Space Shuttle Grounded Indefinitely AGAIN Due To Major Flaw

Shuttles grounded again by fuel tank debris

By MARTIN MERZER



CAPE CANAVERAL - Dangerously large chunks of foam insulation peeled off
Discovery's newly designed fuel tank during blastoff and the shuttle
program will be grounded again until the defects are studied and
repaired, NASA said Wednesday.

The dramatic and unexpected disclosure raised new questions about the
troubled shuttle program and about NASA's ability to resolve the issue
responsible for the loss of Columbia and its seven astronauts.

''Until we fix this, we're not ready to go fly again,'' said Bill
Parsons, the shuttle program's manager. ``You can say that means we're
grounded.''

Mission managers said two chunks of debris flew off the huge external
fuel tank, one of them about three feet in length and about 10 inches wide.

The large piece was not believed to have struck Discovery and the
shuttle and its seven astronauts are in no known danger, NASA said. The
flight is continuing and a normal landing is expected, the agency said.

''It didn't cause any damage to the orbiter that we are aware of at this
time,'' Parsons said. ``But it does cause us pause and will make us take
a step back and look at what we have to do.''

He said he could not estimate how long that would take, but no more
shuttles will fly until the issue is resolved.

The agency spent about $1.5 billion on modifications after the loss of
Columbia, with most of the work focused on the fuel tank. Officials said
they were confident that the tank was safe to fly.

''You have to admit when you're wrong. We were wrong,'' Parsons said.
``We're telling you right now, it should not have come off. It did come
off. We have to do something about that.''

Discovery's first full day of flight was devoted almost entirely to
damage inspection as the crew conducted a sweeping survey of the
shuttle's wings and nose and engineers at Mission Control methodically
examined video images and other launch data.

Using a camera attached to a new 50-foot extension to the shuttle's
robotic arm, astronauts spent nearly seven hours beaming images of the
wing edges and nose cone to Mission Control.

These areas, covered in a high-tech material called reinforced
carbon-carbon, are particularly vulnerable to damage inflicted during
liftoff by debris from the external fuel tank.

A piece of fuel-tank insulation punched a hole in shuttle Columbia's
left wing, initiating the chain of events that destroyed that ship and
killed its seven astronauts in February 2003.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercu...s/12235411.htm

[
The Shuttle is scheduled to be phased out around 2008. So even if it
takes only a year to fix the foam problem this time, that means the
Shuttle will get only 2 more years of flying time. Why bother?

Maybe the Bush Administration should just stop beating a dead horse,
junk the Shuttle, and institute a high-priority crash program to build a
new state-of-the-art vehicle.

I think it's time to put the Shuttle out of its misery.
]


--
Steven D. Litvintchouk
Email:

Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me.

Steven L. wrote:

The Shuttle is scheduled to be phased out around 2008. So even if it
takes only a year to fix the foam problem this time, that means the
Shuttle will get only 2 more years of flying time. Why bother?


Because Halliburton is probably doing the engineering and maintenance
on the shuttle now, that's why.

Can you say "no bid contract?"


Ryd

Ryd wrote:

Because Halliburton is probably doing the engineering and maintenance
on the shuttle now, that's why.

Can you say "no bid contract?"

No, but I can say 'you're an ignorant idiot'.

Paul

Paul F. Dietz posted:

Space Shuttle Grounded Indefinitely AGAIN Due To Major Flaw

Ryd wrote:

Because Halliburton is probably doing the engineering and maintenance
on the shuttle now, that's why.

Can you say "no bid contract?"

No, but I can say 'you're an ignorant idiot'.


that's the general consensus.




--
TheTruthHurts.

It's time to privitize NASA

Every once in a long while, there's a story that brings me nearly to
tears. This is one of them. Ever since I was a little kid, I loved
everything about spaceflight, and space science. I had such hopes for
the return to flight -- a triumph after a tragedy. My father was on the
Columbia Disaster Recovery Crew. Picking up the pieces. To see the
shuttle broken again really hurts. Now it's a tragedy again.

To see the shuttle broken again really hurts. Now it's a tragedy again.
...
Ground the Shuttle forever!

etc.

Geez. I thought I'd test the waters and revisit s.s.s and s.s.p. Then to
see crap like this again ... The signal to noise ratio is still too low.

We've got a camera on the ET, now, for only the second time in the program.
It's not that this hasn't been happening all along. Now we just know about
it. Sure, the insulation issue it needs to be addressed, but I don't see a
really long standdown due to this. I have a hunch that the orbiter belly is
cleaner (fewer divots) than in most previous flights based on what I've seen
so far. The ascent was very uneventful, in the words of Commander Collins,
as I recall reading.

Get a grip.

Jon

"Jon S. Berndt" jsb.at.hal-pc-dot.org wrote in message
...
To see the shuttle broken again really hurts. Now it's a tragedy again.
...
Ground the Shuttle forever!

etc.

Geez. I thought I'd test the waters and revisit s.s.s and s.s.p. Then to
see crap like this again ... The signal to noise ratio is still too low.

We've got a camera on the ET, now, for only the second time in the program.
It's not that this hasn't been happening all along. Now we just know about
it. Sure, the insulation issue it needs to be addressed, but I don't see a
really long standdown due to this. I have a hunch that the orbiter belly is
cleaner (fewer divots) than in most previous flights based on what I've seen
so far. The ascent was very uneventful, in the words of Commander Collins,
as I recall reading.

Get a grip.



A reality check is the entire point. Let's see who has a grip.

The entire point of the shuttle was to build a flippin space station
as a foundation for greater goals. And now the prospect of having
the ISS wear out before it's even finished is staring us in the face.

Sorry for my English, but I can't emphasize the stark reality.
THIRTY FLIPPIN YEARS of work down the tubes
if the space station fails and we have to start over.

We were supposed to have a reliable transportation system
and a space station at the....same time. By the time we have
a replacement shuttle the space station won't ...be there.

And by the time we build an ISS2, the shuttle2 will be
worn out. Kind of a fundamental flaw in planning, as in
it couldn't be any worse.

Flushed, a complete failure of Nasa's primary program stretching
the better part of half a century.

That's what history will say.



Jonathan

s






Jon

I was talking to a crazy ******* today who expressed the opinion:

"what a ****ing waste of time and money. Who'd have thought that humans weren't meant for outer space, unless they watched too much
sci-fi or the Jetsons... The white man has ****ed up the earth and now wants to extend its "progress" to the rest of the galaxy..."

I'm not sure what to make of such radical views, but I would like to know the real benefit to humanity for this obsession with
traveling and "conquering" outer space when things right here on earth are royally ****ed and millions are starving to death of no
fault of their own. It makes you think, if you do think at all.



"Steven L." wrote in message ink.net...
Shuttles grounded again by fuel tank debris

By MARTIN MERZER



CAPE CANAVERAL - Dangerously large chunks of foam insulation peeled off Discovery's newly designed fuel tank during blastoff and
the shuttle program will be grounded again until the defects are studied and repaired, NASA said Wednesday.

The dramatic and unexpected disclosure raised new questions about the troubled shuttle program and about NASA's ability to resolve
the issue responsible for the loss of Columbia and its seven astronauts.

''Until we fix this, we're not ready to go fly again,'' said Bill Parsons, the shuttle program's manager. ``You can say that means
we're grounded.''

Mission managers said two chunks of debris flew off the huge external fuel tank, one of them about three feet in length and about
10 inches wide.

The large piece was not believed to have struck Discovery and the shuttle and its seven astronauts are in no known danger, NASA
said. The flight is continuing and a normal landing is expected, the agency said.

''It didn't cause any damage to the orbiter that we are aware of at this time,'' Parsons said. ``But it does cause us pause and
will make us take a step back and look at what we have to do.''

He said he could not estimate how long that would take, but no more shuttles will fly until the issue is resolved.

The agency spent about $1.5 billion on modifications after the loss of Columbia, with most of the work focused on the fuel tank.
Officials said they were confident that the tank was safe to fly.

''You have to admit when you're wrong. We were wrong,'' Parsons said. ``We're telling you right now, it should not have come off.
It did come off. We have to do something about that.''

Discovery's first full day of flight was devoted almost entirely to damage inspection as the crew conducted a sweeping survey of
the shuttle's wings and nose and engineers at Mission Control methodically examined video images and other launch data.

Using a camera attached to a new 50-foot extension to the shuttle's robotic arm, astronauts spent nearly seven hours beaming
images of the wing edges and nose cone to Mission Control.

These areas, covered in a high-tech material called reinforced carbon-carbon, are particularly vulnerable to damage inflicted
during liftoff by debris from the external fuel tank.

A piece of fuel-tank insulation punched a hole in shuttle Columbia's left wing, initiating the chain of events that destroyed that
ship and killed its seven astronauts in February 2003.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercu...s/12235411.htm

[
The Shuttle is scheduled to be phased out around 2008. So even if it takes only a year to fix the foam problem this time, that
means the Shuttle will get only 2 more years of flying time. Why bother?

Maybe the Bush Administration should just stop beating a dead horse, junk the Shuttle, and institute a high-priority crash program
to build a new state-of-the-art vehicle.

I think it's time to put the Shuttle out of its misery.
]


--
Steven D. Litvintchouk
Email:

Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me.

"Zigler" wrote in message
...

I was talking to a crazy ******* today who expressed the opinion:

"what a ****ing waste of time and money. Who'd have thought that humans weren't
meant for outer space, unless they watched too much
sci-fi or the Jetsons... The white man has ****ed up the earth and now wants to
extend its "progress" to the rest of the galaxy..."

I'm not sure what to make of such radical views, but I would like to know the real
benefit to humanity for this obsession with
traveling and "conquering" outer space when things right here on earth are royally
****ed and millions are starving to death of no
fault of their own. It makes you think, if you do think at all.


The glimmering frontier promises to provide new solutions to the most
difficult problems on earth. For example, if building in space provides
an replacement for fossil fuels and an unlimited amount of solar power.

How many problems on earth would that help? One after another I would
think.









"Steven L." wrote in message
ink.net...
Shuttles grounded again by fuel tank debris

By MARTIN MERZER



CAPE CANAVERAL - Dangerously large chunks of foam insulation peeled off
Discovery's newly designed fuel tank during blastoff and
the shuttle program will be grounded again until the defects are studied and
repaired, NASA said Wednesday.

The dramatic and unexpected disclosure raised new questions about the troubled
shuttle program and about NASA's ability to resolve
the issue responsible for the loss of Columbia and its seven astronauts.

''Until we fix this, we're not ready to go fly again,'' said Bill Parsons, the
shuttle program's manager. ``You can say that means
we're grounded.''

Mission managers said two chunks of debris flew off the huge external fuel tank,
one of them about three feet in length and about
10 inches wide.

The large piece was not believed to have struck Discovery and the shuttle and its
seven astronauts are in no known danger, NASA
said. The flight is continuing and a normal landing is expected, the agency said.

''It didn't cause any damage to the orbiter that we are aware of at this time,''
Parsons said. ``But it does cause us pause and
will make us take a step back and look at what we have to do.''

He said he could not estimate how long that would take, but no more shuttles will
fly until the issue is resolved.

The agency spent about $1.5 billion on modifications after the loss of Columbia,
with most of the work focused on the fuel tank.
Officials said they were confident that the tank was safe to fly.

''You have to admit when you're wrong. We were wrong,'' Parsons said. ``We're
telling you right now, it should not have come off.
It did come off. We have to do something about that.''

Discovery's first full day of flight was devoted almost entirely to damage
inspection as the crew conducted a sweeping survey of
the shuttle's wings and nose and engineers at Mission Control methodically
examined video images and other launch data.

Using a camera attached to a new 50-foot extension to the shuttle's robotic arm,
astronauts spent nearly seven hours beaming
images of the wing edges and nose cone to Mission Control.

These areas, covered in a high-tech material called reinforced carbon-carbon, are
particularly vulnerable to damage inflicted
during liftoff by debris from the external fuel tank.

A piece of fuel-tank insulation punched a hole in shuttle Columbia's left wing,
initiating the chain of events that destroyed that
ship and killed its seven astronauts in February 2003.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercu...s/12235411.htm

[
The Shuttle is scheduled to be phased out around 2008. So even if it takes only a
year to fix the foam problem this time, that
means the Shuttle will get only 2 more years of flying time. Why bother?

Maybe the Bush Administration should just stop beating a dead horse, junk the
Shuttle, and institute a high-priority crash program
to build a new state-of-the-art vehicle.

I think it's time to put the Shuttle out of its misery.
]


--
Steven D. Litvintchouk
Email:

Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me.