MetaFilter posts tagged with shuttle

Space Shuttle STS-129 Ascent Video

pashdown — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 10:38:24 -0800

The best space shuttle launch video you will see today. As compiled and edited by NASA's SE&I imagery team at Johnson Space Center.

But that's where the fun is

dhartung — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:01:12 -0800

Atlantis. Hubble. And a big, yellow friend. Astrophotographer Thierry Legault managed to get amazing shots of Space Shuttle Atlantis approaching the Hubble Space Telescope during a transit of the sun. Don't do this at home, kids. (His site is down, so the link is through Coral.)

Space Twits

lipsum — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:02:19 -0800

A space shuttle is fired to sky. People from all around the place gets a camera and shoots it. They publish the photos on Twitter. Result: Awesomeness.

NASA releases Columbia report.

herrdoktor — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 14:57:59 -0800

NASA releases the Columbia shuttle disaster report. Space shuttle Columbia broke up during re-entry in 2003 as a result of damage sustained to its thermal protection system. This report details the possible lethal incidents and the investigation board's recommendations based on their findings. A synopsis on Wikipedia provides a good, brief review. Here's MetaFilter's original thread about the disaster. According to the report, there were five events with lethal potential: depressurization of the crew module, trauma from a "rotating load environment" and lack of upper body restraint as the as the forebody starting spinning, disintegration of the crew module, exposure to an extreme environment, and ground impact. It is believed that the crew lost consciousness very quickly and soon after depressurization.

Video and audio from jettisoned solid rocket boosters, STS-124

not_on_display — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 20:26:21 -0800

Video and audio from a camera mounted on one of the side solid rocket boosters during the launch of STS-124. As the camera is initially facing the main booster, there's not that much to see (except water vapor collecting on the lens and interesting-looking changes in the main booster's surface) until around 1:50, when the booster rocket is jettisoned. After that, enjoy the ride from space to splashdown, but watch out for flying debris! Here's the view from the other booster, without sound. More onboard STS cameras, previously. [N.B. -- Adjust volume accordingly, it gets loud! Looks even better in high-quality and full-screen modes.]

For Arthur

CunningLinguist — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 11:16:35 -0800

A handful of pretty great spacewalk pix from last summer's Endeavour mission.

Space: 1989

dersins — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 09:20:46 -0800

Some photo galleries (and youtube video) of Buran, the USSR's space shuttle program (previously) from the 1980's, long since abandoned. Bonus: A comparison between Buran and the US space shuttle. Double Bonus: More on Buran from russianspaceweb.com, which is awesome. Combo breaker: An official page with NASA's take on Buran, (and their photos), frozen in time a decade ago.

In Mission Control, while the loss of signal was a cause for concern, there was no sign of any serious problem

ae4rv — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 13:22:06 -0800

Four years ago today the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated shortly upon reentry. Here is a sad, but, fascinating real time video recreation of the final moments, compiled from various sources including Nasa radio transmissions.

Recent Shuttle Launch from Unusual Angles

crunchland — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 17:05:48 -0800

Recent Shuttle Launch from Unusual Angles
+ Right forward Solid Rocket Booster camera (Windows media)
+ Right aft Solid Rocket Booster camera (Windows media)
+ Left aft Solid Rocket Booster camera (13.7 Mb Quicktime movie)
+ Left forward Solid Rocket Booster camera (13.6 Mb Quicktime movie)
+ Separation composite view (10 Mb Quicktime movie)

Discovery flies!

BeerFilter — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 15:35:56 -0800

Rocket's red glare! STS-121 lifts of successfully on the Forth of July, on a mission to deliver equipment, supplies and an additional crewmember to the International Space Station. Said Wayne Hail, Shuttle Program Manager, "Great nations dare great things and take risks along the way, and I can think of no better way to explore the space frontier than the way we set out today." Photos - Videos

Jan. 28, 1986

XQUZYPHYR — Sat, 28 Jan 2006 07:52:09 -0800

We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God."

"Go" for de-orbit burn...

tomcosgrave — Tue, 09 Aug 2005 04:02:38 -0800

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.

Best. Self-Portrait. Ever.

cerebus19 — Fri, 05 Aug 2005 11:35:55 -0800

Astronaut Steve Robinson took a picture of himself that Escher would've loved, when out fixing the Space Shuttle Discovery. Available in hi-res, too (not safe for dialup).

out of the blue!

pantsrobot — Thu, 04 Aug 2005 14:44:37 -0800

Is there any purpose to the kind of manned space flights we seem to be concentrating on?

BBC News - In Pictures

Mwongozi — Thu, 04 Aug 2005 06:30:36 -0800

BBC News' wonderful In Pictures section, including Hiroshima: Now and Then, Space Shuttle Discovery in orbit, and readers' photos of Battersea Power Station.

Shuttle Damage Graphic

srboisvert — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 15:16:50 -0800

Shuttle Damage A nice graphic of the 15000 hits the shuttle program has had.

T-22 hours, and counting

baylink — Tue, 12 Jul 2005 15:09:18 -0800

The space shuttle (and NASA) return to flight tomorrow at a scheduled launch time of 1551 ET, weather permitting. They had a laundry list of things to fix, and of course, they've fixed all of them... except the three that actually killed the last crew. They're launching nonetheless, and NASA TV will be covering it, with a couple of lists of mirror site links. I wish them well.

Return To Flight

blue_beetle — Sun, 10 Jul 2005 20:13:46 -0800

Three days and Counting Breathe deep, mine eyes, the frosty saga of eternal suns. From unseen depths and dreams undreamt, I sing the gleaming cantos of unvanquished space. By thought I embrace the universal, With wings of mind I sail the infinitude. Glory! 'tis the stars which beckon man's spirit and set our souls adrift!

NASA Claims Readiness for July 13 Launch

nlindstrom — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 12:03:34 -0800

NASA says shuttle is ready for July 13 launch, but doubts remain. With two catastrophic failures marring the Space Shuttle's safety record, many people fear that the coming launch of the shuttle Discovery could turn in to a billion-dollar fireworks display. While NASA is optimistic about the coming mission, an independent panel of aerospace executives, academics and former astronauts are not. They concluded that NASA has failed to fully implement three of the fifteen return-to-flight recommendations made by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) in August 2003. While we wish the astronauts a safe and uneventful journey, serious doubts remain as to NASA's competency to continue carrying mankind to the stars. Perhaps our best hopes now lie with private ventures such as Scaled Composites?

The truth is out there

swerdloff — Fri, 23 Apr 2004 14:21:54 -0800

The truth that MeFites don't want you to know. As a follow-up to this post on "the Coffins GWB doesn't want you to see," it is revealed that many of the photographs that ran rampant over the Internet and wire services weren't of fallen American soldiers, but were of the crew of the Columbia.

Columbia's Final Minutes

jpoulos — Tue, 27 Jan 2004 13:07:59 -0800

Columbia's Final Minutes A fascinating (if horrifying) account of the shuttle's destruction.

The Columbia Accident Investigation Board

tgrundke — Thu, 28 Aug 2003 07:00:45 -0800

"These are good people"...but changes must be made. The Columbia Accident Investigation Board final report was released on Tuesday. Putting technical answers aside for the moment, the report targets the organizational and behavioral issues that led to a breakdown in communication, safety and responsibility. While acknowledging the good will at NASA, the report holds no illusions that changing this culture will be very difficult and very necessary in order to return to flight. What types of management/behavioral obstacles have you encountered in home, work, school or social organizations? How did you try to effect change and what obstacles did you encounter in an effort to make it more effective, safe, productive or enjoyable?

insomnia_lj — Sat, 22 Feb 2003 08:22:09 -0800

"I imagine this is the last we will hear of this." Or not. NASA releases email between NASA engineers leading up to the Columbia disaster documenting significant concerns regarding damage done to the shuttle on takeoff. Engineers calculated the likelihood of a 7" x 30" gouge in the heat shields, but when they let management know of their concerns, they weren't taken seriously, were forced to work "at night" to do simulations, and found that requests for additional information were "treated like the plague."

Cosmic bolt probed in shuttle disaster

y2karl — Fri, 07 Feb 2003 00:32:00 -0800

Cosmic bolt probed in shuttle disaster - Scientists poring over 'infrasonic' sound waves Federal scientists are looking for evidence that a bolt of electricity in the upper atmosphere might have doomed the space shuttle Columbia as it streaked over California, The Chronicle has learned.

Fire in the Sky

Tubes — Mon, 03 Feb 2003 21:32:03 -0800

Fire in the Sky.
Perhaps you saw moonwalk veteran astronaut Buzz Aldrin attempt on NBC to read a poem he received in e-mail Saturday, and falter in tears. It was actually lyrics to the Jordin Kare song "Fire in the Sky," a tribute to manned space exploration:
Prometheus, they say, brought God's fire down to man.
And we've caught it, tamed it, trained it since our history began.
Now we're going back to heaven just to look him in the eye,
and there's a thunder 'cross the land, and a fire in the sky
[via Space.com]