Period Spacecraft

[wobs]

Space Shuttle Discovery is going to its final resting place at Smithsonian Institution's hangar outside Washington, D.C.
http://daily-journal.com/archives/dj/display.php?id=489876

But at least they are keeping some original features:

The original air lock is on board that spacewalking astronauts used to step out into the vacuum; Discovery is the only shuttle keeping one because it's considered the spacecraft of historic record. The robot arm is already in Virginia and will be placed on side-by-side display.

I assume it didn't need a breathable paint etc.

 

[Flyfisher]

[dons space-geek anorak]

Yes, I saw that news report this evening. It reminded me of the time that the Enterprise shuttle (which was only ever used for glide and landing testing) was flown to Stansted airport back in 1983. http://londonist.com/2010/03/the_day_the_space_shuttle_came_to_l.php

The last time I was in Washington DC I saw Enterprise again at the Udvar-Hazy museum near Dulles airport, which is part of the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum and where they keep all their larger items. At that time, all the leading edges of the Enterprise wings had been removed for testing following the then-recent loss of Columbia during re-entry, which was caused by debris striking the wings during launch and, unknown at the time, rendering it incapable of surviving re-entry.

For anyone even vaguely interested in the history of flight, the main Air & Space museum in Washington DC is an astonishing collection of all the actual air and spacecraft involved in the major milestones of flight. Being able to stand just inches away from the two-man Gemini capsule from which Ed White made the first US spacewalk made me think more of a tin can than the then-pinnacle of high technology - it really does look frighteningly primitive, my car seems far more substantial and probably contains more computing power. Those guys were seriously brave!

Discovery will now replace Enterprise at the Udvar-Hazy Center and Enterprise will shortly be flown to its new home in New York City.

[that's probably more than enough space geekery :wink: ]

 

[LadyArowana]

[dons space-geek anorak] Being able to stand just inches away from the two-man Gemini capsule from which Ed White made the first US spacewalk made me think more of a tin can than the then-pinnacle of high technology - it really does look frighteningly primitive, my car seems far more substantial and probably contains more computing power. Those guys were seriously brave!

Discovery will now replace Enterprise at the Udvar-Hazy Center and Enterprise will shortly be flown to its new home in New York City.

[that's probably more than enough space geekery :wink: ]

You can never have too much space geekery! do you think they have saved a spot for Zefram Cochrane's "Phoenix"?

 

[Flyfisher]

I'm sure they would find a spot for such milestone if (when?) it happens. :lol:

 

[AMc]

[dons space-geek anorak]
Yes, I saw that news report this evening. It reminded me of the time that the Enterprise shuttle (which was only ever used for glide and landing testing) was flown to Stansted airport back in 1983. http://londonist.com/2010/03/the_day_the_space_shuttle_came_to_l.php

I saw that and even bought some "space rock" Made a big impression on me.
I also watched the final shuttle landing online which was very sad. The shuttle as an extraordinary machine and its a shame that the we can't as a species co-operate in proper space exploration. It's horrendously expensive but then the human race spend a lot more money on a lot of less extraordinary things.

 

[tobydog]

Like Flyfisher I too visited the Air & Space Museum in Washington. I only planned to spend an hour or so in there because I had so much more I wanted to do. About 6 hours later I finally emerged (regretably it was closing!). Definitely add it to your list of things to do if you're ever in town.

 

[Penners]

the Enterprise shuttle (which was only ever used for glide and landing testing) was flown to Stansted airport back in 1983.

Being able to stand just inches away from the two-man Gemini capsule from which Ed White made the first US spacewalk made me think more of a tin can than the then-pinnacle of high technology - it really does look frighteningly primitive, my car seems far more substantial and probably contains more computing power. Those guys were seriously brave!

Discovery will now replace Enterprise at the Udvar-Hazy Center and Enterprise will shortly be flown to its new home in New York City.

[that's probably more than enough space geekery]

I remember taking my children to see Enterprise piggy-backed into Stansted on a modified 747. What excitement!

Anyone who regards an enthusiastic interest in space science as mere geekery is, in my view, missing the thrill gene. I have been privileged to live through what I regard as mankind's greatest-ever adventure, from the first Sputnik to the last moon-landing. Even today, almost as we post our current entries on this forum, the first ever man-made object (Voyager 1) is leaving the solar system and travelling into deep space. The craft was launched in 1977, is currently over 11 billion miles from the sun, travelling at about 40,000 mph and still operational.

If that doesn't make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, then nothing will.

 

[AMc]

I follow @Voyager2 on twitter which also reports from Voyager1. It stuns me that they were so superbly constructed that they can travel light hours from Earth and still find it and report back.

The only sad thing is that as they are now massively beyond their intended mission plan they've been progressively turning off instruments to extend the power supply for as long as possible. Even with those savings it won't be many more years before they go silent on their interstellar journey.

"@Voyager2 How wide do I appear from Earth? Hold a hair at arms length & look at how wide that is. Now stretch your arm all the way to the Moon." that's a long long way to travel."

Today...

"@NASAVoyager2 I am currently 13 hrs 36 mins 16 secs of light-travel time from Earth"

"@NASAVoyager2 Voyager1 is 16 hrs 36 mins 06 secs of light-travel time from Earth (2012:108:1L) [17,917,000,000km]"

To put that in perspective, when mission control sends an instruction to Voyager1 to do something it will take 16 hrs 36 mins 06 secs to get there and then the same for the confirmation to come back. 33 hours 12 minute and 12 seconds to know that you pressed the right button :shock:

 

[Penners]

33 hours 12 minute and 12 seconds to know that you pressed the right button

Starting up our boiler after it's been switched off for the summer is a bit like that.

 

[Flyfisher]

Well done wobs; seems you've hit a rich seam with this topic . . . and it is historical after all. I'm glad it's not just me.

What astonishes me is the technology used to achieve these amazing milestones. There was a TV programme recently about Mars and it said that the first surface photos were sent back at 8 bits/sec. Not mega or kilo but just eight bits each second! And the Voyager missions were essentially built with 1960s technologies yet they're now talking on twitter!

Also, there is no colour footage of the first moon landing because colour TV technology wasn't sufficiently developed at the time - which is pretty amazing given NASA's practically unlimited budget at the time.

Also, Apollo 8 was a simply astonishing mission that required numerous 'firsts' to work flawlessly; first launch of the Saturn V moon rocket, first vehicle to leave earth orbit, first vehicle to orbit the moon - all those firsts and with three astronauts onboard. I'm not sure such a thing would be contemplated these days, but that's political pressure during a 'cold war' for you.

Also . . . well, you get the idea. I have to say that I also share Penners' sense of privilege of having lived through this period in human history; something I felt quite strongly when wandering around Kennedy Space Centre and when we were fortunate enough to watch the STS-95 Discovery launch with John Glenn onboard.

The other amazing thing is NASA's website. If the UK had a space programme I'd bet all the details would still be classified, yet the US have a rather different philosophy about their public spending. Consequently it's possible to access all the mission resources in astonishing detail. It's a very sobering experience reading the mission transcripts of Apollo 13 and the two shuttle disasters.

Amazing times.

 

[Penners]

But do you not think, Flyfisher, that arguably the most astonishing of all the manned spaceflight successes was Apollo 13?

One of the craft's most critical systems exploded - not on the way home but on the way out to the moon. And yet, by adapting a spacecraft that was never designed for anything like its "lifeboat" function, together with fag-packet calculations, old tin cans and sticky-back plastic (literally!) the crew managed to cobble together a trajectory and a life-support system that got them safely back to earth.

And virtually the entire population of the planet capable of doing so followed every minute of the story.

 

[Flyfisher]

Yes, an incredible mission - much too far-fetched for a science-fiction story. :lol:

However, it was probably fortunate that the explosion did happen on the way out to the moon, otherwise they might have already consumed too much of the precious resources they needed to get home. And imagine if it had happened while the LEM was on the moon. :shock:
http://www.solarviews.com/eng/apo13.htm

 

[wobs]

Well done wobs; seems you've hit a rich seam with this topic . . . and it is historical after all. I'm glad it's not just me.

What astonishes me is the technology used to achieve these amazing milestones. There was a TV programme recently about Mars and it said that the first surface photos were sent back at 8 bits/sec. Not mega or kilo but just eight bits each second! And the Voyager missions were essentially built with 1960s technologies yet they're now talking on twitter!

Also, there is no colour footage of the first moon landing because colour TV technology wasn't sufficiently developed at the time - which is pretty amazing given NASA's practically unlimited budget at the time.

Also, Apollo 8 was a simply astonishing mission that required numerous 'firsts' to work flawlessly; first launch of the Saturn V moon rocket, first vehicle to leave earth orbit, first vehicle to orbit the moon - all those firsts and with three astronauts onboard. I'm not sure such a thing would be contemplated these days, but that's political pressure during a 'cold war' for you.

Also . . . well, you get the idea. I have to say that I also share Penners' sense of privilege of having lived through this period in human history; something I felt quite strongly when wandering around Kennedy Space Centre and when we were fortunate enough to watch the STS-95 Discovery launch with John Glenn onboard.

The other amazing thing is NASA's website. If the UK had a space programme I'd bet all the details would still be classified, yet the US have a rather different philosophy about their public spending. Consequently it's possible to access all the mission resources in astonishing detail. It's a very sobering experience reading the mission transcripts of Apollo 13 and the two shuttle disasters.

Amazing times.

Certainly impressed at the response.
We were at Kennedy Space Centre two years ago, where we completely failed to see a shuttle launch, owing to a postponement. Oh well.

But we went there twice for the tours etc. An awesome place to visit.
The tour of "Now and Then", which is basically looking at the past missions, mostly from the 60s, has many old rockets including a V2 rocket engine.
The control room for the old Mercury missions were a mere few hundred feet away from the rocket, in a reinforced building, with ashtrays built into every control panel (I imagine there was a fair bit of tension). Compare the scale with the shuttle control room which is situated a few miles away!

Glad to the see SaturnV in a hanger, where it is protected from the elements. I grew up in the 70s, and have been interested in space for as long as I can remember seeing space missions on TV. It took until I was 40 to finally see SaturnV up close. An ambition fulfilled.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

I remember taking my children to see Enterprise.... What excitement!

Presumably HMS Enterprise launched in 1693 as HMS Norwich. She was renamed HMS Enterprise in 1744?

I echo the sentiments about the wonder of our space programs. Awe inspiring.

 

[Flyfisher]

Glad to the see SaturnV in a hanger, where it is protected from the elements.

I'm not sure how long the KSC Saturn V has been undercover (though no doubt Google could find out) but the one in Houston was only recently restored and covered up after being exposed to the elements for about 30 years.
http://www.space.com/4102-houston-restored-moon-rocket.html

It's a sobering thought that if Apollo had run to the originally planned 20 missions then there would probably be very little hardware to show at all for future generations to see.

 

[Penners]

This thread started off as pretty OT, so I make only the smallest of apologies for taking it even farther in that direction.

Make a 12-minute hole in your day to watch/listen to this:

http://www.wimp.com/disturbingthought/

I make no comment in favour of or against the ideas expressed, but it's a really fascinating exposition that - if nothing else - will tickle your grey cells until they giggle.

 

[worms]

Make a 12-minute hole in your day to watch/listen to this: http://www.wimp.com/disturbingthought/ I make no comment in favour of or against the ideas expressed, but it's a really fascinating exposition that - if nothing else - will tickle your grey cells until they giggle.

Very good! I liked his question about conversing with worms!

 

[Penners]

At that point I adopted a superior expression and told him that I talk to worms regularly.

The fact that I was addressing a computer screen could perhaps have confirmed to a casual observer that I'll talk to any animate or inanimate object.

 

[worms]

Make a 12-minute hole in your day...

You didn't warn us that it would turn into a 2 hour hole, watching other videos on that site! (Loved the Rossi versus Lorenzo final lap!)

 

[Penners]

I'll only carry the can for the 12-minute slot. After that, you're on your own!