Taking apart Space Shuttle Discovery

I was passed the Spaceflight Now link and it explains what is happening to the Discovery shuttle now that it is being retired.
If you subscribe to Spaceflight Now + Plus,  you also have access to a large number of videos.
I don't so just have to look elsewhere for more information.
- LRK -

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http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts133/110327retire/
Decommissioning work starts for shuttle Discovery
BY JUSTIN RAY
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: March 28, 2011

And so it begins. Technicians at the Kennedy Space Center have begun taking apart the shuttle Discovery, the ship now a laboratory specimen for engineering forensics before her future date with a museum.
Inside orbiter hangar No. 2 last week, the shuttle's nose piece containing the control thrusters used to maneuver the spacecraft was removed and taken to the hypergolic maintenance facility for decommissioning.

It's the first visible sign of critical post-flight safing work now underway on the three-decade-old Discovery as she goes into retirement.
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More info.
- LRK -

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http://dvice.com/archives/2011/03/discovery-gets.php
Gallery: Discovery gets disassembled, prepped for retirement
It's been just a few weeks since the space shuttle Discovery returned from her last mission to orbit, and already she's being partially disassembled and cleaned to prepare her for her final resting place, replacing Enterprise at the Smithsonian.

The pictures in the gallery below show technicians at Kennedy Space Center's Orbiter Processing Facility removing the forward reaction control system (FRCS) from Discovery's nose. The FRCS is an array of little rocket engines used to help shuttles make precise movements and change their orientation. Being rocket engines, they tend to be filled with a bunch of explosively toxic chemicals, so the whole assembly needs to be cleaned out and de-blowupified before tourists will be allowed to poke it. The engines themselves will be removed and replaced with replicas, while the originals will go into storage to potentially be used on a future launch vehicle.

Also in the gallery are some other pics (from different missions) to give you a better sense of what the Orbiter Processing Facility looks like.
NASA and KSC, via Spaceflight Now
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NASA link from above for info on Discovery retirement.
- LRK -

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http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/behindscenes/discoveryretire.html
Retirement a New Beginning for Discovery

03.16.11
A long list of inspections await space shuttle Discovery as technicians at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida take the first steps to prepare the agency's oldest active orbiter for retirement.

Discovery touched down Wednesday, March 9, just before noon to complete the 13-day STS-133 mission to the International Space Station. The shuttle and its crew of six astronauts delivered the last pressurized module to the U.S. side of the orbiting outpost, a large closet of sorts called the Permanent Multipurpose Module.

Standing on the runway at Kennedy, STS-133 Commander Steve Lindsey described bittersweet feelings of bringing home NASA's most veteran orbiter for its 39th and final time.

"As the minutes pass, I'm actually getting sadder and sadder about this being the last flight and I know all the folks involved with the shuttle program feel the same way," Lindsey said.

A few hours after landing at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility, Discovery was back inside an orbiter processing facility going through standard post-landing procedures.

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KSC has an extensive Media Gallery.
- LRK -

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http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/search.cfm
Kennedy Space Center
Media Search

STS-133
http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/search.cfm?cat=214

Select Videos and key word 'discovery' in "Search Media Gallery" box to narrow selection of videos.
- LRK -

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And Congress is still having trouble passing a budget so NASA sort of adrift.
Plans are good, and it takes funding to accomplish.
It helps to be able to decide on the plan as well.
- LRK -

http://domeofthesky.com/drupal/node/5620
http://www.universetoday.com/83740/nasa-mission-to-europa-may-fall-to-budget-cuts/
http://thewayoutspace.blogspot.com/2011/03/nasa-budget-woes.html
http://www.nasa.gov/news/budget/index.html

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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MESSENGER Begins Historic Orbit around Mercury

Earthquakes and tsunamis are in the news down here on Earth.  If we have a chance to look up we have large Moon to view.
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/16mar_supermoon/

Beyond that though is the planet Mercury which now has a visitor in orbit.
View Mercury in the evening sky March 21.
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/ataglance/
- LRK -

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http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/

 

March 17, 2011

MESSENGER Begins Historic Orbit around Mercury

At 9:10 p.m. EDT, engineers in the MESSENGER Mission Operations Center at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., received the anticipated radiometric signals confirming nominal burn shutdown and successful insertion of the MESSENGER probe into orbit around the planet Mercury. [more]

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Read on.
- LRK -

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http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/18mar_orbitmercury/
NASA Science News for March 18, 2011 NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft successfully achieved orbit around Mercury at approximately 9 p.m. EDT on March 17th. This marks the first time a spacecraft has orbited the solar system's innermost planet.
FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/18mar_orbitmercury/
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So MESSENGER is in orbit.
- LRK -

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http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2011/mar/HQ_11-079_MESSENGER_Orbits.html
NASA'S MESSENGER SPACECRAFT BEGINS HISTORIC ORBIT AROUND MERCURY

WASHINGTON -- NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft successfully achieved orbit around Mercury at approximately 9 p.m. EDT Thursday. This marks the first time a spacecraft has accomplished this engineering and scientific milestone at our solar system's innermost planet.

"This mission will continue to revolutionize our understanding of Mercury during the coming year," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, who was at MESSENGER mission control at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., as engineers received telemetry data confirming orbit insertion. "NASA science is rewriting text books. MESSENGER is a great example of how our scientists are innovating to push the envelope of human knowledge."

At 9:10 p.m. EDT, engineers Operations Center, received the anticipated radiometric signals confirming nominal burn shutdown and successful insertion of the MESSENGER probe into orbit around the planet Mercury. NASA's MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, Geochemistry, and Ranging, or MESSENGER, rotated back to the Earth by 9:45 p.m. EDT, and started transmitting data. Upon review of the data, the engineering and operations teams confirmed the burn executed nominally with all subsystems reporting a clean burn and no logged errors.

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So glad we hadn't been there and done that.
Might have been nice to have watched from the Moon though.
- LRK -

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http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/messenger/main/index.html
MESSENGER

NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft successfully achieved orbit around Mercury at approximately 9 p.m. EDT Thursday. This marks the first time a spacecraft has accomplished this engineering and scientific milestone at our solar system's innermost planet.

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Lets hope that Japan will still be able to continue with their planned BepiColomb project forMercury as well.
http://www.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/bepi/index_e.html
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/area/index.cfm?fareaid=30

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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Why I am not worried about Japan’s nuclear reactors.

An 8.9 earthquake hit Japan followed by a tsunami with great destructive force.
You have probably been following the reporting by the news media.
So have I and I have to turn them off.
I get mad at the news reporters interrupting the experts they have asked to comment.
[Don't tell me what you know, just tell me what I want to hear that will scare everyone and make for headlines. - LRK -]

Maybe it is time to make some sense out of the situation.
Received an e-mail with some links that I think are worth reading.
- LRK -

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Why I am not worried about Japan’s nuclear reactors.

Posted on March 13, 2011 by morgsatlarge

 http://bit.ly/joehmen

**Update**
Latest update: Mar 14, 7.30 am EST. Thanks for your interest.
Follow Josef on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/josefoehmen
Short link to this page: http://bit.ly/joehmen
There exists a copy of this post on Barry Brooks excellent blog, where you can still use the discussion function: http://bravenewclimate.com/2011/03/13/fukushima-simple-explanation/
Barry does an excellent job of keeping up with current events. Make sure to check for updates on his site: http://bravenewclimate.com/
Same for the tireless folks at WNN: http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/default

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Morgsatlarge.
**original post below**
I know this is a fairly full on statement from someone posting his very first blog. It will also be far and away the most well written, intelligent post I ever make (I hope!) It also means I am not responsible for its content.

This post is by Dr Josef Oehmen, a research scientist at MIT, in Boston.
He is a PhD Scientist, whose father has extensive experience in Germany’s nuclear industry. I asked him to write this information to my family in Australia, who were being made sick with worry by the media reports coming from Japan. I am republishing it with his permission.

It is a few hours old, so if any information is out of date, blame me for the delay in getting it published.
This is his text in full and unedited. It is very long, so get comfy.


I am writing this text (Mar 12) to give you some peace of mind regarding some of the troubles in Japan, that is the safety of Japan’s nuclear reactors. Up front, the situation is serious, but under control. And this text is long! But you will know more about nuclear power plants after reading it than all journalists on this planet put together.
There was and will *not* be any significant release of radioactivity.
By “significant” I mean a level of radiation of more than what you would receive on – say – a long distance flight, or drinking a glass of beer that comes from certain areas with high levels of natural background radiation.
I have been reading every news release on the incident since the earthquake. There has not been one single (!) report that was accurate and free of errors (and part of that problem is also a weakness in the Japanese crisis communication). By “not free of errors” I do not refer to tendentious anti-nuclear journalism – that is quite normal these days. By “not free of errors” I mean blatant errors regarding physics and natural law, as well as gross misinterpretation of facts, due to an obvious lack of fundamental and basic understanding of the way nuclear reactors are build and operated. I have read a 3 page report on CNN where every single paragraph contained an error.
We will have to cover some fundamentals, before we get into what is going on.
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[Note:  I will let you go to the source and read.  Please do.  Very informative.  - LRK ]
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At Centauri Dreams, read post by Paul Gilster.
- LRK -

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Fukushima: Reactors and the Public
http://tinyurl.com/5snkkok

by Paul Gilster on March 14, 2011

All weekend long, as the dreadful news and heart-wrenching images from Japan kept coming in, I wondered how press coverage of the nuclear reactor situation would be handled. The temptation seemed irresistible to play the story for drama and maximum fear, citing catastrophic meltdowns, invoking Chernobyl and even Hiroshima, along with dire predictions about the future of nuclear power. My first thought was that the Japanese reactors were going to have the opposite effect than many in the media suppose. By showing that nuclear plants can survive so massive an event, they’ll demonstrate that nuclear power remains a viable option.
This is an important issue for the Centauri Dreams readership not just in terms of how we produce energy for use here on Earth, but because nuclear reactors are very much in play in our thinking about future deep space missions. Thus the public perception of nuclear reactors counts, and I probably don’t have to remind any of you that when the Cassini orbiter was launched toward Saturn, it was with the background of protest directed at its three radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) that use plutonium-238 to generate electricity. A similar RTG-carrying mission will doubtless meet the same kind of response.
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Check out the chart.
- LRK -

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TEPCO reactor by reactor status report at Fukushima

Posted on 15 March 2011 by Barry Brook

http://bravenewclimate.com/2011/03/15/tepco-reactor-status/

Current status of reactors, from TEPCO (will update as required, click to enlarge)

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You can monitor the latest earthquakes around the world at USGS.
- LRK -

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Latest Earthquakes in the World - Past 7 days
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_all.php

• Earthquakes
• Hazards
• Learn
• Prepare
• Monitoring
• Research

---

Latest Earthquakes in the World - Past 7 days

Latest Earthquakes Magnitude 2.5 or Greater in the United States and Adjacent Areas and Magnitude 4.5 or Greater in the Rest of the World - Last 7 days

Versión en Español
This list contains all earthquakes with magnitude greater than 2.5 located by the USGS and contributing networks in the last week (168 hours). Magnitudes 4.5 and above are in bold font. Magnitudes 6 and above are in red. (Some early events may be obscured by later ones on the maps.)
The most recent earthquakes are at the top of the list. Times are in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Click on the word "map" to see a ten-degree tall map displaying the earthquake. Click on an event's "DATE" to get a detailed report.
DISCLAIMER
If you cannot see the list, Click here to go to the top of the list.
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Check out the animations, especially for the World.
- LRK -

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Earthquake Animations - Past 7 Days
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsanim/

The total number of earthquakes in each frame will vary because each frame displays a different seven day time period. Animations are updated hourly from automated real-time maps that have not been reviewed or corrected for errors.

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http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsanim/world/

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I hope that we will see that life can bring unexpected happenings that need to be placed in perspective along with all that goes on around us.  Driving a car can be dangerous but we like to get to our destination in minutes or hours not days or months by foot or horse.  We like a warm house and we use coal, natural gas, electricity, or old fashioned logs, but chopping logs has gone out of fashion for a lot of us.  Adding solar heat and new technologies can be useful and may have enharent risks.

Just today I saw in a store a set of pointed tongs to lift a cooked turkey from the hot pan and the California lable warned that the materials used have been known to cause cancer.  Hmmm, stick a turkey, cause cancer, serve at your own risk.  Then again, if the turkey is not good, use the tongs to stab the cook, they are sharp.  I should warn the cook to use the tongs at their own risk.  :-)

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

============================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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Up, Up and Away - Oops

I suppose you may have seen the news that a recent satellite launch failed because the clam shell that protects the satellite during the initial launch portion failed to open.  This has happened before on launches.  It will be interesting to hear just what is thought to be the cause. 

There are little explosive pyro devices that are often used to shear bolts.  These caused the folks working on the Mars Rovers a problem when they found that some of them could fail and would not allow the solar panels to unfold. We watched Steve Sqyres explain on a NOVA Special how much trouble it was to replace them and how close they came to missing a launch date.
- LRK -
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http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/3101_mars.html
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NARRATOR: Three months before launch, the rovers are on their way to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It's the first leg of a journey that will end on Mars. At the launch pad, preparations are underway. The engineers carefully inspect the rovers one last time, and they find a problem: a faulty circuit board inside both rovers. To replace them they must open the solar panels by firing explosive fasteners called pyros, of which there are dozens on each rover.
STEVE SQUYRES: The rover's solar arrays were already fastened together. Everything was all fastened up tight, they were ready for launch. We had to open them up again. The only way to do it was by actually firing live pyros. Bang, bang, bang.
NARRATOR: With the panels open, the problem is easily fixed. New boards go in; the panels are closed up again and secured with fresh pyros. But just three weeks before launch the engineers discover that pyros can sometimes short circuit when fired. And a short might have overheated components called resistors in the pyro-firing circuits, compromising their ability to fire pyros on Mars.
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No humans on board this kind of launch but something that needs to be understood.
- LRK -

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http://www.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/home/spacenews/files/7198fccadf3fd6c58f70e152a6be9343-187.html
NASA's Glory satellite lost in $424 million launch failure (UPDATED)

03/04/2011 08:41 AM Filed in: Space News | Space Science

Editor's note...

• Posted at 07:07 AM, 03/04/11: NASA's Glory satellite lost in $424 million launch failure
• Updated at 09:00 AM, 03/04/11: News conference; quotes and details

By WILLIAM HARWOOD
CBS News
NASA's Glory atmospheric research mission satellite crashed into the southern Pacific Ocean Friday after a protective nose cone fairing failed to separate during launch aboard an Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus XL rocket. The $424 million failure was the second in a row for the Orbital Sciences booster following the 2009 loss of another environmental satellite due to a similar nose cone malfunction.

"I think it's not an understatement to say tonight we're all pretty devastated," said Ronald Grabe, a former space shuttle commander who now manages Orbital's Launch Systems Group. "But we will recover, the team will bounce back because they're all professionals. Orbital Sciences will bounce back with the Taurus vehicle."
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The Taurus vehicle has had this problem before and hurts to be bit twice.
- LRK -

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http://spaceflightnow.com/taurus/oco/failure.html
NASA environmental satellite lost in launch failure
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: February 24, 2009;
Updated after news conference
NASA's $273 million Orbiting Carbon Observatory satellite crashed into the ocean near Antarctica shortly after launch today from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., atop an Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus XL booster. Telemetry indicated a protective nose cone fairing failed to separate early in the climb to space, weighing the rocket down and preventing the spacecraft from reaching orbit.
"It's a huge disappointment to the entire team that's worked very hard over years and years and really did their best to see it through," said NASA launch manager Chuck Dovale. "The reason not everyone is able to do this is, it's hard. And even when you do the best you can, you can still fail. It's a tough business.

Said John Brunschwyler, manager of the Taurus rocket program for Orbital Sciences: "Our whole team, at a very personal level, are disappointed in the events of this morning. It's very hard and, as I said, at a very personal level, (we're) upset with the results."

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Rocket science isn't easy and the unknown is a hard teacher.
- LRK -

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http://www.astronautix.com/flights/gemini9.htm
Gemini 9

Crew: Cernan, Stafford. Third rendezvous mission of Gemini program. Agena target blew up on way to orbit; substitute target's shroud hung up, docking impossible. EVA almost ended in disaster when astronaut's face plate fogged over; barely able to return to spacecraft. Backup crew: Aldrin, Lovell. At the first launch attempt, while the crew waited buttoned up in the spacecraft on the pad, their Agena docking target field blew up on the way to orbit. NASA decided to use an Atlas to launch an Agena docking collar only. This was called the Augmented Target Docking Adapter. Ths was successfully launched and the Gemini succeeded in rendezvousing with it. However, the ATDA shroud had not completely separated, thus making docking impossible. However three different types of rendezvous were tested with the ATDA. Cernan began his EVA, which was to include flight with a USAF MMU rocket pack but the Gemini suit could not handle heat load of the astronaut's exertions. Cernan's faceplate fogs up, forcing him to blindly grope back into the Gemini hatch after only two hours.
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Nose cone shrouds have caused problems before, even in the Apollo program.
- LRK -

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agena_target_vehicle
Agena target vehicle

The Agena target vehicle (ATV) was a spacecraft used by NASA during its Gemini program to develop and practice orbital space rendezvous and docking techniques in preparation for the Apollo program lunar missions.
Each ATV consisted of an Agena spacecraft built by Lockheed and a docking adapter built by McDonnell. The Agena was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 14 on top of an Atlas booster built by the Convair division of General Dynamics. The Agena first burn would occur shortly after shroud jettison and separation from the Atlas over the Atlantic Ocean. Over Ascension Island, a second burn would boost the Agena into a low circular orbit.
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So not the always a good day for those looking up.
- LRK -

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http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/02/launchfailures/
5 of the Worst Space Launch Failures

• By Wired Science
• February 24, 2009  | 
• 11:34 am  | 
• Categories: Space

Space flight is a tough business. In the 52 years since the beginning of American efforts to reach space, more than 160 launches, including that of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory on February 24, have failed. Here are some of the most devastating failures. December 6, 1957: Vanguard TV3
The United States’ first attempt to launch a satellite into orbit was also its first failure. Two seconds after leaving the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, this rocket lost thrust and sank back down, rupturing and exploding its fuel tanks. It had reached a height of about four feet. Though the rocket was destroyed, the Vanguard satellite it was carrying was thrown clear, its transmitters still signaling. It is now on display at the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum.  Image (above): NASA
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Not only Orbital, but also SpaceX has had their false starts.
- LRK -

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http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/08/spacex-we-have/#previouspost
SpaceX: ‘We have heard from launch control that there has been an anomaly.’

• By Aaron Rowe
• August 2, 2008  | 
• 9:30 pm  | 
• Categories: Space

Five minutes after liftoff, the live webcast of a Falcon 1 rocket launch, carried out by SpaceX on Kwajalein Atoll, abruptly ended. The final message, that there has been an anomaly, suggests that this was the third failure for the private space transportation company. 
If that is the case, at least there is a silver lining to this cloud: The NASA payload was relatively inexpensive in comparison to a normal satellite.
Here is a partial transcript:
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Other countries have had their share of rocket failures too so I guess one should not be surprised when they happen.
Will just have to watch and see who thinks the conquest of space is worth the risk.
- LRK -

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

============================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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