Space Forum / Shuttle / April 2005

NASA Is Said to Loosen Risk Standards for Shuttle
By JOHN SCHWARTZ
Published: April 22, 2005
NASA officials have loosened the standards for what constitutes an

Glad to hear that NASA's DART mission was a near 100% success. Now on to a
full blown autonomous rendezvous and docking demo of two unmanned NASA
spacecraft. Hope NASA can pull this off soon.
The Soviets, of course, pioneered  autonomous rendezvous (and docking)

Does anyone know of the individuals who are employed by NASA TV Select?
I ask, as I was wondering if they are permanent, or daily hire (freelance)?
In any case, what
has been the criteria for camera operators or production personnel working

From testimony at Griffin's confirmation hearing:
"With regard to the Crew Exploration Vehicle, Griffin noted that in the
1960s the Gemini program took only three years and the development of
the Apollo capsule only about 6 years from award to fruition. He said

I found this link today on BoingBoing.net.  More way-cool rollout pics,
taken with a Nikon D2X.  You really, really never see detail like this
from PAO images. :-/
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1021&message=13104458

Ground hydraulic lines feeding Discovery's hydraulic system leaked Thursday
and gave the aft compartment a nice coating of red hydraulic fluid. It also
contaminated a number of tiles on the exterior. Cleanup and tile repair is
going to take a while.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=688262
NASA Delays First Post-Columbia Launch
NASA Needs More Prep Time, Delays Launch of First Post-Columbia Flight
One Week to May 22

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/02/science/02nasa.html
NASA Starts Planning to Retire Space Shuttle
By WARREN E. LEARY
Published: April 2, 2005

I only know what I read in the newspapers.  It seems a long time ago, solid
rocket motors were only used for unmanned rockets, mostly military types,
because only liquid fuel engines were "man rated."
I realized this all changed with the Shuttle, it being the first manned

So I don't know if this is the right group but whatever.
So I've been reading speculation on the CEV's shape, and I got to
wondering.  If it where a winged or lifting body design, how would you
attach a LEM? I would imagine that the configuration would be along the

Just ran across this image, for anyone interested..
Taken 8 April 2005 and shows a *wide shot* of Discovery sitting on
Launch Pad 39B.
http://www.spaceimaging.com/gallery/ioweek/archive/05-04-10/discovery_04_08_05_8
00.jpg

So I'm having a discussion with a a friend of mine, and I need your
help to inject some reality into the discussion. Apologies if this has
been discussed here before; I couldn't find it on google groups.
My friend asserts that, in the event of a known damaged shuttle in orbit, we

THE REAL STARGATE TO EVERY UNIVERSE AND EVEN UKNOWN DIEMNTIONS AND OUT
OF THIS MATRIX!!1
IF YOU LOOK AT THE LASER SLIT TEST YOU WILL SEE HOW THE REFRACTION
STARGATE WAS BUILT IN A ALL DIMENTIONS THERE ARE REFRACTION POINTS THAT

Which astronauts have waited longest to do his or her first
spaceflight?
Paolo Nespoli from Italy? Deke Slayton (..had to wait from Mercury
until Skylab)?

http://abcnews.go.com/US/print?id=644388
NASA Acknowledges That Even Little Pieces of Foam Could Doom Space
Shuttle on Next Flight
By MARCIA DUNN