Successful Shuttle Launch leaves heat tiles damaged ???

[SoCalDem]

Perhaps they should not be using terms such as "successful" until it RETURNS safely..I would not want to be one of the astronauts.Can you imagine how nervous they must be :scared:. It would be hard to concentrate on the day to day experiments and chores up there, thinking that you might be incinerated on re-entry.:scared:

[OrlandoGator]

1. Tiles get damaged on every launch.

Part of this mission was to test the ability of the crew to assess the damage to the tiles before re-entering. This discovery proves that it is a good idea.

[BlueEyedSon]

2. and what do they do if their "assessment" is that a real important tile

fell off?

[OrlandoGator]

4. The crew hangs out in the ISS until a repair mission comes.

n/t

[SoCalDem]

5. Isn't THAT the place where OXYGEN was already a problem

for the few who are already there?? and Food??

[OrlandoGator]

7. There are months' worth of LOX on the ISS.

I imagine the logistics of this shuttle mission (and all contingencies) were well-planned.

[Bluebear]

12. And what about bagels? Are there enough of those, smarty pants?

[OrlandoGator]

13. Everybody knows astronauts only drink Tang and eat of of tubes.

Or was it food pills?

[Bluebear]

15. Tang! There is a blast from the past!

:hi:

[elvisbear]

16. Everybody knows they eat Space Food Sticks.

Yum :)

[Coexist]

18. LOL!

funny!

[converted_democrat]

17. By who, Russia? Our fleet just got grounded. Go look in LBN. n/t

[Ready4Change]

6. Part of this mission is to test their options.

Of course, they would rather not "test" when their lives are in the balance, but at least on this mission they have that potential option.

Also, as they have a chance to see it, they have the option of abandoning ship to the ISS, and the next shuttle will try a retrieval mission.

So at least this time 'round they ahve options.

[SoCalDem]

11. Boy howdy.. If they bail out, that shuttle will be a huge

piece of space junk ..just floating around out there..:(

[Sparkman]

19. The tiles have multiple RTD's (sensors) in each tile. Crew has exact tile

situation. There are layers of tiles as well. I worked at sensor mfr back when, supplying RTD's for those tiles. It's no secret.

[Jack from Charlotte]

14. Are those tiles made in Canada?*

[Ready4Change]

3. Thus far nothing seems critically damaged.

And they have, and are using, much better in flight inspection methods than they have ever used before. So not finding anything critical is avery good sign. They'll get an even better look over when they approach the spce station.

[SoCalDem]

21. The other flight was just peachy too, until it wasn't

:(

[Emperor_Norton_II]

24. Yes, but there are NO GIANT HOLES IN THE DAMN WINGS this time.

[queeg]

8. success=deferred failure

nt

[Kraklen]

9. The launch was perfectly successful. It's up there.

Whether or not it makes it back down is another issue.

[cornermouse]

10. They say it came off in the same area that the last shuttle was

damaged at originally. Wasn't Bush pushing to have a launch? I guess this is what you get when you listen to Bush...

[Sparkman]

20. The thermal profile of the tile matrix has been mapped. The RTD sensors

in each and every tile yield accurate shield detail. I wonder if tile repair is possible? In situ? Any NASA sub contractors out there?

[jim3775]

22. I'm no sub contractor but,

The area where the tile chipped is right at the edge of the landing gear door. This area has special reinforced tiles with a backup pressure seal and two heat shield redundancies. The initial determination is that it might be better if the chipped tile wasn't repaired.

[Sparkman]

23. great, thanks for the info jim

[Emperor_Norton_II]

25. Then "they" are wrong.

The damage to Columbia happened along the leading edge of the wing. The chipped tile on Discovery is near the nose gear door. Like jim said, lots of redundancies there.

So no, not the same thing.

[LWolf]

26. It always has.

My first husband helped build Discovery. I was there at the ceremony when it was first rolled out. Tile repair was a standard job after every mission.