Shuttle Discovery Blasts Into Orbit

[Freddie Stubbs]

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Discovery and seven astronauts blasted into orbit Tuesday on America's first manned space shot since the 2003 Columbia disaster, ending a painful, 2 1/2-year shutdown devoted to making the shuttle less risky and NASA more safety-conscious.

At stake were not only the lives of the astronauts, but also America's pride in its technological prowess, the fate of the U.S. space program and the future of space exploration itself.

"Our long wait may be over. So on behalf of the many millions of people who believe so deeply in what we do, good luck, Godspeed — and have a little fun up there," launch director Mike Leinbach told the astronauts right before liftoff.

Space program employees and relatives of both the Discovery and Columbia crews watched nervously as the shuttle rose from its pad at 10:39 a.m., climbed into a hazy midsummer sky, pierced two decks of clouds, and headed out over the ocean in the most scrutinized launch in NASA history. Two chase planes and more than 100 cameras documented the ascent from every possible angle to capture any sign of flying debris of the sort that doomed the last flight.

more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050726/ap_on_sc/space_shuttle_35;_ylt=AuEnLlk94IkZz_J.P5ZoW4oYAjMB;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

[ThoughtCriminal]

1. The tank mounted camera was extra cool

Especially the live image of seperation.

[Synnical]

3. That was amazing

A group of us watched it at the office - six people saying, "that is so cool" all at the same time. :-)

[StaggerLee]

11. ya gotta love that!

:hi:

[Rufus T. Firefly]

17. Did you notice the water vapor?

Right after it cleared the clouds, a shield of vapor appeared at the front of the shuttle and worked its way down...I've only seen that before as a still photo of a jet breaking Mach 1.

Plus, didn't realize they were high enough to see the curvature of the earth and the edge of black space that QUICKLY.

All-in-all, the best launch to watch EVER.

[sakabatou]

15. It proabbly is going go up on the net soon, though as recording only

[blackspade]

2. well crap...

Ment to watch it live with my son, but didn't realize it was this AM.
Anyway, its good to see them flying again. Its been far to long.
This is the kind of thing that the US should be concentrating on rather than world domination.

[janx]

4. YES, it is.

All the more reason to kick this thread.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

18. NASA's feed

http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/videos/metafiles/ksc_072605_rtf_launch.ram

[Algorem]

5. "...beginning America's new journey to the Moon,Mars and beyond",said

the government announcer when it took off.Nothing like adding blatant Bush propaganda to it.It's all just Plame-retardant distraction bullshit.

[librechik]

6. nevertheless, I'm moved by the optimism of the event

and the reaction on this thread.

GODSPEED< VOYAGERS!

[La Coliniere]

7. Hope they make it back to Earth

in one piece.
Peace

[commander bunnypants]

8. we are again on our way

maybe soon ion engines, then maybe warp?

Dare to dream

:woohoo:

CB

[Algorem]

9. The aliens aren't about to let us crazies out there.

[Massacure]

10. Recommended for the pride of the United States.

[ginnyinWI]

12. aside from entertainment value, what is the purpose?

I mean, it costs us 250 million every time they go up. It uses 1970s technology. All I heard that they are going to be doing this time is testing manuevers with the space station, which also has limited value, in my opinion. Meanwhile, little children are going hungry.

[onecent]

13. and millions are without health care, and thousands more (Ford, Hewlitt

Packard and Kimberly Clark are facing lay offs.)

[Throckmorton]

14. And not having a space program would fix this how?

It's not a question of money, it is a question of political leadership. We could fix the health care debacle and bring back jobs, and still have a space program. But, instead we get cheap goods from China and lip service to health care.

At the moment neither party is worth a damn, IMHO.

[SlipperySlope]

21. purpose = it shows we can reach for a dream

It may not be the solution to all the worlds problems, but for some, manned spaceflight represents a step along their dream of a better future.

It may not be your dream, but it is someone's dream. It is a dream that doesn't require killing, or stealing, or lying, and it is a dream that they want to pursue for the sake of all mankind.

The US space program isn't funded close enough to be able to achieve even half the things people wish it could. But they persevere and struggle because they believe in the dream.

I'm sorry that this doesn't help the things you would like to see helped. But sometimes we have to support other people's dreams so that they will support ours.

Social Security spends, what, $500B year in benefits? Meanwhile, NASA has an annual budget of $16B. For what we've blown in Iraq, we could have double NASA's budget and funded it for nearly ten years.

[rocktivity]

16. NASA video showed debris falling off Discovery

Shuttle returns to space; NASA examining video of debris spotted during liftoff

...video from the liftoff showed what appeared to be a piece of debris falling off Discovery.

...By Sunday, the mission management team will have enough information from the cameras to know whether Discovery is in safe enough condition to return to Earth, a NASA spokesman said before the debris video was released.

In February 2003, Columbia was destroyed during re-entry. Investigators blamed debris hitting the spacecraft during liftoff for damage that led to the disaster...

Suddenly my suspicion that they knew the Columbia was doomed after takeoff doesn't seem so suspicious. And I don't suppose this is a good time to mention that I protested that other shuttle being launched in sub-freezing weather.

:scared:
rocknation

[Emperor_Norton_II]

19. Before you scare yerself to death...

I saw the same footage. The debris - whatever the hell it was - peeled off the tank and fell away without hitting the orbiter.

We clear? No hit, no damage. No damage, no worries. So be cool.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

20. watched it out the window this morning

a couple of clouds obstructed the view at some points, but I got that old feeling again. . . it was great.

[Sven77]

22. post more videos if you find links

STS-114 Mission & Crew Briefing

http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/crew/sts114_crew-briefing.html

[Zech Marquis]

23. just returned home from work

and I watched the launch..oh man :bounce: That external tank camera was awesome!!