STS-126

Yes!  Well I don’t think you can get tickets to this particular launch but there is viewing all up and down the Indian River.  Even though I’ve never SEEN one go up I can assure you that if you’re anywhere in the area; you’ll know one is going up.  This launch will be shortly after nightfall and those are particularly dazzling.  I like day launches as you can see the vehicle a lot better but any successful launch is a good one.

That’s right, one week from today! W00t! I love launch day preparation.

Master of the Universe

Ok, well not really but…

Hubble Servicing Mission

Does anyone remember when Hubble was launched?  Remember how we all waited to see those brilliant images come down?  As they started to beam down to earth we all looked at each other thinking “that’s good, right?”  Those in the know immediately knew it wasn’t right.  Hubble was near-sighted.  The most expensive telescope ever built didn’t work.

Two years later a daring plan was set into motion to fix hubble.  Essentially it would be given glasses and other hardware would be upgraded as well (solar panels, gyros, etc).   Astronauts worked feverishly on Hubble until all the repairs were made.  Would they work?  Could NASA redeem itself?

The answer is a resounding “yes”.  Not only redemption but triumph.  As the new images came in, it was clear the mission was a success and our view on the Universe would never be the same again.  Chances are that you’ve seen a photo taken by Hubble.  To be more clear, if you’ve seen a picture of space in the last 15 years, it’s a good chance Hubble took it.  Sure there are scopes that are larger and gather more light but Hubble has the advantage.  It doesn’t put up with atmosphere.  No rainy days, cloudy days and it’s always night time in space.  Well to a degree it is.

NASA has serviced the Hubble a couple of times since that first servicing.  Upgrades to equipment, new cameras, better cameras and more sensitive instruments to bolster it’s scientific contribution even more.

Later this year NASA will service the Hubble one final time.  The telescope has been a workhorse for so many years and taken some of the most stunning images of the Cosmos known to man.  I’d love to be there to see the shuttle go up.  Might still happen but I won’t set my heart on it.

http://hubblesite.org/gallery/

R U SIRIOUS?

What, something like 1 person is born every few seconds?  Right?  So why is —->>>>”"THIS“”<<<<—- such a honking huge deal?  Why? Really, tell me why!  I know the birth of a child is a great thing and the miracle of life.  I have two of my own.

Oh well, I suppose people wonder why I’m infatuated with rockets.  However, I can explain in great detail my reasons for that!  I can’t even think of a reason why I’d be so enthralled about the birth of child by a woman I’ve never met, never will meet or really care to meet.

Why am I so infatuated about the infataution?  I guess I can’t understand it.  I’ll give a list of reasons on why I’m into the space program:

1. Showcases mankinds ability to overcome immense obstacles
2. Encourages innovation to achieve a common goal
3. Several common technologies today were a result of research concerning space program(s) [NASA Spinoff]

There that’s a fairly broad couple of reasons.  Particularly spinoffs.  Something that is actually useful for the everyday person.

*sigh*

Everyone has their own thing but really, leave the poor woman alone.

Brainy Smurf

I like science.  I love science.  It doesn’t make the world go ’round, it explains why the world goes ’round.  Without it we’d still be in caves.  We’re the only species to fully grasp it and it’s importance.  Even still we haven’t fully grasped everything and I think some things we won’t or some things weren’t meant to be grasped.

Things don’t exist unless observed.  So, we observe the universe.  Would it exist without us?  Is the universe alive and wanting to see what it looks like?  Are we the mirror the universe looks into?

Can we travel through time?  In Back to the Future, Marty McFly nearly erased his existence after disrupting his parents meeting.  In a real world scenario, since the future already exists, doesn’t that mean you basically can’t fail?  Think about it.  You go back in time to kill your Great Grandfather.  You get there and tell him he’s done for.  You pull the gun out and pull the trigger.  Jammed!  It won’t fire!  So you find a large blunt object and lunge at him, you trip and fall.  Every effort you make at his demise is thwarted by some…thing.  Well the trip sprained your ankle and bought time for him to call the police.  You, the crazed madman, gets carted away and your ancestor lives on.  You explain to him who you are and that you were only proving a science experiment.  He posts bail and you zip off to the future with your findings.

This randomness brought to you by the letter N for Nerd.
And the number 9 because it’s king of the single digit numbers.

Super week

To kick it off (pun!) the Giants won the superbowl which is great because I love underdogs.  Today not much is going on but tomorrow is Super Tuesday where something on the order or 25 states are holding primaries for the next President.  That’s pretty cool.  And of course, the best thing this week (crosses fingers) is the launch of Atlantis.

When you’re a huge space/science buff you learn to expect delays in launch these incredibly complex machines.  The orbiter, being the most complex, needs extra attention when problems arise.  This case was a faulty fuel sensor in the large orange tank.  While there are multiple redundant systems, they will not launch if they know one is failing.  The purpose is that once in flight, you can have a failure and have backups.  If you launch with a failure and have a failure in flight you might be left with one system and no backup.  Another failure would be a “bad day” as they call it.  If the fuel sensors failed or sent incorrect data for instance, the engines might be shut off prematurely.  That’s a guaranteed bad day.  Another scenario might have the engines no shutting down properly.  The pumps spin at 36,000rpm inside those things.  I hear if they spin without fuel the damage can be catastrophic.  I’ll take their word.

After all the work is done to make these vehicles flight ready, after every screw, strap, bolt, pump, lever, knob, button, system, wire, cable, etc, is checked, there is only one thing left to do; pray.  Pray that all those items you check do not fail.  Once the vehicle is in flight, you can’t pull it over.  There is no pitstop and nothing on this planet can catch up with it short of another orbiter or a few other launch vehicles that take weeks of preparation to make flight ready.

No, space flight is not routine.  It will not be for a long time.  The guys that want tourists in space are visionaries and pioneers but people will die.  I guarantee it.  Everything is a calculated risk and you have money and lives on the line.  I doubt the high rollers in Vegas could stomach the intensity of saying “there is a 5% chance we’ll lose the crew if X happens but it’s better than the initial 7% so it’s within the acceptable limit”.

Godspeed!

[L]