Taking pictures of the ET

Part of the limitation in the current "daylight" launch window is that the
Crew must be able to take pretty pictures of the ET after it has been
separated from the shuttle to inspect for any damage.

Right now, they seem to dump the ET fairly soon after launch so it falls in
pacific (or is is indian ocean ?), after which they do the OMS burns to raise
orbit and most importantly circularise it.

Could they haul the ET longer so they could detach it in daylight, take
pictures and have it still targetted at an ocean for re-entry ?

Cold they ditch the ET so it lands in the Atlantic ? (does anything from ET
survive re-entry ?)

I realise that detaching ET to take pictures and then have the ET fly longer
before falling into the ocean would require the ET to be higher to begin with,
and there would be fuel costs to that. Would this be significant ?

Can the shuttle delay its major OMS burns during the first orbit (while ET
still attached) ? Or would the shuttle perform a re-entry in the atmosphere if
it doesn't do the OMS burns to circularise orbnit during first orbot after
MECO ?

"John Doe" wrote in message ...
Part of the limitation in the current "daylight" launch window is that the
Crew must be able to take pretty pictures of the ET after it has been
separated from the shuttle to inspect for any damage.
POSSIBLE LIFE SAVING PRETTY PICTURES



Right now, they seem to dump the ET fairly soon after launch so it falls
in
pacific (or is is indian ocean ?), after which they do the OMS burns to
raise
orbit and most importantly circularise it.

Could they haul the ET longer so they could detach it in daylight, take
pictures and have it still targetted at an ocean for re-entry ?
IT DOES NOT RE ENTER IT BURNS UP IN THE ATMOSPHERE

Cold they ditch the ET so it lands in the Atlantic ? (does anything from
ET
survive re-entry ?)


I realise that detaching ET to take pictures and then have the ET fly
longer
before falling into the ocean would require the ET to be higher to begin
with,
and there would be fuel costs to that. Would this be significant ?

Can the shuttle delay its major OMS burns during the first orbit (while ET
still attached) ? Or would the shuttle perform a re-entry in the
atmosphere if
it doesn't do the OMS burns to circularise orbnit during first orbot after
MECO ?


MECO YOU ARE A DUMBO GEEKO

John Doe wrote:
Part of the limitation in the current "daylight" launch window is that the
Crew must be able to take pretty pictures of the ET after it has been
separated from the shuttle to inspect for any damage.

Right now, they seem to dump the ET fairly soon after launch so it falls in
pacific (or is is indian ocean ?), after which they do the OMS burns to raise
orbit and most importantly circularise it.

Could they haul the ET longer so they could detach it in daylight, take
pictures and have it still targetted at an ocean for re-entry ?

For a 4:32pm (EDT) launch, it appears the sunrise side of the
terminatoris over Japan. That means the ET would have to be carried a
*lot* farther, which changes the launch procedures significantly. Not
something to do just days before launch.

The "ET station" concept did involve carrying the ET to orbit, but that
was for a 28N inclination, and involved some tweaks for additional
performance, IIRC.

/dps

snidely wrote:
The "ET station" concept did involve carrying the ET to orbit, but that
was for a 28N inclination, and involved some tweaks for additional
performance, IIRC.

This isn't a question of carrying the ET to orbit. Question whether the
shuttle can delay OMS firings and carry the ET a while longer to get it to
daylight for pictures, and fire OMS to complete the orbit.

Or do a mimimal OMS burn with ET still attached, and once pictures taken,
complete the OMS burns). Would this be possible ?

John Doe wrote:
snidely wrote:
The "ET station" concept did involve carrying the ET to orbit, but that
was for a 28N inclination, and involved some tweaks for additional
performance, IIRC.

This isn't a question of carrying the ET to orbit. Question whether the
shuttle can delay OMS firings and carry the ET a while longer to get it to
daylight for pictures, and fire OMS to complete the orbit.

Or do a mimimal OMS burn with ET still attached, and once pictures taken,
complete the OMS burns). Would this be possible ?

Carrying the ET any further then they do now could be expected to
impact performance. It would certainly impact procedures. Evaluating
those impacts and making the changes isn't something you want to do
days before launch.

Maybe Jorge could chime in with how long is spent preparifing ascent
profiles, aside from the time spent in the simulator practicing those
profiles....

/dps