Shuttle - looking dirty

"David" wrote in message ...
Gidday!

I know that there are a lot more important problems to worry about with
the
return to flight but after trolling through various images on the Nasa
site,
one thing that stands out, in particular with the night shots of Discovery
on the launch pad, is how dirty or marked Discovery appears.

During the time that its taken to prepare for the return to flight,
wouldn't
Nasa have wanted to paint the shuttle, if not for protection, just for
public relations? If you think of Discovery as the Space equivalent of Air
Force 1, then comparatively every shot you ever see of Air Force 1 shows
it
in pristine condition. Are all the Orbiters like Discovery?

As I say, I know there are more important issues but this is just
something
I've noticed and thought that people who know much more in this area than
I
do (I'm just an enthusiast from Oz) could shed some light on.

Regards,

David.

Well, there is no question that the orbiters are old and used. I must
admit, however, to cynically thinking along the same lines at times when I
see closeup pictures of the orbiters -- to the extent of chuckling and
"feeling bad" for the crew when they board the thing. Then, I remind myself
that appearance isn't directly proportional to safety and mission success.
It would be a waste of money to "beautify" the thing, just for the point of
making it photogenic. I'd rather see that money going to keeping it safe.
Well, ten percent of it anyway. The other ninety percent, like everything
else, going to bureaucratic BS. Thats still ten percent more money to
tighten down that many more bolts and screws before it flies though.

Still, looking at how battered and banged up the orbiters are is a clear
reminder of their age. I'd be hard convinced that they actually check the
structural integrety of everything critical in the orbiters before they fly.
Its simply impossible to do. Kind of disturbing that nothing was seriously
planned to replace the shuttles until just recently. Now, they are stuck
with flying the things and I'm expecting then to continue doing so until
"strike three".

I'm not trying to be "offensive" with my cynicism. In my early youth (early
to mid 1980's), my parents and I lived right on the Space Coast (Cocoa
Beach). The shuttle was very exciting for me as a youngster at the time,
especially so since I was fortunate to witness launches of the shuttles (and
unmanned rockets) right from the comfort of my front and backyards. I could
even witness launches right from bedroom window that faced north. (There
was a tree, with branches blocking the view though.) I have fond memories
of the, especially, the unammed launches in the middle of the night that
casted light/shadows into the house. Very cool -- and eerie. I also
witnessed the first and "famed" night shuttle launch, which if my
subtraction is correct would've been in 1983. I know for a fact it was at
the very end of a summer right before school began in the fall. Do a google
and can probably find pictures. There were t-storms in the area earlier in
the evening and some cool pictures were taken of lightning around the pad.
My dad took an employment location transfer in October of 1985, so we left
the area right before the Challenger accident. I did watch it live, like
millions of other kids, on TV though. I was in middle school then. It was
after we left that I realized how much I took it for granted living there --
not just the space stuff but living right on a beach!

Anyway, I guess that I see the shuttle as an "icon" and it is quite
strange/depressing to see it mature. Its really time to seriously think
about mothballing the shuttles and allowing them to expire with some
dignity.

Just my random musings..

"David" wrote in message
...
Gidday!

I know that there are a lot more important problems to worry about with
the return to flight but after trolling through various images on the Nasa
site, one thing that stands out, in particular with the night shots of
Discovery on the launch pad, is how dirty or marked Discovery appears.

During the time that its taken to prepare for the return to flight,
wouldn't Nasa have wanted to paint the shuttle, if not for protection,
just for public relations? If you think of Discovery as the Space
equivalent of Air Force 1, then comparatively every shot you ever see of
Air Force 1 shows it in pristine condition. Are all the Orbiters like
Discovery?

As I say, I know there are more important issues but this is just
something I've noticed and thought that people who know much more in this
area than I do (I'm just an enthusiast from Oz) could shed some light on.

Regards,

David.

I think it has everything do with age. Columbia looked really dirty for
STS-107...truly looking 22 years old. If you look at Endeavour, though,
which is only 13 years old, it looks much cleaner than the other two
orbiters.