I’m delighted to see that Discovery has safely launched, and I’m as jealous as sin of anyone lucky enough to see the spectacle. I’m old enough to remember the shuttle’s first launch and there is no denying that this craft has a hold on our collective imagination. The loss of Columbia in 2003 was genuinely an event that captured the world’s attention (and my blog post on that day still draws a daily trickle of visitors).
I do wonder, though, whether this launch is entirely wise. I understand why she needed to fly, but I’m thinking that NASA might have better used its resources in building the urgently-needed replacement craft.
Whatever. It is great to see the shuttle in action again. Godspeed to her crew.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Malc 07.27.05 at 1:46 pm
I saw it, it was very cool!!!!
Ruth 07.28.05 at 2:00 pm
You would have thought spending that much time and money on the shuttle, they would have fixed ‘the foam issue’ though.
Malc 07.28.05 at 3:46 pm
I’m sure they’ve tried, but think about what the material has to go through. It has to be heat resistant as the Shuttle goes over 13,000mph on the way up, and yet keep the liquid fuel inside the tank cold (~-100 degrees) also remembering that as the fuel gets used up, the pressure in the tank lessens, which makes it colder (hold the button down on an aeresol can for a bit).
Trust me, if there was a material in the local DIY shop that fitted the bill they’d use it……. of course, saying that, it does make you wonder about thte story about the millions spent on making a space worthy pen, and then the Russian used pencils…….