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#1 2005-06-17 22:25:18

United Space Alliance
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Registered: 2005-06-17
Posts: 17

Re: Return to Flight countdown and update thread - STS-114 breaking news thread

As some of you will have seen here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com]http://www.nasaspaceflight.com (where the USA sources tend to go to get info out) on the last two stories, we have a LOX Feedline Ice Concern and a number of reviews coming up.

It's gonna get busy so I thought I'd log on after being a lurker for so long to see if July will still happen.

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#2 2005-06-18 09:59:03

United Space Alliance
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Re: Return to Flight countdown and update thread - STS-114 breaking news thread

28 launch mandate reduced to 23 and maybe as low as 15 before retirement.

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#3 2005-06-18 11:19:10

GCNRevenger
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From: Earth
Registered: 2003-10-14
Posts: 6,056

Re: Return to Flight countdown and update thread - STS-114 breaking news thread

Finally they're starting to talk some sense about how much life STS has left in it


[i]"The power of accurate observation is often called cynicism by those that do not have it." - George Bernard Shaw[/i]

[i]The glass is at 50% of capacity[/i]

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#4 2005-06-19 09:18:05

Commodore
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From: Upstate NY, USA
Registered: 2004-07-25
Posts: 1,021

Re: Return to Flight countdown and update thread - STS-114 breaking news thread

So what are they cutting to save 13 flights?


"Yes, I was going to give this astronaut selection my best shot, I was determined when the NASA proctologist looked up my ass, he would see pipes so dazzling he would ask the nurse to get his sunglasses."
---Shuttle Astronaut Mike Mullane

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#5 2005-06-19 09:54:04

United Space Alliance
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Registered: 2005-06-17
Posts: 17

Re: Return to Flight countdown and update thread - STS-114 breaking news thread

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/future/ shows a new manifest of 23 flights.

Notice that if most of the U(L)Fs disappear from our requirements, there are 15 or so assembly missions. So we can do this if required.

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#6 2005-06-19 10:46:22

Rxke
Member
From: Belgium
Registered: 2003-11-03
Posts: 3,669

Re: Return to Flight countdown and update thread - STS-114 breaking news thread

HAH!

last flight: cupola. And initially it was said this item was needed as a sort of control tower for certain robot-arm/space module coordination stuff when assembling.

trailing last of 23 missions, who wants to bet it won't fly at all?

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#7 2005-06-19 21:06:13

United Space Alliance
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Re: Return to Flight countdown and update thread - STS-114 breaking news thread

HAH!

last flight: cupola. And initially it was said this item was needed as a sort of control tower for certain robot-arm/space module coordination stuff when assembling.

trailing last of 23 missions, who wants to bet it won't fly at all?

Betting Cupola won't fly, or the Shuttle?

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#8 2005-06-20 01:59:30

Rxke
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From: Belgium
Registered: 2003-11-03
Posts: 3,669

Re: Return to Flight countdown and update thread - STS-114 breaking news thread

big_smile

Me and my craptastic English...

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#9 2005-06-20 08:19:27

SpaceNut
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From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 29,300

Re: Return to Flight countdown and update thread - STS-114 breaking news thread

I am not sure why a new thread had to be or was started when most of this data was in the old one labeled Return to flight slipping, which does have lots of comments on the down sizing or right count initiative for final flights to the ISS.

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#10 2005-06-20 09:20:10

Rxke
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From: Belgium
Registered: 2003-11-03
Posts: 3,669

Re: Return to Flight countdown and update thread - STS-114 breaking news thread

one good reason: 'return to flight slipping' is heading towards the point of collapsing (>200 posts) so should be locked any time now...

so either start a part II or rename this one in part II? Leave it to the moderators, or PM them...

mods? mooooooods!  big_smile

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#11 2005-06-21 05:41:31

SpaceNut
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From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 29,300

Re: Return to Flight countdown and update thread - STS-114 breaking news thread

Will continue all further updates and info here, so as to not collaspe the orginal thread.

NASA draws up worst-case plans before launching shuttle So what of the plans? We know of the what if senario of the rescue shuttle and of the possible ship to ship transfer as not part of connecting to the ISS alternative of the last. But what of the current possibilities?

There was much talk of if they had explored and found a hole that using on ship materials to plug it and other cooling tricks plus a steeper re-entry angle would have allowed for a safe return. We know that the fact that if the sensors had relayed live data about what had happened that little doubt of the event would have begged for the answer to the question of to what extents was the damage. But that is all hind site and we must move on.

The shuttle will carry several different types of patch kits on this mission to try as well. [url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050621/ap_on_sc/space_shuttle_patches[/url]Shuttle to Carry Emergency Repair Patches designed by ATK Thiokol in Utah.[/url]

Thiokol builds nozzles able to withstand the 5,600-degree heat of rocket blasts. The shuttle's wing, and any patch, must be able to stand up to the 3,000-degree heat of re-entry.

Sounds like the right sort of company to aid in the RCC panel possibility of damage repair.

All while in the effort to make this next shuttle mission safer the [url=http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/custom/space/orl-asectank20062005jun20,0,3889787.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-space]Shielding the shuttle
Resolve, scrutiny go into broad modifications[/url] of the external tank to not only reduce foam debri but as well ice build up on many parts of the tank.

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#12 2005-06-22 10:34:23

SpaceNut
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From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 29,300

Re: Return to Flight countdown and update thread - STS-114 breaking news thread

So whats in this little Eyeball that will inspect the shuttle panels for damage better known as Mini AERCam.

Technology innovations include rechargeable xenon gas propulsion, a rechargeable lithium ion battery, custom avionics based on the PowerPC 740/750 microprocessor, "camera-on-a-chip" imagers with video compression, micro electromechanical system (MEMS) gyroscopes, precise relative GPS navigation, digital radio frequency communications, micropatch antennas, digital instrumentation networking and compact mechanical packaging.

NASA Demonstrates Innovative Nanosatellite Docking System

Well surprise it's not a new toy after all:

Mini AERCam incorporates significant upgrades in a package that is one- fifth the volume of its precursor, the 35-pound, 14-inch AERCam Sprint free flyer that flew as a Space Shuttle flight experiment on STS-87 in 1997.

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#13 2005-06-22 10:59:12

United Space Alliance
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Posts: 17

Re: Return to Flight countdown and update thread - STS-114 breaking news thread

I read some of the RTF slipping and some of the info was very much inaccurate, so I wanted to start a new one and at least give some insight from KSC.

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#14 2005-06-22 12:12:29

SpaceNut
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From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 29,300

Re: Return to Flight countdown and update thread - STS-114 breaking news thread

Probably not as inacurate as one might precieve but non the less,  we are talking shuttle and not really the ISS or is that the other way around.

Flights to the ISS on what is manditory for shuttle use and or status has not officially changed. This is still on Griffins plate on how to solve and only congress can really change what will be done for ISS construction. They control the purse strings.

Ps
The site nasaspaceflight is not an actual Nasa site run by Nasa

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#15 2005-06-23 03:27:52

United Space Alliance
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Registered: 2005-06-17
Posts: 17

Re: Return to Flight countdown and update thread - STS-114 breaking news thread

Probably not as inacurate as one might precieve but non the less,  we are talking shuttle and not really the ISS or is that the other way around.

Flights to the ISS on what is manditory for shuttle use and or status has not officially changed. This is still on Griffins plate on how to solve and only congress can really change what will be done for ISS construction. They control the purse strings.

Ps
The site nasaspaceflight is not an actual Nasa site run by Nasa.

I know it's not a NASA run site. With the same token, we at USA hate NASA.gov smile

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#16 2005-06-23 05:23:55

SpaceNut
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From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 29,300

Re: Return to Flight countdown and update thread - STS-114 breaking news thread

Then you must be in the know of when a shuttle will be retired then from the multiple choices listed below.

1 2010 because exploration doctorate said so
2 when station is finished or we say we are
3 never because station will never be finished
4 was retired but need shuttle because of unseen event

Well I am sure the one that you might not realize is that even though the president said so that congress can over ride this and direct its continued use or change when it is retire just as well though the Bill process of signature by the president.

NASA Bill Hangs Condition on Shuttle Retirement

The senior U.S. senators from Florida and Texas are pushing back against NASA’s plan to retire the U.S. space shuttle fleet by the end of the decade regardless of whether a replacement vehicle is ready to enter service by then.

And these are the same senators that want a Hubble rescue mission..

Personally I feel that shuttle will still be need but in a much lower capacity once the 2010 or Iss completion time frame has occurred but it will still be in need for we have not figured out a way to get the large cargo bay sized items need for replacement or repair to the station by any other means. Not to mention that the CEV has no such goals is a dead give away. Only a Shuttle C could forfull this at this point and thats not even being built at this time.

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#17 2005-06-23 15:51:14

United Space Alliance
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Registered: 2005-06-17
Posts: 17

Re: Return to Flight countdown and update thread - STS-114 breaking news thread

Then you must be in the know of when a shuttle will be retired then from the multiple choices listed below.

1 2010 because exploration doctorate said so
2 when station is finished or we say we are
3 never because station will never be finished
4 was retired but need shuttle because of unseen event

Well I am sure the one that you might not realize is that even though the president said so that congress can over ride this and direct its continued use or change when it is retire just as well though the Bill process of signature by the president.

http://dev.space.com/spacenews/spacepol … .html]NASA Bill Hangs Condition on Shuttle Retirement

The senior U.S. senators from Florida and Texas are pushing back against NASA’s plan to retire the U.S. space shuttle fleet by the end of the decade regardless of whether a replacement vehicle is ready to enter service by then.

And these are the same senators that want a Hubble rescue mission..

Personally I feel that shuttle will still be need but in a much lower capacity once the 2010 or Iss completion time frame has occurred but it will still be in need for we have not figured out a way to get the large cargo bay sized items need for replacement or repair to the station by any other means. Not to mention that the CEV has no such goals is a dead give away. Only a Shuttle C could forfull this at this point and thats not even being built at this time.

2010 will be the retirement date, I'm pretty convinced.

Endeavour first, prior to her next Maintainance Period in 2009.

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#18 2005-06-23 15:52:12

United Space Alliance
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Posts: 17

Re: Return to Flight countdown and update thread - STS-114 breaking news thread

LOX Feedline Bracket Ice Debris concern no longer a launch constraint for Return to Flight:

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/content/ … t/?id=2983

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#19 2005-06-23 16:52:10

GCNRevenger
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From: Earth
Registered: 2003-10-14
Posts: 6,056

Re: Return to Flight countdown and update thread - STS-114 breaking news thread

Things are going to be set into motion soon, certain services and production facilities and maintence are going to be "drawn down" as the 2010 retirement date aproaches. And so, by the time the date actually rolls around, the Shuttle program will be basically closed down all except for the launch staff and equipment (barring SDV needs).

This is going to start happening soon, and it will progress over the course of the Bush/Cheney/Griffin oversight of NASA, and it will progress to the point of no return. By 2008, the end of Shuttle will be irrevokable for any reasonable investment to restart flight operations.


[i]"The power of accurate observation is often called cynicism by those that do not have it." - George Bernard Shaw[/i]

[i]The glass is at 50% of capacity[/i]

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#20 2005-06-23 16:54:58

BWhite
Member
From: Chicago, Illinois
Registered: 2004-06-16
Posts: 2,635

Re: Return to Flight countdown and update thread - STS-114 breaking news thread


Give someone a sufficient [b][i]why[/i][/b] and they can endure just about any [b][i]how[/i][/b]

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#21 2005-06-23 17:19:31

United Space Alliance
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Registered: 2005-06-17
Posts: 17

Re: Return to Flight countdown and update thread - STS-114 breaking news thread

All important Delta DVR tomorrow.

Stafford-Covey RTF meeting on Monday.

FRR on Wednesday

THEN it's Griffin's call on the July window.

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#22 2005-06-23 17:24:52

GCNRevenger
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From: Earth
Registered: 2003-10-14
Posts: 6,056

Re: Return to Flight countdown and update thread - STS-114 breaking news thread

What? Whats this? WTH? The CEV now weighs THIRTY metric tonnes??? What happen to twenty??! What in or above the world would you need that much mass for, Griffin?? You are just going to the Moon and back for goodness sakes! Thats all!

...or else he picked a mass that was beyond any of the EELVs OR their direct derivitives on purpose and doesn't actually need the extra 5-10MT... *hissss*


[i]"The power of accurate observation is often called cynicism by those that do not have it." - George Bernard Shaw[/i]

[i]The glass is at 50% of capacity[/i]

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#23 2005-06-23 17:35:20

Fledi
Member
From: in my own little world (no,
Registered: 2003-09-14
Posts: 325

Re: Return to Flight countdown and update thread - STS-114 breaking news thread

What an idea to make the CEV unnecessarily heavy just for


sending a clear message both to the EELV manufacturers and to the U.S. Air Force, who funded much of the EELV development effort.

What is the message? The message is that Griffin isn't planning on using their rockets.

That's an unusual approach to make the future lunar infrastructure cost effective, I'd say.

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#24 2005-06-23 20:05:03

United Space Alliance
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Registered: 2005-06-17
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Re: Return to Flight countdown and update thread - STS-114 breaking news thread

While it's not got much to do with RTF, the CEV is getting a few mentions.

Lockheed Martin's lifting body design is getting all the favorable comments so far.

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#25 2005-06-23 22:12:32

BWhite
Member
From: Chicago, Illinois
Registered: 2004-06-16
Posts: 2,635

Re: Return to Flight countdown and update thread - STS-114 breaking news thread

What? Whats this? WTH? The CEV now weighs THIRTY metric tonnes??? What happen to twenty??! What in or above the world would you need that much mass for, Griffin?? You are just going to the Moon and back for goodness sakes! Thats all!

...or else he picked a mass that was beyond any of the EELVs OR their direct derivitives on purpose and doesn't actually need the extra 5-10MT... *hissss*

This is one popular interpretation:

...or else he picked a mass that was beyond any of the EELVs OR their direct derivitives on purpose and doesn't actually need the extra 5-10MT... *hissss*


Give someone a sufficient [b][i]why[/i][/b] and they can endure just about any [b][i]how[/i][/b]

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