"Go" for de-orbit burn...

August 9, 2005 4:02 AM

Discovery is coming home...Around now (6.06am EDT) STS114 is due to commence firing its orbital maneuvering engines for 2 minutes and 42 seconds and commence its entry of the atmosphere to return home to Edwards Air Force base. Florida was declared a "no go" both yesterday and today due to weather conditions.

Weather at Edwards is good. Landing tracks from NASA available here.
BBC story with live video footage is here.
Pilot Jim Kelly is handling the de-orbit burn, according to commentary and mission commander Eileen Collins will make the final approach and touch down at Edwards.

Best of luck, Discovery, I'm sure I speak for all when I say that all of our thoughts are with you.
posted by tomcosgrave (130 comments total)

Burn was good, no adjustment needed to flight path, Discovery is now coming through the atmosphere.
posted by tomcosgrave at 4:11 AM on August 9, 2005

Not quite yet. Altitude 150 miles. Atmosphere begins at about 75.

Good luck Discovery crew.
posted by loquacious at 4:30 AM on August 9, 2005

I am watching NASA TV's feed online.

godspeed.
posted by msacheson at 4:31 AM on August 9, 2005

Hydraulic power units okay. Everything is going well. Altitude 125 miles, first effects of atmosphere will be felt soon. In the next 30 minutes or so, As Discovery travels north east, it will bank four times to adjust speed (to reduce it) and to get onto a path for Edwards. Speed will be about 8,100 miles per hour, dropping to about 3,000. It will arrive over the US around Oxnard, in the Los Angeles area.
posted by tomcosgrave at 4:31 AM on August 9, 2005

Yeah, I got some of that info wrong, mis-interpreted the commentary, I guess...
posted by tomcosgrave at 4:32 AM on August 9, 2005

The map I can see on the coverage shows Discovery right over New Zealand at the present time...
posted by tomcosgrave at 4:33 AM on August 9, 2005

Watching live here -- since it is very well the last time.
posted by blacklite at 4:34 AM on August 9, 2005

Looks like ABC just started it's live coverage. I hope we see nice pictures of the shuttle gliding in...it will be a little early for sunrise at Edwards, though.
posted by msacheson at 4:37 AM on August 9, 2005

It's going to be a night landing, msacheson, I think the images of the landing will be done with infra-red cameras and / or floodlights...
posted by tomcosgrave at 4:38 AM on August 9, 2005

52 minutes (I believe) before official sunrise at Edwards, yeah.
posted by blacklite at 4:42 AM on August 9, 2005

All well, 28 minutes to landing...
posted by tomcosgrave at 4:44 AM on August 9, 2005

Altitude 48 miles, Discovering is starting to bank to reduce speed, starting with a bank to the left.
posted by tomcosgrave at 4:46 AM on August 9, 2005

Control surfaces are now being used, Discovery is now behaving something like a conventional aircraft. Wings are banked at 80 degrees horizontal.

24 minutes to landing...
posted by tomcosgrave at 4:48 AM on August 9, 2005

Altitude 45 miles, speed 16,100 mph. Left banking continues...
posted by tomcosgrave at 4:49 AM on August 9, 2005

2,500 miles from Runway 22 at Edwards, heading North East across the Pacific Ocean...
posted by tomcosgrave at 4:50 AM on August 9, 2005

I bet there are only a few people...in the middle of the Pacific on a ship's night watch...getting a great show.
posted by msacheson at 4:51 AM on August 9, 2005

Speed 15,400 mph...altitude 230,000 feet.
posted by tomcosgrave at 4:51 AM on August 9, 2005

Sytems normal according to mission control, speed 15,000 mph. Altitude is now 43 miles.
posted by tomcosgrave at 4:52 AM on August 9, 2005

Banking back right.
posted by msacheson at 4:53 AM on August 9, 2005

Speed 14,500 mph.
posted by tomcosgrave at 4:53 AM on August 9, 2005

Discovery is reversing bank, going right, lining up with the continental US.
posted by tomcosgrave at 4:53 AM on August 9, 2005

The model of Discovery shows the bank to very steep. Speed now 13,600 mph, altitude 237,000 ft. 1,400 miles to Edwards...
posted by tomcosgrave at 4:55 AM on August 9, 2005

Discovery is just about 16 minutes from home.

thoughts of Columbia
posted by msacheson at 4:55 AM on August 9, 2005

I keep thinking about Columbia also, I was watching it live as it happened. Awful memories.
posted by tomcosgrave at 4:56 AM on August 9, 2005

1,000 miles from Edwards, speed mach 17 (11,500 mph). 194,000 feet.
posted by tomcosgrave at 4:57 AM on August 9, 2005

800 miles from Edwards, speed 10,000 mph. Altitude 34 miles.
posted by tomcosgrave at 4:58 AM on August 9, 2005

630 miles from Edwards. Speed 8,700 mph. Altitude 174,000 feet.
posted by tomcosgrave at 4:59 AM on August 9, 2005

Communications!
posted by msacheson at 5:00 AM on August 9, 2005

everything go
posted by msacheson at 5:00 AM on August 9, 2005

Discovery is banking left, the third of four banks to dissipate speed, speed is now 7,500 mph. Altitude 167,000 feet, 470 miles from Edwards.
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:00 AM on August 9, 2005

Systems are all go! Collins confirms all is well.
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:00 AM on August 9, 2005

Reading all this with my fingers crossed.

...since it is very well the last time.

blacklite, assuming no dramas, why would this be the last time?
posted by alumshubby at 5:00 AM on August 9, 2005

In all these years of watching shuttle landings, I had no idea that the angle of the speed-killing banks was so severe or done so far up in the atmosphere.

I always thought it was a pretty straight forward belly flop through the upper atmosphere, with the banking done much closer to the end of the landing path.
posted by loquacious at 5:01 AM on August 9, 2005

Approaching California coast, crossing to the north of LA, between Oxnard and Ventura.

Speed 5,100 mph, 287 miles from Runway 22 at Edwards.
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:02 AM on August 9, 2005

The ground track for landing shows a cool righthand-180 at the end.
posted by msacheson at 5:02 AM on August 9, 2005

Altitude is 25 miles, 136,000 feet. Left bank continues, wings at 40 degrees. Speed is Mach 6 - 4,300 mph.
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:03 AM on August 9, 2005

live sighting of Discovery via infrared camera!
posted by msacheson at 5:03 AM on August 9, 2005

We have visual!!!!
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:03 AM on August 9, 2005

Infrared visual contact! Go Discovery!
posted by loquacious at 5:04 AM on August 9, 2005

135 miles to landing.
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:04 AM on August 9, 2005

7.5 minutes to landing at Runway 22.
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:05 AM on August 9, 2005

They're getting their own flight data now, speed is 2,000 mph, altitude 87,000 feet.
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:06 AM on August 9, 2005

Mach 2.5, altitude is 80,000 feet.

Nominal landing expected. On course at proper speed.
46 miles to Runway 22. Wings are levelling.
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:07 AM on August 9, 2005

great shot of the shuttle!
posted by msacheson at 5:07 AM on August 9, 2005

4 minutes to landing, altitude 46,000 ft, 28 miles out. Standby for subsonic speed.
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:08 AM on August 9, 2005

Kelly has manual control.
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:09 AM on August 9, 2005

Collins to take control and land. Collins has control now.
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:09 AM on August 9, 2005

Final turn, right overhead, 197 degree turn.
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:09 AM on August 9, 2005

Altitude is 30,000 feet. 20 times steeper than a standard airline! Angle at 50 degrees.
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:09 AM on August 9, 2005

collins: runway in sight.
posted by msacheson at 5:10 AM on August 9, 2005

Altitude 17,000 feet. 10 miles to landing on Runway 22.
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:10 AM on August 9, 2005

nose lined up
posted by msacheson at 5:10 AM on August 9, 2005

"Heuston, Discovery has runway in sight" - Collins.
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:11 AM on August 9, 2005

Rolling to line up with runway. Altitude is 7,000 feet.
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:11 AM on August 9, 2005

Touchdown!
posted by purephase at 5:11 AM on August 9, 2005

3 miles.
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:12 AM on August 9, 2005

they're down!
posted by msacheson at 5:12 AM on August 9, 2005

1,000 feet............TOUCHDOWN!!!!!
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:12 AM on August 9, 2005

Woot. Welcome home!
posted by loquacious at 5:12 AM on August 9, 2005

Thank god.
posted by leotrotsky at 5:12 AM on August 9, 2005

Drogue shoot deploy, nosegear down.
She's home folks.
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:12 AM on August 9, 2005

Whew.
posted by alumshubby at 5:13 AM on August 9, 2005

Congratulations Discovery.
RIP, Columbia.
RIP Challenger.
RIP Apollo I.
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:14 AM on August 9, 2005

I'm going to have a smoke. I need it after that.
Nice to share this with you all.
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:14 AM on August 9, 2005

Ditto
posted by bjgeiger at 5:15 AM on August 9, 2005

What the hell! It jst exploded on the ground after wheel lockdown!!
posted by loquacious at 5:15 AM on August 9, 2005

MetaFilter Headline News.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 5:15 AM on August 9, 2005

loquacious: I do sincerely hope that you're joking... not really in very good taste! ;-/
posted by Chunder at 5:18 AM on August 9, 2005

RIP Soyuz 11
RIP Soyuz 1
posted by Pendragon at 5:18 AM on August 9, 2005

loquacious...what are you saying that for? either crazy or uncalled for...or both!
posted by msacheson at 5:18 AM on August 9, 2005

What a lonely thread this was.
posted by terrapin at 5:20 AM on August 9, 2005

What an asshole you are loqacious.
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:22 AM on August 9, 2005

got yer nose
posted by loquacious at 5:23 AM on August 9, 2005

Seriously though - you're having a laugh, right? A blow-by-blow, line-by-line commentary of an event covered by every new agency in the world? Sheesh! Where's JRun when you need it?
posted by benzo8 at 5:23 AM on August 9, 2005

benzo8 wins a deleted cookie!
posted by loquacious at 5:26 AM on August 9, 2005

Seriously though - you're having a laugh, right?

For me at least, consider it a way of putting Columbia to bed. I saw that happen live and it was not one bit pleasant.
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:27 AM on August 9, 2005

They could'va had some spotlights on her as she rolled out her landing....Those would have been dramatic pictures.
posted by msacheson at 5:27 AM on August 9, 2005

loquacious, please check in to Mefi MindControl Central, for your groupthink reprogramming.

That tedious and totally unnecessary commentary by tomcosgrave was almost worth it for the comedy value at the end, when it turned out that he was flying well behind the stick.
posted by veedubya at 5:27 AM on August 9, 2005

when it turned out that he was flying well behind the stick.

On the contrary, I was commentating as I saw it happen. Don't blame me for coverage delays!
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:29 AM on August 9, 2005

Damn, missed the glide in & landing. I'm watching it on the bbc website - why is there what appears to be a small flame coming out just left of the tail ? The screen's small...hard to see it properly.
posted by peacay at 5:29 AM on August 9, 2005

I mean...I presume it's normal. I'm hearing the controller audio which is all normal and regular.
posted by peacay at 5:30 AM on August 9, 2005

I noticed a delay of maybe 30 seconds between NASA TV's feed and CBS News's feed.

And I appreciated tomcosgrave's commentary.
posted by msacheson at 5:30 AM on August 9, 2005

peacay, my guess is it's a controlled and expected release of air/gas/fuel.
posted by msacheson at 5:31 AM on August 9, 2005

They're doing the post-landing checks, it'll be about 30 to 40 minutes before the crew exit the shuttle.
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:32 AM on August 9, 2005

I was wondering the same thing. I don't think it's a flame. I'm thinking it's puffs of vented gas. I've never seen that before, but then I've never watched a night landing.

I was thinking maybe it was a rotating strobe-slash-light, but it wouldn't make any sense for it there to be a strobe right at the front of a heat-tiled surface. Plus, it's too random.
posted by loquacious at 5:32 AM on August 9, 2005

Crew may exit around 9:00 EDT.
posted by msacheson at 5:32 AM on August 9, 2005

peacay, commentary says they're dispersing propellant fumes - might that be what it is?
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:32 AM on August 9, 2005

I appreciated the commentary, too - can't view live video on my work PC, and I desperately wanted to know what was happening! None of the news websites were updating that frequently, so *thrrrpppp*
posted by Chunder at 5:32 AM on August 9, 2005

Yeah...they were talking about venting to diffuse propellant gas. It's the infrared - gives a different perspective.
(I was thinking of a pilot light myself ;)
posted by peacay at 5:34 AM on August 9, 2005

Whatever the venting thing is it's stopped now.

Also you can see heat distortion in the air beneath the wings, and a bit beyond that I'm pretty sure that's a highway or freeway in the background. Probably Highway 14 or 58. Maybe 395, but I think that's the other direction and farther away.
posted by loquacious at 5:35 AM on August 9, 2005

Okay, that's it from me, gotta get some food and then back to work!
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:36 AM on August 9, 2005

thanks tomcosgrave!
posted by peacay at 5:36 AM on August 9, 2005

Tomcosgrave - are you actually there, witnessing the events?
posted by the cuban at 5:38 AM on August 9, 2005

I suppose I'd be asking a bit much for a stream replay of the landing anywhere yet would I?
posted by peacay at 5:38 AM on August 9, 2005

No thecuban, I'm sitting in my office in Dublin - BBC online had a live feed - at the top of this thread, there's a link to an article which itself had a link to the same feed.
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:40 AM on August 9, 2005

heh...they just announced they'll replay it in a few mins. Ask and ye shall ..
posted by peacay at 5:40 AM on August 9, 2005

Depends who already ripped and captured it. It could be posted already.

the cuban: He was watching the NASA TV video feed.
posted by loquacious at 5:40 AM on August 9, 2005

im pretty sure the nasa feed is what's coming through bbc anyway.
posted by peacay at 5:43 AM on August 9, 2005

I can't be the only Californian who was woken up by this. I live all the way in Ventura County and it sounded like the world was ending. Or like something very large and heavy landed on my roof, causing the windows and doors to shake for a good while.
posted by Juliet Banana at 5:58 AM on August 9, 2005

Well, when I saw that the thread had 99 comments, I was sure the damn thing blew up. I'm quite happy to have my suspicions rendered wrong.
posted by Kwantsar at 6:04 AM on August 9, 2005

NPR's coverage was great, particularly Ina Jaffe's kid-like reaction ("There it is!") when the Shuttle touched down.
posted by grabbingsand at 6:21 AM on August 9, 2005

Now that everyone's home safely can we retire the Shuttle and start a meaningful space program?
posted by twsf at 6:31 AM on August 9, 2005

I'm so glad this is all over (they have landed). In Australia our news shows watched this story with sickening anticipation. It's almost like they wanted something to go wrong on re-entry just so they could further sensationalise an otherwise boring as bat shit story. No offence intended to my American friends either. I'm genuinely glad Discovery is safe and well back on Earth.
posted by sjvilla79 at 6:31 AM on August 9, 2005

What happens to the fuel when the crew "ditches the fuel" for reentry?
posted by The Jesse Helms at 6:32 AM on August 9, 2005

Juilet: I grew up in Thousand Oaks, and we would always hear and feel the sonic booms from the Shuttle landings. As a kid, I thought it was rad. And at the time, rad was a totally acceptable adjective.

On Live Preview - "rad" is apparently not acceptable to Spell check.
posted by jawbreaker at 6:35 AM on August 9, 2005

Let's see... hydrogen... oxygen... I guess it rains.
posted by brownpau at 6:35 AM on August 9, 2005

BTW, Miles O'Brien on CNN explained that puff seen on the infrared cameras right in front of the tail -- it's the exhaust for the auxiliary power unit, which is required to be running in order for the pilot and captain to maintain control of the hydraulic control surfaces.
posted by delfuego at 6:40 AM on August 9, 2005

it's great that nasa gets such praise and attention for just doing there job... i showed up to work on time, sadly there were no camera crews to cover it.
posted by cusack at 7:03 AM on August 9, 2005

Welcome home, Discovery.
posted by soyjoy at 7:15 AM on August 9, 2005

Hey cusack, when your job is to boldly go where men have died going before you, then maybe you'd get some cameras?
posted by thewittyname at 7:28 AM on August 9, 2005

Damn! With a little more notice I would've ditched work and gone to Edwards Air Force Base to catch a glimpse! I've always wanted to! Argh! I wasn't even woken up by the re-entry :(

Has anyone seen video from LA of the shuttle coming in?
posted by redteam at 7:49 AM on August 9, 2005

where men have died going before you

And women. Quite a few of them, actually.
posted by tomcosgrave at 7:59 AM on August 9, 2005

I'm glad they got back. It was like watching someone play Russion roulette.
posted by carter at 8:19 AM on August 9, 2005

Gah! Russian.
posted by carter at 8:19 AM on August 9, 2005

Cusack gets out of bed... He's going for the toilet... He's on the pot! ... Got that first difficult bit out of the way without too much stress ... Cusack has had his shower ... What's he going to have for breakfast??? ... Doughnut ... and coffee! Not totally unexpected, of course ... Heading for his car now. C'mon Cusack, you can do it! ... Close one! Nearly missed that freeway on-ramp! Whew... Cusack is about to park his car, look at the way he's putting her in! I've watched Cusack go to work every morning for years, but I had no idea he could maneuver his vehicle at such a sharp angle, especially in the thick and dangerous atmosphere of the parking garage...
posted by soiled cowboy at 8:29 AM on August 9, 2005

Thanks for the play-by-play, all. I slept in (the perk of unemployment...) and woke up to the news that they'd already landed and all was well. And I was still on the edge of my seat reading the details.

While I may technically know it's a bomb strapped to a brick, that NASA needs funding, etc - I feel like every time a shuttle lands successfully, there's a bit more of that 60's SF nostalgia for a moment.
posted by kalimac at 8:46 AM on August 9, 2005

soiled cowboy wakes up... He's going for the toilet. He misses! He pulls on a chewed up wifebeater stained with... blood? And jelly! That must have been left over from last week's donut feast. He's going for No Pants! Always appropriate for these situations. Look at that commando wang dangling! He wanders in to the kitchen, as expected it's pretty much empty except for... what is that? Wow! That's a huge bottle of GIN! We were honestly expecting Mad Dog or an iced malt 40! He takes a deep swig. Wow! Look at those bloodshot eyes rolling around in his head like a one of those googly-eyed plastic googly-eyed things! He's... he's scratching his ass... He puts down the bottle of gin and scratches with BOTH HANDS! Scratch that ass! He picks up the gin again. Wow! He's workin' that bottle over like a 5 dollar ho at the Sleepy Siesta Inn. He sits down in front of his specially designed computer... it has this special tactically sticky keyboard designed specifically for hard drinkin' and professional tomfoolery... He starts typing. He stops! HE'S GOING FOR THE GIN AGAIN! Ok, he resumes typing. What's he doing? He's writing a clever post to a group blog thingy! Wow, he's typing with one hand and drinking gin straight from the bottle with the other! This is where that keyboard really pays off, Bob. He's typing some more... and a little more. He's going for the "submit" button! Look at that accuracy, Bob... And Houston says it's posted! A few minutes later a user named loquacious checks the thread, sees the post, and laughs out loud so loudly he startles the cats! The cats knock over his coffee! SUCCESS!
posted by loquacious at 9:10 AM on August 9, 2005

What the hell! Cusack just exploded in the office after wheel lockdown!
posted by soiled cowboy at 9:20 AM on August 9, 2005

Shame they can't give Burt Rutan a handful of surplus bombers and let him whip up a seriously high altitude, high payload jet... then strap the shuttle to it and get it into orbit X-1 style.
The trouble's not the brick, it's the big flakey bomb with twin roman candles it's strapped to.
posted by CynicalKnight at 9:32 AM on August 9, 2005

Hilarious, cowboy.

Thanks for the PxP, tomcosgrove.
posted by hifiparasol at 9:40 AM on August 9, 2005

I'm sure I speak for all when I say that all of our thoughts are with you most of us barely noticed it was in space.
posted by mrgrimm at 9:42 AM on August 9, 2005

*grins at soiled cowboy wildly, buys him a whisky*

I'd love to see Rutan / Scaled be rewarded with a contract for a LEO/NEO payload-capable craft. I have a feeling he and his team would seriously deconstruct the problem and get all lateral with it. It might not be anything like White Knight/SpaceShipOne, but you can bet good money on him doing it in the most efficient way possible if that's what the contract called for.

Safely, I don't know. SpaceShipOne is amazingly neat and all, but it's not LEO, and it's not without it's known problems. Mike Melville came back from the first X-Prize launch pretty shaken up. Like, margarita in a blender shaken up.

However, Rutan and Scaled are known for their simplicity of design, if nothing else. There's a lot less to go catastrophically or explosively wrong. SpaceShipOne is designed from the get-go to be able to handle and recover from extremely bad trajectories.

But there's a huge difference between shooting a handful of computers, a couple of LCD displays, a half-ton of of carbon composite, some rubber and nitrous and a well trained test pilot or two 70-odd miles up and putting a multi-ton advanced and delicate satellite or payload into LEO or geosynchronous orbit.

I'd still love to see Rutan / Scaled try, though.
posted by loquacious at 9:51 AM on August 9, 2005

"I can't be the only Californian who was woken up by this."

Double-boom woke me up at just about 5:08 am PDT, i'm just south of Hollywood in LA. So yeah JulietBanana, you're not the only one. :)

loquacious is right, building something just to go to LEO is about 3 orders of magnitude more difficult (more mass, more energy needed, etc.) than achieving what SpaceShip One did. However, given the budget and the right team - like say, a full research division of Boeing Aerospace - I'm sure Rutan could make something happen.
posted by zoogleplex at 9:54 AM on August 9, 2005

What the hell! Cusack just exploded

Damn shame to waste a perfectly good white boy like that.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:09 AM on August 9, 2005

The model of Discovery shows the bank to very steep. Speed now 13,600 mph, altitude 237,000 ft. 1,400 miles to Edwards...

I think Rutan's work was damn impressive, but don't lose perspective.

Sometimes grand works needs to be done by the state, it might not be most efficient, but sometimes it is the only way that real progress can be made.

It just feels funny that sometimes the same people who don't trust private companies with their health care want to cede science and exploration to the same corporations.
posted by PissOnYourParade at 10:35 AM on August 9, 2005

I wish the other lauches/landings held the public's attention as much as this one.

I remember after Challenger, the first launch got tons of coverage, the second got just a few seconds of airtime... the rest were ignored by the media until Columbia. People seem to forget just how dangerous it can be to your health to rip through the atmosphere at 16,000 miles per hour.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 12:06 PM on August 9, 2005

C_D, good point. Maybe some at NASA forgot also.
posted by msacheson at 2:24 PM on August 9, 2005

Thanks for this thread. I had a running play by play going on my little blog, and as the NASA commentator's calls got closer and more numerous (because things change rapidly in those last 10,000 feet on a Shuttle landing!) I started losing bits of data -- speed, altitude and/or distance. This thread filled in the gaps. Not that I didn't also rip a copy of the NASA TV thread, of course.

Space geek as a kiddo, then realized I had absolutely no mathematics aptitude or interest, much less advanced degrees in things like mechanical or aerospace engineering. :) So, this mission's been a well and true rekindling of my interests, viewed with a remembrance of how it felt to watch Challenger explode... only to endure similar sensations when Columbia disintegrated in 2003. January and February are cruel months for NASA, historically...

Glad to have a very talented crew, and one old workhorse of a Shuttle, safely back on the ground.
posted by geekgal at 2:32 PM on August 9, 2005

They should slap some adverts on that thing like NASCAR.
posted by bardic at 4:26 PM on August 9, 2005

Since NASA is a government agency, the ads would probably be for the likes of Halliburton and such.

Whose ads would be displayed on the most troublesome areas of the orbiter -- the RCC tiles, wing leading edge, etc.?
posted by geekgal at 8:07 AM on August 10, 2005