Debris fell off the fuel tank of the Shuttle again???

[Goldmund]

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida (CNN) -- Discovery roared into the skies over Florida Tuesday morning as NASA returned to shuttle space flight for the first time since the 2003 Columbia disaster.

Under a blue sky, the spacecraft lifted off at 10:39 a.m. ET, as scheduled.

"Liftoff of space shuttle Discovery, beginning America's new journey to the moon, Mars and beyond," said George Diller, the voice of shuttle launch control.

The launch followed days of troubleshooting to fix a faulty fuel sensor in its external tank that led to cancellation of a planned launch on July 13.

But video of what appeared to be some kind of debris falling off Discovery during launch prompted questions that NASA officials said they couldn't immediately answer.



http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/07/26/space.shuttle/index.html

[jim3775]

1. What I heard was that it's probably a paper weather protector...

and nothing to worry about.

[reBel_gyrl]

2. I heard a scary thing..

today on the Stephanie Miller Show.. They were talking about how Bu$hCo is most likely going to invade Iran next, and they were saying something to the affect of if this space shuttle thing blows up (knock on wood) "They" could blame it on Iran to go to war. I guess there was a similiar scandal with Cuba and Fidel, but not a space shuttle.. I missed it, very interesting though. And scary.

[Goldmund]

3. Wha??

:rofl: How could they blame it on Iran?

[KansDem]

21. Sounds like a continuation of the ol' "Operation Northwoods" gameplan

The secret plan, presented to Pres. Kennedy by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1961, outlined a strategy of getting the US people behind an invasion of Cuba by 1) terrorizing US citizens in US cities; 2) blowing up a US warship in Havana Harbor; or 3) if John Glenn's spaceshot somehow failed, blaming that on the Cubans. Just how Fidel would shoot down Glenn (throwing one of his cigars at him?) is unclear. But I suppose an accusation could be created around sabotage(?)

[mattclearing]

12. They have no credibility at this point.

They'd need a lot more than a downed space shuttle to invade Iran at this point.

The majority of Americans no longer believe the Iraq war rationale. This administration has lost the public trust it needs to intervene abroad.

[Journeyman]

17. That'd be a real tough sell. . .

considering how, after billions of dollars invested in "Star Wars" technology over the past quarter century, the US is still unable to successfully shoot down a target for which we have exact coordinates and, at times, homing devices installed on.

[WI_DEM]

4. just think if they took the $$ spent on the space shuttle program

and put it towards health care for everybody.

[Goldmund]

5. Or interplanetary exploration,

or the next generation of Hubble.

[jim3775]

11. I'd rather have money spent on the shuttle program than a war. n/t

[Goldmund]

13. That's indisputable.

But even within the miserable amount of money the US spends on exploration and science, there are much more effective ways to use those resources than the Shuttle.

[jim3775]

15. I didn't mean to reply to you directly...

I hit the reply button on the wrong post.

[Goldmund]

16. I dig

:)

[w13rd0]

18. Amen.

The shuttle is VERY old technology. It was supposed to be a prototype and we were supposed to have rolled out next gen TRUE reusable space flight vehicles by now. Then again, I was supposed to be living in an underground house (lowered cooling costs) powered by solar and wind, jetting around in my personal jetpack, by now...

[Beaverhausen]

6. I'd rather the money spent killing innocent iraqis be spent on health care

[in_cog_ni_to]

7. yeah, just think.

:grr:

[TomPainesBones]

8. Better yet,

use the money being wasted on this war.

[Caution]

9. It's not a question of money that prevents universal healthcare

it's that the right-wing and the pharmaceutical companies are dead set against it. The shuttle budget is miniscule in comparison to the budget spent on welfare programs. Neither one should be cut. If you really want to cut budget than take a look to the military expenditures in Iraq which will total over $700 billion at the latest estimates.

[obxhead]

10. there's not enough money

from the space program to even buy us a box of cough drops much less insure us all. While the shuttle may be obsolete I say we cut out the BS war before attacking NASA. - edit spelling

[Goldmund]

14. Amen

[jim3775]

19. I just checked the FY 2004 shuttle budget

The shuttle budget is $3.945 billion (1). Last year Americans spent $161 billion on prescription drugs (2).

[wakeme2008]

20. Just saw this over at allhatnocattle