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Posts with tag: space-shuttle | Return to ScienceNewsBlog.com Homepage
Design for the Columbia Memorial Space Science Learning Center
Commemorating the 4th anniversary of the Columbia Space Shuttle tragedy, the Miami-based architecture firm Arquitectonica unveiled its design for the Columbia Memorial Space Science Learning Center in Downey, California. The architectural design for the 18,000-square-foot Science Center features a distinctively shaped, shimmering silver skin, an exciting double-height lobby, and interactive exhibits. According to Arquitectonica, the design embodies the aspirations and ambition of astronauts exploring space. NASA's page remembering the STS-107 Crew can be found here.
Posted on April 6, 2007
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Shuttle Launches Postponed Until March
NASA has announced that it will delay any new Space Shuttle launches until March, 2005. NASA also said it will launch with Discovery instead of Atlantis. MSNBC.com reports that NASA says it is making progress on tracking down the foam problem but still doesn't know what went wrong.
Gerstenmaier said the foam investigation was making "very good progress," but that it was still unclear exactly what had gone wrong.
In addition to the foam repairs, NASA said the delay would allow it to shift the shuttle order around so that Atlantis would not be forced to make two missions in a row, with a quick turnaround. Now that there's a seven-month delay, Discovery will take on STS-121, the next scheduled mission, and Atlantis will take the one after that, STS-115, currently set for May 2006.
NASA Administrator Mike Griffin said he did not think the delays would greatly impact the five-year plan to finish building the international space station and then retire the shuttle. "We need to view shuttle missions as a process," he said, instead of focusing on individual missions in isolation.
Posted on August 23, 2005
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Discovery Space Shuttle Lands Successfully
A successful landing by the Discovery Space Shuttle on Tuesday brought a big sigh of relief around the world. Commander Eileen Collins seemed to echo what everyone was thinking when she said, "It's absolutely fantastic being back here on planet Earth." There were concerns early on in the mission that the shuttle had damaged some of the important heat shields that keep the spaceship from burning up on re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. More information and pictures from the landing can be found here on NASA.gov.
Discovery spent two weeks in space, where the crew demonstrated new methods to inspect and repair the Shuttle in orbit. The crew also delivered supplies, outfitted and performed maintenance on the International Space Station. A number of these tasks were conducted during three spacewalks.
In an unprecedented event, spacewalkers were called upon to remove protruding gap fillers from the heat shield on Discovery's underbelly. In other spacewalk activities, astronauts installed an external platform onto the Station’s Quest Airlock and replaced one of the orbital outpost’s Control Moment Gyroscopes.
Inside the Station, the STS-114 crew conducted joint operations with the Expedition 11 crew. They unloaded fresh supplies from the Shuttle and the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module. Before Discovery undocked, the crews filled Raffeallo with unneeded items and returned to Shuttle payload bay.
The Discovery astronauts will now return home to be with their families but as MSNBC.com reports it is unclear what future missions will be. Future flights are on hold until NASA figures out why foam insulation fell once again from the fuel tank.
Shortly after Discovery lifted off July 26, a 1-pound chunk of foam insulation fell from the fuel tank — the very thing that doomed Columbia. The foam missed Discovery, but NASA grounded all shuttle flights until engineers fix the problem.
"We're going to try as hard as we can to get back in space this year," NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said at a post-landing news conference. "But we’re not going to go until we're ready to go."
Posted on August 10, 2005
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Discovery Given OK for Return Flight
NASA has declared the Discovery space shuttle safe to return home after an unprecedented spacewalk where astronaut Stephen Robinson removed two fabric strips from the underbelly of the spacecraft. MSNBC.com reports that NASA tested a torn thermal blanket to make sure it would not cause a problem before giving the "ok" on the return flight.
The final issue of concern -- a torn thermal blanket just below the cockpit window that might shed bits of debris during the shuttle's descent -- was cleared off the table Thursday morning after a series of wind-tunnel tests, said deputy shuttle program manager Wayne Hale, who heads Discovery's mission management team.
The tests indicated that even if pieces of cloth debris blew off and struck the aft section of the orbiter, it would be "of negligible concern" and pose no threat to Discovery's safe landing, he said. Under those circumstances, sending spacewalkers out to snip away the torn section would have violated the "first, do no harm" rule, Hale said.
Obviously there has been a great deal of concern about the Space Shuttle considering what happened to the Columbia flight in 2003 but everyone is hopeful and NASA sounds positive about a successful landing.
Posted on August 4, 2005
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Space Shuttle Launch Delayed
CNN reports that a faulty fuel sensor has delayed the launch of the Space Shuttle. The launch would have been the first since the Columbia disaster 2 1/2 years ago.
NASA said the sensor device was showing low fuel levels despite the exterior tank having been filled just hours before.
"It will take some time really to understand what to do to remedy the situation," NASA spokesman George Diller said.
"There are long faces here in the control center and around the site. Everybody was so looking forward to flying today," Diller said.
Crew members were already aboard the orbiter when the launch was canceled.
The current launch window closes on July 31st so NASA will have until then to launch Discovery. CNN says the launch has been delayed until at least Saturday.
Posted on July 13, 2005
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