shuttle leaves station, following risky fix-it spacewalk | wired science from wired.com
shuttle leaves station, following risky fix-it spacewalk | wired science from wired.com
subscribe
renew
give a gift
change address
international
questions
cars 2.0
culture
entertainment
gadgets
gaming
how to
med-tech
politics
science
software
techbiz
commentary
multimedia
wired insider
all
autopia
beyond the beyond
compiler
danger room
epicenter
gadget lab
game | life
geekdad
listening post
the underwire
threat level
wired science
top stories
magazine
wired blogs
all wired
« "autonomous" heart surgery robot mystery solved |
main
| photo gallery: astronauts' risky spacewalk, step by zero-g step »
shuttle leaves station, following risky fix-it spacewalk
by john borland november 05, 2007 | 8:06:46 amcategories: space
after more than a week of more thrills and mishaps than any zero-gravity trip ought to hold, the discovery shuttle headed back for home early this morning.
saturday's risky spacewalk to fix the torn solar panel went as well as could be hoped astronaut scott parazynski dangled from a 90-foot robotic arm, teasing together bits of a power system that was electrically live during the impromptu operation.
the associated press quotes an ebullient message from the operations center to the crew:
"this one will go down as one of our biggest successes in
(spacewalking) history," flight controllers told the crew in morning
briefing documents. "words can not express how proud you made everyone
with the execution by the entire team."
the unexpectedly exciting mission may hold another message for nasa,
however. in a sense, the crew and mission were lucky that the solar
panel rip was fixable relatively quickly, by a team that was on site.
if a more serious incident had happened, without the shuttle nearby,
the ramifications could have been more serious.
it may only be a matter of time before something more dangerous happens
– and in that case, nasa or its partners would be well-served by the
ability to launch a rescue or repair mission quickly, almost on a
moment's notice.
with the shuttle being retired in a few years, it clearly can't serve
that purpose. but perhaps the new commercial spaceflight companies will
be able to fill that role, at least as well as the soyuz missions
launched by russia. nasa should make this a priority when it is funding
and helping to guide development of companies like spacex.
astronauts revel in wing repair success [ap]
discovery undocks from space station [nasa]
(image: astronaut scott parazynski surveys his work on damaged solar panel. credit: nasa)
reddit it | digg this | add to del.icio.us
what exactly is the author expecting nasa to do? financially support private spaceflight efforts while trying to fit it's own mission within it's own questionable and hardly stable budget?
it can not be stated more firmly, manned flight to orbit and safe return is a feat of an order several magnitudes greater than pogo-plane like flights such as spaceship one. there is nowhere near the capital investment around to make any one of these companies a substitute for a shuttle. when the shuttle retires the only working solution for a quick launch is going to be the russian soyuz.
posted by: frank lazar | nov 5, 2007 10:39:57 am
i believe the author is trying to reflect the consensus that orbital spaceflight is near ready for commercialization. the breakthroughs nasa has made can now be passed on to the private sector.
the ula has been investigating the use of it's eelvs as man-rated primary stages for would-be shuttle replacements. the ula launch systems have over 50 years of heritage and hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars in development already invested. nasa invested $2 billion in the hl-20 lifting body spaceplane. a number of commercial companies are proposing integrating a man-rated eelv with their man-to-space solution. one company is proposing using an hl-20 derived vehicle atop an atlas v. how much more capital investment is needed?
posted by: navi | nov 6, 2007 11:03:17 pm
post a comment
you are currently signed in as (nobody). sign out
name:
email address:
comments:
see more wired science
editor: adam rogers | email
editor: kristen philipkoski | email
contributor: brandon keim
contributor: john borland | email
contributor: steven edwards
contributor: loretta hidalgo whitesides | email
contributor: aaron rowe
contributor: alexis madrigal | email
november 2007
sun mon tue wed thu fri sat
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
things to say about climate change and evolutionbig bang residue? or nearby clouds of gas?a synthetic biology comic bookhigh school kids dream up new organellemore dna mashups: butanol producing e. colicontroversial gene therapy trial was poorly designed, says doctorcollege kids use bacterial mashup to do mathan inexpensive diabetes treatment: shoes that fitarizona congresswoman and nasa shuttle commander wed on organic farm$5 billion vioxx settlement a victory for merck, could inspire other wrongdoers
get great free widgets at widgetbox!
2007 senate stem cell debate (17)
2008 presidential election (8)
agriculture (22)
aids/hiv (10)
american astronomical society meeting 2007 (5)
andy grove liveblogging (2)
animals (125)
anthropology (3)
archaeology (9)
architecture (3)
art (26)
artificial intelligence (3)
astrobiology (1)
behavior (66)
bio 2007 (15)
biodefense (5)
bioethics (52)
biology (58)
biotechnology (73)
body (9)
books (2)
brain (77)
chem lab (19)
chemistry (34)
climate (125)
conference (22)
crime (13)
culture (64)
current affairs (47)
debunking (8)
disease (83)
drugs & alcohol (45)
education (10)
energy (53)
engineering (38)
environment (80)
evolution (57)
film (2)
food and drink (58)
forensics (5)
foundations of science (1)
funny inventions (4)
games (1)
geeky science humor (6)
gene therapy (23)
genetics (101)
geology (7)
google lunar x-prize (9)
gossip (3)
government (196)
health (100)
heroes (1)
history (26)
human 2.0 (8)
ideafestival 07 (12)
igem (5)
jackson labs (18)
james watson (10)
lab life (14)
materials science (20)
math (12)
medical devices (22)
medical ethics (43)
medicine & medical procedures (157)
mental health (25)
military (19)
movies (2)
music (2)
mystery (28)
nanotechnology (21)
neuroscience (22)
nextfest (2)
oceans (12)
organ transplantation (2)
overhyped research (8)
paleontology (5)
pandemic (4)
parenting (6)
patents (1)
people (12)
perception (14)
personalized medicine (1)
pharmaceutical industry (50)
physics (36)
plants (8)
policy (14)
politics (25)
pretty (3)
pretty dumb (11)
psychiatry (14)
psychology (6)
religion (44)
reproduction (42)
research (1)
robotics (11)
science (25)
sexuality (10)
simulations (1)
space (366)
specs (1)
sports (14)
stem cell research (90)
sustainability (19)
synthetic biology (11)
systems biology (7)
television (6)
the tv show (7)
travel (2)
very obvious (9)
web/tech (37)
weblogs (1)
wired science wonders (3)
x cup prize 2007 (17)
your daily lab results (10)
stay connected with wired mobile: tech news, gadget reviews, and special offers - all delivered to your mobile device.
corrections | contact us | letters to the editor | wired staff | press center | faq | wired insider | sitemap | login/registration
subscription questions | renew subscription | give a gift | international subscriptions | advertising | media kit | careers
visit our sister sites:
concierge | epicurious | men.style.com | style.com | flip.com | wired.com | lipstick.com | nutritiondata | ym | allure | architectural digest | bridescookie | condé nast portfolio | domino | glamour | house & garden | lucky | men's vogue | self | teen vogue | the new yorker | vanity fair
subscribe to a magazine:
view special offers
view all titles
allure
architectural digest
bon appétit
brides
condé nast portfolio
condé nast traveler
cookie
details
domino
elegant bride
gq
glamour
golf digest
golf world
golf for women
gourmet
house & garden
lucky
men's vogue
modern bride
self
teen vogue
the new yorker
vanity fair
vogue
w
wired
© 2007 condénet, inc. all rights reserved.use of this site constitutes acceptance of our user agreement and privacy policy
Acceuil
suivante
shuttle leaves station, following risky fix-it spacewalk | wired science from wired.com The Daily Fix - WSJ.com We Can Fix That with Data Giant Ocean Tubes Proposed as Global Warming Fix A race to fix a 30-year-old 'solution' csmonitor.com ColdFusion MX 7 Cumulative Hot Fix 3 FiX - home Object Fix Zip - Freeware for repairing damaged ZIP archives with ... Mr. Fix It (2006) Tom Feiza, Mr. Fix-It Inc. Fix your Exposé keys - WOW Insider How to fix broken Firefox extensions Free Software Magazine Candy- Chocolate- A Candy Fix Balai FIX-O-MAT - Webmarchand.com FIX-TIPS Free Football picks & Best Soccer betting tips, soccer ... Free Registry Fix 3.9 for Windows The Right Way To Fix Inaccurate Wikipedia Articles Dura Fix Aluminum Welding Aluminum Brazing Aluminum Soldering ... Ads of the World Advertising Archive & Community Outlook Express repair, Outlook recovery and Address Book recovery ... Toilet Repair: Leaks, Tanks and Bowls Toilet Repair Fix a ... IndieHIG » Blog Archive » Fix the Leopard Folders (FTLF or FTFLF) Gallery 2.2.3 Security Fix Release Gallery iFixit: iPod, iBook, & PowerBook Parts and Accessories Fix’ Mascara Advanced Zip Repair - Repair corrupt Zip files. Fix Zip files. Aimfix - Jayloden.com credit repair - credit reports - debt settlements - financial ... GRC CIH Virus Recovery adult swim fix ringtone fix you Coldplay (Polyphonic Ringtone fix you) (www ... Free Registry Fix - Fix My Registry Macrovision: Updating the Macrovision SECDRV.SYS Driver Fix - Francoiscogne snowboard shop fix Madeleine Fix-Hansen :: Design :: Illustration :: Media ... Congress Pushes 'Band-Aid Fix' to Gas Price Woes, Analyst Says ... Bike Shop Frederick, Maryland Bike Repairs, Bike Sales --BICYCLE ... Fix Videos What To Fix The new urgency to fix online privacy Perspectives CNET News.com Photo : fix-1-255.jpg - vietnam - www.developpementdurableasie.com How to Fix Shows Like 'Lost' -- New York Magazine SPACE.com -- NASA Reveals Plan to Fix Solar Wing Hacker Criminals Find An Exploit In a Fix Your Freebie Fix - All the latest Freebies, Coupons and Online Deals Paul Fix Astronauts successfully fix wing on space station - The Boston Globe M·A·C Cosmetics Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation Simple "ntldr is missing" fix with boot floppy, CD-R, or USB flash Fix Slow Computer: spyware, trojan horse, virus removals BIJOUX FIX Oral Fixation Mints / Get Your Fix TonTuyau.com - jean-Luc no fix Windows update - problèmes The Jet City Fix Tricia Fix Originals. Florida born fashion designer Fix zip file with DiskInternals ZIP Repair - RSA, The Security Division of EMC iWay FIX Adapter Coldplay - Fix You