[Nico]

... and has dropped two pieces of itself in the process. NASA doesn't seem worried, tho.
You know, I really picture this thing as a big pile of things stuck together by luck

[Bobboau]

and duct tape

and someone posted this already but I don't care honestly so whatever.

[Deepblue]

Well, now they can put that robotic arm to good use.

[Ashrak]

i peace of the Heat shield went too (same as columbia) :/

[redsniper]

Well, now they can put that robotic arm to good use.

I don't know if I'd trust that thing. It's Canadian.

[Unknown Target]

So what fell off? And what are their plans?

[Ashrak]

bellive it or not .... they hit a bird on takeoff ....... and it chaffed a peace of the ceramic plateing on the underside of the shuttle



i predict another explosion

[Deepblue]

Originally posted by Ashrak
i peace of the Heat shield went too (same as columbia) :/

Not the same as Columbia. Columbia had a big hole torn into the heat shield. This time, a tiny tile fell off, not enough to cause a problem supposedly during reentry. Even so, the crew plan on fixing it with the robotic arm and goo stuff.

[Taristin]

Originally posted by redsniper

I don't know if I'd trust that thing. It's Canadian.

Not that we should talk, with the poor quality of American goods.

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by Raa


Not that we should talk, with the poor quality of American goods.

What American goods?  Everything's made in Taiwan or China.

[redsniper]

A friend of mine summed it up nicely while we were digging through his closet looking for some fishing line for a school project we were working on.
*After searching for several minutes fishing line is finally found*
Friend: Ah, finally. Let's see this looks pretty goo- MADE IN THE US! THAT'LL NEVER WORK!
*tosses spool over shoulder and keeps looking*

[Kosh]

I just heard over the radio that NASA is grounding all future shuttle flights......AGAIN. They say it is because pieces of foam keep breaking off from the fuel tank and that poses a danger.


Funny that a piece of soft foam hitting it at a relativly low speed is more of a threat than hitting a bird at a much higher speed.

[Rictor]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4723109.stm

[Mr. Vega]

God dammit. The shuttles are too old, we need a new vehicle.

[Rictor]

What you need is this!

[Kosh]

Originally posted by Mr. Vega
God dammit. The shuttles are too old, we need a new vehicle.

Duh. Supposedly there will be a new vehicle in 2010, but I doubt they could develop it by the time the shuttle is retired. Even though the shuttles could theoreticly last until the 2030's or more, the designers obviously never thought that there would be a huge explosion in new technologies that could make the shuttle obsolete much sooner than it was supposed to.


The biggest problem with the shuttle is that it is just too fragile, and too primitive. We need something better......soon.

I guess this whole fiasco is even worse than the "Fenris vs. The Cargo Container"

[Bobboau]

/*eheim*/orbitalelivator/*eheim*/

[pyro-manic]

Damn straight.

What I don't understand is why they can't find a way to better attach the foam to the fuel tank, or at least stop it falling off during launch. Have they not heard of gaffer tape?

Rictor: I want one!

[Mongoose]

Originally posted by Bobboau
/*eheim*/orbitalelivator/*eheim*/

Screw that!  I want a bigass rocket!

Seriously, though, the whole idea of an orbital elevator seems rather silly to me. Besides the logistical problems, I'm much more interested on actual, completely reusable spacecraft.  If our species ever hopes to start cruising the solar system a la just about every sci-fi universe ever created, we're going to need something better than the shuttle fleet, as much as it will break my heart to see them eventually retire. In the meantime, until we get a true spacecraft, I'm hoping that NASA can finally resolve these foam issues and get us back up there as soon as possible.

[pyro-manic]

Which is why a space elevator is the way forward. Getting rid of the launch/landing stage means you can build a spacecraft as large, small, heavy or flimsy as you want, because you don't have to get it out of the gravity well, and you don't have to land the thing when you come back.

Hell, if you're that desparate to see interplanetary flight in your lifetime, get an engineering degree, join some university research team, and build a space drive. Rocketry is useless for it...