis seems to be plauged with problems though, has been scrubbed twice because of power generator problems, and now a sensor.

dave · Post by **dave** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 7:20 pm

T - 3HOURS REMAINING

Post by **Zebedee** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 5:21 pm

Shuttle is on it's way back to Earth - they've just finished the "de-orbit burn" and are due to land at 6:21pm...

Video feed available from here (direct link, no point messing about going via NASA's website) and the NASA landing blog is here...

Post by **Zebedee** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 5:50 pm

From NASA:

Landing-30 minutes
Roughly half an hour after the deorbit burn, the orbiter will begin to encounter the effects of the atmosphere. Called entry interface, this point usually takes place at an altitude of about 80 miles, and more than 5,000 statute miles from the landing site.

Early in reentry, the orbiter's orientation is controlled by the aft steering jets, part of the reaction control system. But during descent, the vehicle flies less like a spacecraft and more like an aircraft. Its aerosurfaces -- the wing flaps and rudder -- gradually become active as air pressure builds. As those surfaces become usable, the steering jets turn off automatically.

To use up excess energy, the orbiter performs a series of four steep banks, rolling over as much as 80 degrees to one side or the other, to slow down. The series of banks gives the shuttle's track toward landing an appearance similar to an elongated letter "S."

As the orbiter slices through the atmosphere faster than the speed of sound, the sonic boom -- really, two distinct claps less than a second apart -- can be heard across parts of Florida, depending on the flight path.

Landing-5 minutes
The orbiter's velocity eases below the speed of sound about 25 statute miles from the runway. As the orbiter nears the Shuttle Landing Facility, the commander takes manual control, piloting the vehicle to touchdown on one of two ends of the SLF.

As it aligns with the runway, the orbiter begins a steep descent with the nose angled as much as 19 degrees down from horizontal. This glide slope is seven times steeper than the average commercial airliner landing. During the final approach, the vehicle drops toward the runway 20 times faster than a commercial airliner as its rate of descent and airspeed increase. At less than 2,000 feet above the ground, the commander raises the nose and slows the rate of descent in preparation for touchdown.

Landing-15 seconds
The main and nose landing gear are deployed and locked in place.

Touchdown!
The orbiter's main landing gear touches down on the runway at 214 to 226 miles per hour, followed by the nose gear. The drag chute is deployed, and the orbiter coasts to a stop.