Shuttle Discovery Launch

[hawkofva]

The Shuttle Discovery had a perfect launch this evening and is currently in orbit!

Given the timing of the launch being so soon after sunset, it was particularly stunning as the shuttle rose into the night sky, then was illuminated by the sunlight as it rose beyond the point where the horizon was in the way.

[General Lein979]

What there's a space launch today? They need to advertise these things more.

[hawkofva]

T-minus three minutes.

[Buffdog18]

cool

[Kreepman]

its also on CNN.

[hawkofva]

Perfect timing too, the sun is just setting on Cape Canaveral.

[wiifan54321]

im watching

[hawkofva]

its also on CNN.

Really? I didn't think they'd be covering it! Hot damn! :D

[Daemius]

I'm streaming it, this is my first live space shuttle launch, exciting:D

[benson111]

Go baby GO!

[General Lein979]

So... when are they going to do something useful in space other than the effects of frogs without gravity?

[hawkofva]

Lift off!

:D

Solid Rocket Boosters jettisoned!

[SonicRocker15X]

So... when are they going to do something useful in space other than the effects of frogs without gravity?

As soon as they finish all the useless questions 5 year olds would ask.

"How would a spider act on the moon?"
"Can you exercise with no gravity?"
And so forth.

[hawkofva]

Shuttle has passed the point of negative return. Current speed? 6,000 miles per hour. :eek:

[Buffdog18]

that was awesome

[ClassicRockFanatic23]

sweeeeeet

[Kreepman]

god - that was the coolest thing ever.

[hawkofva]

Shuttle has rolled heads up and just throttled down the engines. Currently at about 3G's acceleration, and over 14,000 miles per hour.


That's it! Shuttle's in orbit and the External Tank has been jettisoned. Main engines are shut down, and NASA is patting themselves on the back for a perfect launch. :D

[ClassicRockFanatic23]

Shuttle has rolled heads up and just throttled down the engines. Currently at about 3G's acceleration, and over 14,000 miles per hour.


That's it! Shuttle's in orbit and the External Tank has been jettisoned. Main engines are shut down, and NASA is patting themselves on the back for a perfect launch. :D

The first couple words made me think that the shuttle was crashing O_O

[Kreepman]

Shuttle has rolled heads up and just throttled down the engines. Currently at about 3G's acceleration, and over 14,000 miles per hour.

That's pretty fast.

[hawkofva]

The shuttle just traveled from the launch pad in Florida to the upper atmosphere over Greenland in under 15 minutes, just to give you an idea of the speeds here.

NASATV is replaying the launch from different camera viewpoints, while playing current radio communications in the background.

[balashotcalla]

im soooo pissed. I was there on spring break for my baseball team and it got canceled and pushed back to one day after we left. booooooo. I saw the satellite get launched earlier this week though, and that was pretty awesome. I was on Cocoa Beach, and it lit up the whole sky... wish i could have seen that manned launch though.

[hawkofva]

Yeah, I was mad too. The weather was nice enough on Wednesday that I would've been able to see the launch from my home in VA, but today I was back in NC and it was overcast. :(

You may not see anything but a glow at this distance, but it's still cooler to watch it with your own two eyes instead of over TV.

[hawkofva]

The shuttle has engaged in what the crew calls "Orbit Ops". This essentially marks the transition of the vehicle from a rocket to a spacecraft (a spacecraft which is flying upside-down and backwards, relative to Earth's gravity and it's direction of travel, respectively). The opposite maneuver is referred to as "deorbit", in which the shuttle goes from spacecraft to aircraft, and is performed to begin the descent of the shuttle back to Earth's surface. The Discovery was initially scheduled to land on the 26th of March, but I don't know when their landing window will be now.

[hawkofva]

Update: Discovery is docking with the International Space Station. The shuttle performed a sort of backflip over the station to allow the station's crew to use HD cameras to photograph the heat shield to look for damage.

Most recent update (about a minute ago: 5:50PM EDT) put the shuttle at 30 feet and closing.

Edit: Apparently I got that update a little late. I just got another saying that the Shuttle successfully docked with the Harmony Module of the ISS at 5:19PM EDT.

[mercuryshadow09]

The shuttle just traveled from the launch pad in Florida to the upper atmosphere over Greenland in under 15 minutes, just to give you an idea of the speeds here.

7,743 mph to be exact, anyone in Florida or been near the area when the shuttle left the atmosphere?

[bermuddy]

i saw the smoke from the thrusters from Miami. it was pretty cool. a buddy of mine said he saw the thruster "explode".

[bood-boy]

i have a NASA hat

can i play too?!?!

[Kreepman]

i saw the smoke from the thrusters from Miami. it was pretty cool. a buddy of mine said he saw the thruster "explode".

uh..is that safe?

[hawkofva]

i saw the smoke from the thrusters from Miami. it was pretty cool. a buddy of mine said he saw the thruster "explode".

Chances are it wasn't actually an explosion (at least, not a bad one; technically it's thrust is one long explosion). He probably saw either the Orbiter's main engine's throttle up, or the jettison of the booster rockets.

[bermuddy]

Chances are it wasn't actually an explosion (at least, not a bad one; technically it's thrust is one long explosion). He probably saw either the Orbiter's main engine's throttle up, or the jettison of the booster rockets.

thats what i meant. hence the "quotes"

[hawkofva]

Discovery is currently 10 minutes from returning to space on STS-128!

[jonoo24]

w00t

[NormanCoxwell]

Space, the final and scariest frontier. this is so cool. Never seen one at night before.

[hawkofva]

Access arm retracting. Interesting note: the COLBERT (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Space/story?id=7337186&page=1) is on board this shuttle.

[NormanCoxwell]

Access arm retracting. Interesting note: the COLBERT is on board this shuttle.

the treadmill thing? Nice.

So apparently they're going in to space for a 13 day trip. Who goes to space for two weeks?

[hawkofva]

So exciting! Four minutes!

[NormanCoxwell]

So exciting! Four minutes!

you're two minutes ahead of me. Dont spoil the ending for me.

[hawkofva]

Weather channel has it live.

Beanie cap retracting, 2 minutes!

[jonoo24]

Omg

[hawkofva]

T-60 seconds!

Discovery now in control.

[hawkofva]

ENGINE START! :D :eek:

LIFTOFF!

The Midnight Ride has begun! :D:D:D:D:D:

Already broke the speed of sound!

[hawkofva]

Over 17 miles in altitude already! :D

Solid Rocket Booster Separation was good! :D

Almost 40 miles up now!

[bmaninc]

This is intense. Hawk is having a nerdgasm.

[hawkofva]

Shuttle is heads-up, still climbing. Main engines have throttled back so that the crew is only experiencing 3Gs. Shuttle over 700 miles from Kennedy Space Center.

...and Main Engine Cutoff. External tank separating...

Successfull! Shuttle now flying solo!

Appropriately, we are two days from the Discovery's twenty-fifth anniversary of it's first liftoff! :D

[HeyRiles]

To those who enjoy shuttle launches -

I highly, highly recommend going to Cape Canaveral and getting as close as you are allowed to get and watch one up close

[ham736]

To those who enjoy shuttle launches -

I highly, highly recommend going to Cape Canaveral and getting as close as you are allowed to get and watch one up close

I havent experienced one, but i assume the night launches are spectacular?

[NormanCoxwell]

Saw the launch live on CNN. However now my Dad is making me watch a Ted Kennedy documentary. Ill probably not be back. g'night.

[hawkofva]

Artificial Sunrise over Cape Canaveral (http://twitpic.com/fnubz)

[ham736]

Wow, that pic is epic Hawk.

[Stewie]

Are they going to the moon for the 20th time? :rolleyes:

[hawkofva]

And another fairly epic pic, this one a time-lapse from about 90 miles away: http://twitpic.com/fnxp5

And a third, this one is a closeup of the launch only seconds after it cleared the tower: http://twitpic.com/fnw4p


Are they going to the moon for the 20th time? :rolleyes:

I choose to assume you are joking and that you know Shuttles can't land on the moon. :p

[Lawdog1521]

Are they going to the moon for the 20th time? :rolleyes:

They can't go to the moon tonight, only half of it's there. :p

[hawkofva]

Successful closure of the Umbilical Bay Doors in the shuttle's belly. :D

As the External Fuel Tank fell away from the shuttle, a camera mounted on the umbilical itself took several flash photographs of the shuttle's heat shield that will be reviewed so look for damage to the tiles. This is one of the major changes added to the standard launch procedures after the Columbia disaster in 2003.

[jonoo24]

Are they going to the moon for the 20th time? :rolleyes:

newb. no one has been on the moon since like 1970