working

POPULAR TAGS

 Outside the Beltway 

The Drama Continues For the Space Shuttle

The Astronauts understandably have some misgivings over the unprecedented repairs.

Ingenuity, Apollo 13 Style: Astronaut Will Try to Remove Fabric First With Hands, Then Forceps, Then Homemade Hacksaw – By Marcia Dunn The Associated Press

SPACE CENTER, Houston (AP) – Employing the kind of NASA ingenuity seen during Apollo 13, an astronaut prepped for an emergency repair job on Discovery’s exterior Wednesday with forceps, scissors and a hacksaw fashioned out of a blade and a little duct tape.

Stephen Robinson’s mission was to remove two short pieces of filler material that were sticking out of the shuttle’s belly. NASA feared the material could lead to a repeat of the 2003 Columbia tragedy during Discovery’s re-entry next week.

They have also heard from President Bush while awaiting the repair procedure.

Unprecedented Repair Awaits Astronauts- By Pam Easton

SPACE CENTER, Houston (AP) – Discovery’s astronauts took a call from President Bush on Tuesday as they prepared for a task that’s never before been attempted: sending a spacewalker beneath the shuttle to remove filler sticking out between the tiles on the ship’s belly.

“I want to thank you for being risk takers for the sake of exploration,” Bush told the spacefarers. “And I wish you Godspeed on your mission.”

The August 2nd Astronomy Picture of the Day provides the best picture I’ve seen of the underside, especially if you click on the APOD image for high res. Probably not a great idea with dial up.

And Slashdot today points to an article on shuttle replacement designs. (Willaim Broad – NYT)

About the Author: Rodney has a BS in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse, back from when people knew what Hollerith cards were, and actually used the toggle switches on the front of computers. He is an IT Manager in the Motor City and working within the Automotive Industry. He has been blogging at OTB since November 2004.
 
 
Related Stories:
    • None Found
 
Recent Stories:
| Subscribe to RSS Feed | Permalink | Send TrackBack
 
Comments
 

I am proud to shoot thirty-year-old trucks into space so we can fix them there.

Posted by Jim Henley | August 3, 2005 | 09:51 am | Permalink
 

RSS feed for these comments.

Comments are Closed

 
Search OTB
Lijit Logo
OTB RSS Subscribers via FeedBurner

For Advertising Info, write
otb@blogads.com

FOLLOW US

ADVERTISERS

OTB MEDIA

MANzine logo

OTB Gone Hollywood

OTB Sports

Allie is Wired

ATLANTIC COUNCIL

New Atlanticist Atlantic Council Blog



Visitors Since Feb. 4, 2003

All original content copyright 2003-2009 by OTB Media. All rights reserved.