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Space Science

Space Shuttle Endeavour Launches (at last) 90

Posted by michael from the astronauts-not-allowed-to-bring-nailfiles-on-board dept.
mumkin writes: "Hey, STS-108 has finally launched! In addition to bringing a new crew to the International Space Station and performing an EVA, Endeavour will be releasing Starshine 2, another orbiting disco-ball for ground-based observers to track."
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Space Shuttle Endeavour Launches (at last) More

Space Shuttle Endeavour Launches (at last)

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  • "In addition to a new station crew and supplies, Endeavour is carrying a host of scientific investigations, including experiments from space agencies, schools and universities across the United States, Europe and South America as well as a small satellite that has involved more than 25,000 students in 26 countries. "

    So what exactly does this massive student project satellite do?

    • Re:So what exactly does this massive student proje (Score:5, Interesting)

      by ukryule ( 186826 ) <slashdot&yule,org> on Thursday December 06, 2001 @02:12AM (#2663849) Homepage
      From NASA [nasa.gov]:

      The experiments include: STARSHINE-2, the Prototype Synchrotron Radiation Detector, Collisions Into Dust Experiment-2, Capillary Pump Loop, and Space Experiment Module-11.

      STARSHINE 2 will be the third satellite of Project Starshine -- the Student Tracked Atmospheric Research Satellite for Heuristic International Networking Experiment -- to be deployed. More than 25,000 students from 26 countries will track STARSHINE 2 as it orbits Earth for eight months. The students will use the information that they collect to calculate the density of the Earth's upper atmosphere. Starshine will fly into space in a Hitchhiker canister in the payload bay of Endeavour and will be deployed 240 miles (387 kilometers) above the Earth.

      So 25,000 students will be monitoring it - it wasn't built by 25,000 students :-)
    • I caught on the local 11 O'Clock news that some local highschool students were in Fla. to see the launch because they were sending some Soy Beans up for an experiement. I just looked all over the website of said news site and I couldn't find an applicable reference. But this shows that the students aren't just working on the satelite of this mission.
    • Prediction of first radio message sent to the Starshine satellite:

      Good morning Starshine, the earth says "hello".
  • They also sent up a memorial for the 911 attacks. Most importantly, this explains that oddly shaped cloud I saw at 5:30 today.

    • Re:Memorial (Score:3, Interesting)

      by istartedi ( 132515 )

      Was the cloud unusually bright? I've heard that sometimes that happens because the "cloud" is way up in the stratosphere where direct sunlight is still visible. I've never witnessed a launch, but I had the privelege to witness a sunset landing where the shuttle became visible as a bright white speck while making an approach turn. Then of course there was the CLAP! CLAP! double-sonic boom and the approach was close enough so that you could clearly see the windows of the shuttle. If you have the opportunity to witness a landing, don't sell it short. It was one of the highlights not only of my visit to KSC, but of my whole FLA vacation. Then again, I wonder if they will be allowing people that close to landings for a while.

  • More Cargo (Score:5, Informative)

    by flynt ( 248848 ) on Thursday December 06, 2001 @01:24AM (#2663749)
    In addition to the things already mentioned, the shuttle also has 6000 American Flags, which when returned from space, will be given to the members of the families of the World Trade Center victims.
    • That's quite a memorial considering how much it costs to ship stuff per pound into space... I suppose a flag doesn't have that much mass, but still...
    • To be more specific: the 6000 flags, as well as one large American flag mostly in one piece that was found in the wreckage of the WTC, will spend one 'cycle' (5 months, based on the next crew change) on the ISS, not just through the week+ shuttle mission. The 6000 small flags will be redistributed to members of families affected by 9-11, the large flag possibly going to some historical archive (Smithsonian, most likely).

      (This based on an article from this week's USN&WR, on the failures of the NASA program and the ISS particularly).

  • ISS module stuck (Score:2, Interesting)

    by po_boy ( 69692 )
    Last I heard, there was a possible problem with a piece of something stuck in the way of some module (probably a Soyez, I gues) attached to the ISS and they didn't want the shuttle to knock the whole thing loose when it docked. Anyone know if they got that problem solved? I was wondering if someone had to spacewalk to get the thing freed up or something.

    • Re:ISS module stuck (Score:2, Informative)

      by ocelotbob ( 173602 )
      Yep, they got it fixed. The whole reason for the delay of the shuttle's launch was to fix that problem before they got up there. Dunno if they had to do a spacewalk to fix it, though.

    • Already unstuck. (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Axe ( 11122 )
      Piece of a rubber bumper tore off and stuck in the lock - Russians omn the station moved "Progress" a bit and managed to pull the piece out with a crooked stick.

      As the time goes by, we will see more of this russian style problem solving skills, and ISS will look more and more like Mir. That's the law of large technical systems - they get fucked up.

      Having worked with aero-sace folks for 12 years (thank god I am out) the only thing that surprises me is that all this shit actually works - it is way to complex for that.. I blame sheer luck. ;-)

      • ...managed to pull the piece out with a crooked stick.

        All hail the inanimate carbon rod.

      • Not that the Russians aren't creative, but I hope we see some new procedures written as opposed to relying too much on creative solutions. I hope the checklist for the Russian undocking procedure now includes "check to make sure that no residual bits are stuck to the lock, and if they are, schedule EVA for removal of said bits before next docking".

    • If you're really curious to know, here's the story on CNN.

      http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/space/12/03/spacewa lk /index.html

      Half the time estimated. Maybe NASA's learning to double their estimates. It can only make them look better in the public's eye.

  • To see the ISS & Shuttle yourself... (Score:5, Informative)

    by Tsar ( 536185 ) on Thursday December 06, 2001 @01:47AM (#2663808) Homepage Journal
    Go to Heavens-Above [heavens-above.com] and enter your location on earth, and it'll provide you with all the info you need to spot the ISS, the Shuttle, and a host of other orbiting objects as they pass over you before sunrise or after sunset. The site has a wealth of other information about satellites and space exploration in general as well, so it is with a very heavy heart that I expose one of my absolute favorite sites to the eminent threat of slashdottery.
    • Unfortunately, little can be done with the site unless you can read celestial coordinates. I basically need a friend by my side saying "look there" while pointing a finger at some blurry object, to get anything good out of it.
      • the problem here is, unless you now your latitud and longitude, knowing the angle(from north) and the asimuth for you to look up at is very hard to do. the celestial coordinate system is actually pretty efficient if you're at a observatory(at the school I'm studying at, we have a 7m x 7m slab of concrete with angles labeled so all you need is asmuth) because it's the easiest way to do it.

        Oh well, I'm wasted right now
        g'night world

        Pat

  • Satellite Sighting! (Score:4, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 06, 2001 @01:49AM (#2663812)
    I invite you to check for ISS/shuttle sightings on the nasa website [nasa.gov]. Also Heavens above [heavens-above.com] might be updated with the shuttle orbital information within the next few hours.

    For example, I see there will be a nice pass almost straight above San Francisco, Thr Dec 06, 05:26 PM for ISS, and 11 minutes later (05:37 PM) the shuttle catching up with it! So I suspect similar opportunies for other US cities in the coming days, weather permitting of course.

    Don't expect to see more than a moving point of light, but it is still quite cool.
    • i took an astronomy class last year and one of the requirements was to watch the shuttle pass over blacksburg [vt.edu]. well the time we decided to watch was special indeed. first the ISS passed overhead and then the shuttle (i forget which one) passed over head on its way to rendevous with the ISS. it was around the time when the ISS was being fitted with new and bigger solar panels.

      the whole thing was very cool, and extremly fast. the two objects looked like very bright stars, about the magnitude of venus, and crossed the whole sky in under 90 seconds. it gave a great feeling of the speed that those guys were zipping around earth at.

      if you get a chance check it out, you won't regret it.

  • GAS Payloads on STS-108 (Score:4, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 06, 2001 @01:56AM (#2663825)
    STS-108 also contains GAS Payloads...which are basically just canisters that can be rented, usually by universities and space agencies. Experiments are flown in these canisters and they range anywhere from boiling water to growing plants, testing the effects of microgravity. I am the webmaster of the Utah State University GAS Team [usu.edu] and we sent up a payload on this shuttle with 3 powered experiments and a few passive ones. Glad the shuttle finally got off the ground!
  • Oh come now. They have a launch wehicle, that is exposed to what? 5G during launch. It can reenter the atmosphere and avoid burning up. It can stay in space and survive the higher levels of radiation, but it is not durable enough to be exposed to RAIN? What's it made of? Sugar?

    If the most expensive wehicle on earth (well ... maybe the B2-bomber is more expensive) can't stand up to rain, what are my chances of driving my car home from work in bad weather today?
    • yes yes i know this is offtopic but i thought i'd just address the mentioned price of the Shuttle vs B2 Bomber:

      B2: US$1.2 Billion (Source: USAF)
      STS: US$2 Billion (Source: ABC News)

      ok you may now commence the modding
      -1 Offtopic ;)
    • I just read that the main threat was static electricity - they were afraid that the motion of the shuttle through the cloud could spark a bolt of lightning, which could disable the computers a rather critical time. (T-1m to T+3m being *ahem* slightly critical)

      Also, the tile on the underside are extremely sensitive to water; they are brittle, and if water got in them, it would freeze in space and crack the tiles, just like roads in the north...

      Yup, they get nervous when there's a large cloud in the way...

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