Space Forum / Shuttle / February 2008

Will the Pencil suffer from Pogo Effect due to the long-thin design and the
use of the SRB?

Will it be Thiokol again?
After booster separation aft, there is NO evidence on Challenger's
right solid rocket of the 6000 degree heat from an "aft burnthrough."
Synchronized frames from several cameras now prove that well,

Noted, rather disappointedly, that they had a severe bass cut on the audio
so the twin sonic booms no longer knocked me through the wall as on some
other landings!
Brian

Prettiest landing we've seen in a while (best weather of course too).  
Welcome home boys!  
--
Todd H.  

Pardon my ignorance, but why exactly couldnt the shuttle Atlantis (or any
shuttle for that matter) collect the 'dead' satelite and return it to earth
to fix it?
Yes, I am expecting a major attack from some of you people, but put simply,

Will the ISS circle the Earth in its present orbit indefinitely, even if
someday it becomes an unmaned hulk?  I cannot see it being deorbited for
both political reasons  (pride, money, time, lives lost) and the obvious
hazard of bringing it back to Earth without danger to the ...

How many more Shuttle missions are there slated to be?  Is the entire
'rosta' of orbiters / missions worked out right until the end of the
programme now?

With all the talk about the Misson Specialist being sick -
Would the shuttle be able to make it back to earth
if either the CDR or Pilot being incapacitated ?
Of course it would be able to if  nothing untoward would happned

STS-122 - ATLANTIS LANDING
http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=
3373&Itemid=2
STS-122 - ATLANTIS LANDING REPLAYS
http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=
3374&Itemid=2

Sorry to go off topic. I've just been wondering about some things about SS3. Will it be just a scaled up version of SS2? If so its
mothership must have to be huge to carry a big enough vehicle to reach proper orbit. I'm thinking wing span of a 747 at least for
the mothership. ...

They may sound like a troll question, but it is not.
What exactly is the purpose / role of the ISS?  All these billions of
dollars being spent on building it, are they going to come to fruition?

Over the years, this forum has seen many negative posts about Christa
McAuliffe and her mother. Some of them (labeled "jokes") have been
plainly disgusting. Nevertheless, I can't recall anyone ever referring
to Christa and Grace as dishonest. Those two women were honest

Does medical privacy apply to spacemen?  I would think their celebrity
status would preclude any privileges of medical anonymity, at least as to
his identity and nature of illness.
What would happen to the mission if an astronaut expires?  Would he receive

STS-122 - LAUNCH ENGINEERING REPLAYS
http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=
3300&Itemid=2
STS-122 - FLIGHT DAY 1 HIGHLIGHTS
http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=
3299&Itemid=2

Has there been any history of problems with the robotic arms?  They're
pretty complicated things, and it just occurred to me that I can't
recall them ever having an issue, and how incredibly essential they
are to operations up there.