NASA~ENDEAVOUR, DISCOVERY and ATLANTIS last flights~

[Midwest Spy]

A quick, interesting story for you regarding the Challenger explosion from January of 1986:

I was working as a radio disc jockey in Oslo, Norway (I served in the U.S. Air Force). It must have been later in the afternoon/evening in Europe, and I was the only one in the radio station. Just a 19-year old kid. The phone rings and I answer. On the other end, "This is the US Ambassador here in Oslo, can you confirm that the space shuttle has exploded?"

I didn't even know it yet. I wasn't monitoring our live feeds from AFRTS in Los Angeles. I asked him to hang on and checked in on the radio news feeds and sure enough, gave him the confirmation he was seeking.

In a related note, 3 months later Chernobyl (sp?) blew up, and a radioactive cloud moved north east and enveloped all of Scandinavia.

[Lady Cop]

there is at this moment a wildfire burning a mile from the assembly building. i hope it gets knocked down quickly.


Orlando Sentinel
The six astronauts have arrived at Kennedy Space Center, the launch crew has reported no problems at this stage and the countdown has begun for Friday afternoon’s launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

Shuttle Commander Mark Kelly and his veteran crew, Pilot Greg Johnson, Mike Fincke, Roberto Vittori, Drew Feustel and Greg Chamitoff all arrived shortly after noon Monday, briefly greeted the media then headed off for some late training and practice.

NASA began the official countdown at 2 p.m. Endeavour is to launch at 3:47 p.m. Friday on what will be its 25^th and final mission, STS 134.

“We’re really happy to be here today,” said Kelly. “We got a chance to take look at the orbiter as we first flew over the field and then the over pad. It’s great to see Endeavour all ready to go again.”

He will lead Endeavour on a 14-day mission to the International Space Station. He and the crew will deliver and install a 15,000-pound device called the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer that is designed to detect and analyze high-energy cosmic rays and space particles to seek clues to the makeup and origins of the universe. The AMS, as it is called, cost more than $1.5 billion.

Endeavour also will be bringing equipment and supplies to the station. After this mission, there is just one left, the launch of Atlantis, set for late June.

[Lady Cop]

CAPE CANAVERAL — The buzz surrounding the end of the space-shuttle program has turned deafening as Endeavour is set to lift off today with a mind-bending physics experiment onboard and as many as 750,000 spectators — including the Obama family and U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords — on hand to watch.

The end is so near, with the final launch of Atlantis scheduled for June, that few, it seems, want to miss this chance.

But the weather could disappoint everyone.

Endeavour's final launch is set for 3:47 p.m., but NASA weather watchers are keeping an eye on crosswinds and cloud cover predicted for this afternoon.

edit later to add: KENNEDY SPACE CENTER --

NASA has canceled Friday's planned launch for space shuttle Endeavour.

Mission managers said two heaters are causing issues with the shuttle's Auxiliary Power Unit.

ooo i can picture the pissed-off people and monster traffic jam!

lightning last night---

[Lady Cop]

ENDEAVOUR is a go for Monday morning historical launch...0856 Eastern May 16.

Merritt Island causeway out to the Cape--->
that's the vehicle assembly building on the horizon.

[Lady Cop]

less than 2 hours to launch~~

[Lady Cop]

a perfectly beautiful liftoff! Godspeed Endeavour~~






AWESOME PHOTOS!

[Lady Cop]

great pic of the crew!

[Lady Cop]

home

[Lady Cop]

NASA has released the first-ever images of a space shuttle linked to the International Space Station taken from a departing spaceship.

Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli took the photos two weeks ago from inside a Russian Soyuz capsule soon after he left the space station for the trip back to Earth.

The shuttle Endeavour is pictured attached to the bow of the space station and was captured by the capsule as it orbited at 17,000mph at 220 miles above Earth.



click for awesome pics~~little shuttle hanging off the Space Station...cool!

[Lady Cop]

final shuttle flight July 8

ATLANTIS

[Lady Cop]

July 4, 2011
Space shuttle Atlantis STS-135 astronauts, left to right, Commander Christopher Ferguson, Pilot Douglas Hurley, Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim wave American flags Monday July 4, 2011 after arriving to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew of 4 are the last of U.S. astronauts to fly aboard a space shuttle scheduled for Friday, July 8, 2011.

[Cynical Ninja]

Any idea when the Aurora program is going to start in earnest?

[Lady Cop]

Any idea when the Aurora program is going to start in earnest?

i don't know much about it, i have to read up on it

http://www.esa.int/esaMI/Aurora/

[crash]

Wow... the way it was reported here was that NASA the king is dead; let the Russians rule.... long live the king! Who'da thunk it in 1989? Is the good ol' US of A broke?

[Cynical Ninja]

No, no, The USA still rules space, the Aurora program will be starting soon and that will blow away anything the Russians or the Chinese can come up with.

NASA is important, it needs to be given the funds it needs to explore the final frontier.

[crash]

A friend of mine just had a daughter with his second wife at age 40; they called her Aurora..... I hope they don't live to regret it :#

[Lady Cop]

lift-off scheduled for 1126 Eastern, today, but weather is a major concern.

[Lady Cop]

Godspeed Atlantis... liftoff!
the end of 30 years of shuttle flight, she flies into history.

[Lady Cop]

more:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/a...space.html

[Lady Cop]