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Old 08-09-2007, 10:54 AM   #1
rychehitman
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Shuttle Launch....Anybody still interested???

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The successful launch of NASA's shuttle Endeavour late Wednesday was a textbook example of U.S. spaceflight, the agency's top official said as the orbiter's astronaut crew circled the Earth.

"The launch operation doesn't get any better than this, it really can't," NASA chief Michael Griffin said of the space shot just before sundown.


A stubborn shuttle hatch, a small crack in external tank insulation and some falling debris during Endeavour's ascent were all minor issues that did not preclude liftoff, mission managers said during a post-launch briefing here at Kennedy Space Center (KSC).


The $2.2-billion orbiter carried teacher-turned-astronaut Barbara Morgan and the rest of the seven-person STS-118 crew into space at 6:36:42 p.m. (2236:42 GMT) on a construction flight to the International Space Station (ISS).


The launch ended a 22-year wait to reach space for Morgan, who originally served as the backup for New Hampshire high school Christa McAuliffe during NASA's Teacher in Space program in 1985. NASA's 1986 Challenger accident claimed the lives of McAuliffe and six other astronauts.


"It's always good to see a friend on orbit," said NASA launch director Mike Leinbach said of Morgan, now working in zero gravity. "I know she's having a whale of a time right now."


Commanded by veteran shuttle flyer Scott Kelly, the seven astronauts aboard Endeavour will continue construction of the International Space Station (ISS), which is expected have a mass of 1 million pounds (453,592 kilograms) and rival a U.S. football field in length when complete.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Imagine being the person in line behind Christa McAuliffe. Would you ever go up there? I know its an amazing opportunity, but it is taking your life into your own hands!

I salute these astronauts and all the engineers and scientists behind the scenes. I know there are plenty of problems on solid ground that need attention, and God knows we should explote our vast oceans a heck of a lot more....but I dont think we should ever stop reaching for the stars!...

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Old 08-09-2007, 11:10 AM   #2
Crom
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I think NASA and the space program are essential for reminding us that there is more out there than just the petty brutality we have on solid ground.

Unfortunately I feel the shuttle missions have become nothing more than a NASCAR race. No one really pays attention until something goes wrong.

I always felt the shuttles and the space program were inspirational. I had a Neil Armstrong poster over my bed for a decade or more. There is no goal for the public to wrap their imagination around.
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Old 08-09-2007, 11:58 AM   #3
patrickwm68
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I was more interested in the fact that the runner-up teacher waited 22 years for this even though she narrowly escaped death back in 1986.
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Old 08-09-2007, 12:01 PM   #4
CessnaDriver
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Quote:
Originally Posted by patrickwm68 View Post
I was more interested in the fact that the runner-up teacher waited 22 years for this even though she narrowly escaped death back in 1986.
She became a full time astronaut since then by the way.
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Old 08-09-2007, 12:09 PM   #5
CessnaDriver
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I pay attention.
Since as long as I can remember watching Saturn Vs moonbound. It simply NEVER gets old for me. I try to catch every single launch if possible, every landing.

I watch for orbital sightings opportunitys when either ISS or Shuttle fly over.....

http://www.heavens-above.com/







Astronaut Story Musgrave.....

"We have been a frontier culture. We were born out of exploration, we were born out of adventure. We were born out of the plains and the mountains. We've been a very physical kind of culture. And so, if you look at adventure, if you look at exploration, if you look at immersion in nature, a physical culture, and all those things, you can see directly how space flight relates to the way America has been born and how it evolved."


"You have to keep pushing the frontier not
just because it's there, but because that's how we find things that end up changing humanity," -Paul Hill, Mission Control


Why Space, Why Explore?

Astronaut Story Musgrave...........

We have no choice, Sir. It is the Nature of Humanity, it is the Nature of Life

The Globe was created and Life Evolved, and you look at every single cubic millimeter on this Earth, You can go 30,000 feet down below the Earth surface, You can go 40,000 feet up in the air and Life is There. When you look at the globe down there, you see Teeming Life Everywhere

It is the Power of Life, And maybe I am not just a Human up here, you know. Now Life is Leaping off the Planet. It is heading to other parts of the Solar System, other parts of the Universe

There are those kinds of Pressures. It isn't simply politics, it is not simply technology, it is really not just the essence of humanity, but it is sort of also, you could look at it as maybe the Essence of Life. I think Teilhard de Chardin, in Phenomenon of Man, I believe he put that incredibly well. So those kind of Forces are at Work. It is the nature of humans to be exploratory and to Push On

Yes, it costs resources and it does cost a lot, and there is a risk, there is a penalty, there is a down side, but Exploration and Pioneering, I think those are the critical things, it is the Essence of what Human Beings are, and that is to try to understand their Universe and to try to participate in the entire Universe and not just their little Neighborhood" -Story Musgrave



One of my most convincing arguments for space exploration is the
analogy that Earth itself is a spacecraft. Everything we learn about
how to function and live in space applies directly to our spacehip
Earth. How to recycle air, water, how to generate and use power
efficiently, how to grow food in closed ecosystems. All of it is
important. All of this can benefit mankind in a world with a fast
growing population. Understanding other worlds is
how we understand OUR world better, to understand
how it formed and where it is going. Its our only home for now.


"We must not cease from exploration, and at the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began, and to know it for the
first time."
T.S. Eliot



It's just in our blood man.
People may not watch or pay close attention sure.
But they want it being done. They know it is important.




A past Gallup survey.....

"More than three-fourths (77%) of the American public say they support a newplan for space exploration that would include a stepping-stone approach to return the space shuttle to flight, complete assembly of the space station, build are placement for the shuttle, go back to the Moon and then on to Mars and beyond"





"A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are built for."
-- Grace Murray Hopper



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Old 08-09-2007, 05:39 PM   #6
Brru
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Im very much still into it. Im actually going to school so that I can get a job at NASA in the future. Which may or may not exist lol. Maybe I'll get to join MI8 instead lol
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Old 08-09-2007, 05:50 PM   #7
patrickwm68
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Back in 2000, I was in a restaurant in Orlando FL when the waitress asked me if I wanted to see the shuttle go up. We went outside and even from that far away it was an impressive site.
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Old 08-09-2007, 07:18 PM   #8
CessnaDriver
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Preview for the next decade.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2fhVnTuxv4
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Old 08-09-2007, 07:24 PM   #9
patrickwm68
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Originally Posted by CessnaDriver View Post
Preview for the next decade.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2fhVnTuxv4
Is that stuff still up there from the first landing? I always wondered.
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Old 08-09-2007, 07:58 PM   #10
CessnaDriver
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Is that stuff still up there from the first landing? I always wondered.

Oh yeah.

All kinds of stuff left behind from all the Apollo missions.

6 descent stages from the Lunar Modules. Several rovers, experiments, tons of stuff. Even a laser ranging mirror that is still used to this day to get exact distances of the earth to the moon.

They left everything they didnt have to bring back.

Many of the abandoned ascent stages impacted the moon later as well. So there are some pretty historical wrecks on the moon.

There is even some old Apollo hardware in solar orbit out there.


And the footprints should still be there too!
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