[Edited 7/7/06 19:02pm]

I hope they make it back safely.

The last tragedy really affected me.

Spookymuffin said:

not funny, hon.

ThreadCula said:

me too

[Edited 7/5/06 15:55pm]

Sweeny79 said:

what a waste of money.

Imago said:

Spookymuffin said:

Sweeny79 said:

It didn't explode this time!

Imago said:

Sister killed her baby cuz she could afford 2 feed it
And we're sending people 2 the moon

coolcat said:

The Space Shuttle don't go to the Moon. It just kinda flys around.

july said:

Only minor damage. Maybe it will land this time too!

july said:

I know. I just couldn't think of a more appropriate lyric.

coolcat said:

Rush wrote a song about the Space Shuttle.

Countdown
By Rush

Lit up with anticipation
We arrive at the launching site
The sky is still dark, nearing dawn
On the Florida coastline

Circling choppers slash the night
With roving searchlight beams
This magic day when super-science
Mingles with the bright stuff of dreams

Floodlit in the hazy distance
The star of this unearthly show
Venting vapours, like the breath
Of a sleeping white dragon

Crackling speakers, voices tense
Resume the final count
All systems check, T minus nine
As the sun and the drama start to mount

The air is charged
A humid, motionless mass
The crowds and the cameras
The cars full of spectators pass
Excitement so thick you could cut it with a knife
Technology...high, on the leading edge of life

The earth beneath us starts to tremble
With the spreading of a low black cloud
A thunderous roar shakes the air
Like the whole world exploding

Scorching blast of golden fire
As it slowly leaves the ground
Tears away with a mighty force
The air is shattered by the awesome sound

Like a pillar of cloud
The smoke lingers high in the air
In fascination
With the eyes of the world.

july said:

STS-121 Discovery/ 18th International Space Station Flight ULF1.1
Launched: July 4, 2006
Launch Time: 2:38 p.m. EDT
Landing: July 16, 2006 - 8:52 a.m.
Duration: 12 days
Orbital Insertion Altitude: 122 nautical miles
Orbit Inclination: 51.60°

-

Shuttle Discovery not in the clear just yet

By Irene Klotz

HOUSTON (Reuters) - The Discovery crew used a boom-mounted digital camera to re-inspect six areas on the shuttle's heat shield on Friday, but appeared confident problems that led to the 2003 Columbia disaster have been resolved.

The most serious area of concern is Discovery's carbon-tipped nose, which must withstand temperatures hot enough to melt steel when the shuttle plunges back into the atmosphere prior to landing.

"That's the main thing we're looking at," flight director Tony Ceccacci said.

Visible discoloration detected on the nose could be anything from bird droppings to damage from some sort of object, NASA's deputy space shuttle program manager John Shannon said.

The shuttle's external fuel tank, which has been the U.S. space agency's top safety concern since it triggered the Columbia disaster, did not appear to have shed large enough pieces of its foam insulation to damage Discovery's heat shield, officials said.

Foam insulation falling off Columbia's fuel tank during launch smashed into the ship's wing and allowed superheated atmospheric gases to blast through as Columbia flew through the atmosphere for landing.

The spacecraft disintegrated over Texas, killing the seven astronauts aboard.

The tank design was modified after the accident, but the one flown during NASA's first post-Columbia mission last year shed large foam chunks during launch.

Discovery's launch on Tuesday was the second since the accident.

Originally planned for 12 days, NASA on Friday extended Discovery's mission by one day on Friday to add a third spacewalk to test a heat-shield repair technique.

Astronauts said they were happy with the spacecraft's performance -- good news for NASA since more trouble could force the space agency to scrap the shuttle program.

"At this point we're really satisfied. We haven't had many problems with Discovery," pilot Mark Kelly said during an in-flight interview.

NASA has spent $1.3 billion on two fuel tank redesigns and other safety upgrades. Based on Discovery's performance, NASA is gaining confidence the work was successful.

Of the six areas targeted for follow-up inspections, three have been cleared, Shannon said.

But he said the jury was still out on potential risks in the other areas. "We don't rule anything out until the analysts come in and say we don't have a problem," Shannon said.

PROTRUDING CLOTH

Besides the nosecap, engineers were still assessing blemishes on the right wing and a protruding bit of cloth near the rear of the shuttle. The concern is the strip of semi-rigid fabric, which is among thousands placed between the shuttle's ceramic belly tiles, could cause Discovery to overheat during re-entry.

A second protruding strip near the nose of the shuttle was cleared as a potential flight risk, Shannon said.

During Discovery's flight last year, astronauts plucked out two protruding strips that could have triggered a heat shield failure.

NASA needs to resume regular shuttle flights to complete construction of the half-built International Space Station before the fleet is retired in 2010.

On Friday, Discovery attached an Italian-built cargo module carrying more than 5,000 pounds (2,272 kg) of equipment and supplies to the space station.

The module holds food, clothing, a freezer for experiment samples, a European Space Agency incubator to grow plants in space and a new oxygen generator so the station's crew size can eventually be doubled to six.

Discovery also brought German astronaut Thomas Reiter to the station, where he will stay for six months.