More repairs ordered for Discovery fuel tank

CAPE CANAVERAL: NASA ordered additional repairs to space shuttle Discovery after more cracks were discovered in the ship”s fuel tank, but the flight remains targeted for early February, officials said.

The shuttle”s cargo run to the International Space Station, one of the final missions before the United States ends the 30-year-old shuttle program, has been on hold since November 5 when a hydrogen fuel leak scuttled a launch attempt. Technicians later found a 21-inch- (53-cm) long crack in the foam insulation that covers the tank, a potential debris hazard for launching.

Further investigation revealed underlying cracking in structural supports, the cause of which has not been determined.

X-rays of the backside of the tank, completed this week, showed additional cracks in three more of the aluminum lithium tank support structures, Kennedy Space Center spokesman Allard Buetel said late on Thursday.

Those cracks will be repaired while managers consider if additional modifications to the tank will be needed, work that could delay the scheduled February 3 launch to later in the month.

The shuttle fuel tanks have been a top safety issue for NASA since the 2003 Columbia accident, which killed seven astronauts. A piece of foam insulation broke off Columbia”s tank during launch and smashed into the ship”s wing. The damage caused the shuttle to break apart as it flew through the atmosphere for landing 16 days later. NASA redesigned the tanks after the accident and developed new in-flight inspection procedures.

NASA is ending its space shuttle program in 2011 after two or three more missions to complete the space station, a $100 billion project of 16 nations that has been under construction 220 miles above the planet since 1998. Russia already has taken over the job of transporting crew members to and from the outpost – at a cost of $51 million a seat – in anticipation of the shuttles” retirement.

NASA is also investing in commercial companies with the hope that private industry will be ready to provide launch services for astronauts by about 2015.

Discovery shuttle makes safe return to Earth

HOUSTON: Shuttle Discovery touched down Tuesday at NASA”s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, making a safe return to Earth after a two-week resupply mission to the International Space Station.

NASA”s Mission Control gave Discovery”s astronauts approval for the landing at 9:08 am (1308 GMT) after repeated delays on Monday and earlier Tuesday due to rain and fog.

Nasa Shuttle Launch

Nasa Shuttle Launch, All systems are go for the NASA space shuttle Discovery launch due at 6:21 a.m. ET today. The Easter Monday launch is apparently progressing smoothly after the external fuel tanks were filled yesterday in preparation. The weather forecast appears to be good so far although there are some reports of fog due.

The lift-off will be from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the Discovery crew will be made up of 7 astronauts taking supplies and equipment to the International Space Station. There are 3 planned spacewalks for the 13-day mission, when the shuttle eventually arrives at the I.S.S. scheduled for Wednesday.

The return to Earth is scheduled for April 18 at 8:35 a.m. ET., after which there are only 3 more shuttle missions remaining. This mission is the first time that 4 women have been in space together with 3 on the shuttle crew, and one already at the I.S.S.

The space station is around nine tenths complete and is due to be finished in the next year. Will you be watching the launch? Will you be sad to see the end of the shuttle missions? Let us know your thoughts on this.

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Nasa Shuttle Launch was first posted on April 5, 2010 at 4:51 pm.
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Obama targets Mars

CAPE CANAVERAL: US President Barack Obama says it should be possible to send astronauts to orbit the planet Mars by the mid-2030s and return them safely to Earth.

The US president made the claim in a major speech to staff and guests at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

He was laying out the details of his new policy for the US space agency.

Mr Obama said he was giving Nasa challenging goals and the funding needed to achieve them, including an extra $6bn over the next five years.

“By 2025, we expect new spacecraft designed for long journeys to allow us to begin the first-ever crewed missions beyond the Moon into deep space,” he told his audience. “So we”ll start – we”ll start by sending astronauts to an asteroid for the first time in history.”

And then he added: “By the mid-2030s, I believe we can send humans to orbit Mars and return them safely to Earth. And a landing on Mars will follow. And I expect to be around to see it.”

shuttle launch

Space shuttle Discovery and a crew of seven astronauts headed to space in the predawn darkness of April 5, beginning a 13-day mission to the International Space Station. Discovery’s two solid rocket boosters ignited right on schedule at 6:21 a.m. EDT, sending the shuttle soaring past the launch tower at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

At the postlaunch news conference, Mike Moses, chair of the Mission Management Team, called it, “a spectacular launch and picture-perfect countdown.”

US Space Shuttle Endeavour On Its Way Back

Astronauts from the US space shuttle Endeavour have said their farewells to the crew of the International Space Station, after more than a week on the orbiting outpost.
The hatches between the shuttle and the space station were closed early Friday, ahead of Endeavour’s departure. Earlier, the combined crews celebrated the latest addition to the space station with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, dedicating the Tranquility observation deck and its observation dome. The US space agency NASA says the crews left a moon rock that was carried to the summit of Mount Everest by a former astronaut. Tranquility and the dome were installed during the current shuttle mission. Endeavour is scheduled to land Sunday night at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
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US Space Shuttle Endeavour On Its Way Back was first posted on February 20, 2010 at 12:34 pm.

Atlantis Shuttle Launch Successful!

Atlantis Shuttle Launch Successful, The Atlantis Shuttle launch is a as the mission had no problems with the weather. The launch was initiated around Kennedy Space Center at 2:28 PM. The countdown contained no serious technical issues. Six astronauts are onboard space shuttle Atlantis. Atlantis will blast into the stratosphere to deliver big spare parts and a load of supplies to the International Space Station. Atlantis is scheduled to arrive at theInternational Space Station in approximately two days after launch. Crowd has gathered in numbers to witness the event. Atlantis’ six-man crew includes commander Charles Hobaugh, pilot Barry Wilmore, flight engineer Randy Bresnik, lead spacewalker Michael Foreman and astronauts Leland Melvin and Robert Satcher.

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Atlantis Shuttle Launch Successful! was first posted on November 17, 2009 at 1:36 pm.