Columbia

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 3:27 pm

Yes thats where most foam falls off is right around the bipod.

spacecampaddict28 · Post by **spacecampaddict28** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 3:31 pm

Umm sorry to sound stupid but where is this bipod you speak of?

stargazer0105 · Post by **stargazer0105** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 3:35 pm

Isn't that the area where the strut connects the orbiter to the ET?

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 5:15 pm

Actually the orbiter is connected to the Et in 3 places, Their are 2 connection points on the rear of the orbiterwhich is where the fuel flows through. RThen there is the connection under the nose of the orbitewr which is where the bipod is. The bipos is nea the upper part of the ET and connects the orbiter and ET together in front. For some reason the falling foam on each flight seems to come from around that bipod area.

spacecampaddict28 · Post by **spacecampaddict28** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 5:48 pm

I was aware of the two connections near the base of the orbiter, as I did a project on fuels of the space shuttle. I could give you the link to the website I made for the project, but unfortunately it is password protected because it is part of the intranet at my school.

stargazer0105 · Post by **stargazer0105** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 5:57 pm

Ok, so that's what I meant to say.

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 8:05 pm

Well the front connection i believe is mainly just for supporting the orbiters weight at a third point and keeps the nose from hitting the tank

spacecampaddict28 · Post by **spacecampaddict28** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 8:18 pm

Well if the nose hit the tank we would have serious issues especially at speeds of Mach 1. The whole thing would just collapse on itself and that isn't necessarily a good thing nope. Probably lots of fire too!

No, astronauts dying is bad.

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 8:30 pm

Ok now that the question has been answered can we either find something else about columbia to talk about or wait till we do have something. Personally i just don't want to see this topic that was started to comemorate columbia turn into casual conversation like alot of the others have.

spacecampaddict28 · Post by **spacecampaddict28** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 8:39 pm

Well, I am considering buying a piece of tile from the original set of tiles on Columbia. The piece isn't very big, but it isn't very expensive either. I wouldn't mind paying for my own little piece of it.

stargazer0105 · Post by **stargazer0105** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 8:57 pm

That would be really neat to have.

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 9:02 pm

Ok where are you going to get the piece of tile? i lmow i have seen them on ebay but i dont know where to get one for a reasonable cost.

stargazer0105 · Post by **stargazer0105** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 9:27 pm

Yes, please share this wonderful information Sara.

spacecampaddict28 · Post by **spacecampaddict28** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 10:26 pm

I think I saw them on....

http://www.thespacestore.com/shuttletile.html

well, 17 bucks is pricey but I haven't been able to find it anywhere else.

stargazer0105 · Post by **stargazer0105** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 10:59 pm

I noticed one of the new regulations was that they won't launch at night anymore. That's kinda sad because the night launches were always so pretty.

spacecampaddict28 · Post by **spacecampaddict28** » Fri Jun 13, 2003 12:48 am

Well the night launches are pretty, but safety has to be a number one concern. The issue they talk about is that they couldnt take as good of surveillance as they could have during the day, so they need to do it during the day. I mean, if you were an astronaut, wouldn't you want them to know something went wrong during launch?

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Fri Jun 13, 2003 1:21 am

Exactly i mean if 107 had launched at night they would not have seen that foam strike which would have made the investigation probably drag out even longer because they wouldnt know what caused the problems with the left wing. Yes i loved night launches too and they are incredibly beautiful but its a small price to pay for safety. Unfortunately it will limit launch oppurtunities for the iss as well because many of those flights launch at night.

spacecampaddict28 · Post by **spacecampaddict28** » Fri Jun 13, 2003 11:33 am

Yeah, NASA has put safety first first first once again...Challenger and now Columbia. Was there a specific reason that most launches to the ISS were at night?

Benji · Post by **Benji** » Fri Jun 13, 2003 12:17 pm

Timing. They had very small windows so that they wouldn't be far from the ISS when they got to orbit.

spacecampaddict28 · Post by **spacecampaddict28** » Fri Jun 13, 2003 1:28 pm

Yeah, I was asked to explain how they dock with the ISS and I got so confused. They have to do like 6 burns or something. Smiley asked us once to say how it was done and all of us went up to the board and none of us could get it right.