Posted on 03/08/2011 5:43:12 PM PST by KevinDavis
Well this is final live thread of the Space Shuttle Discovery.
I'm going to miss seeing those birds..
I’m in ft myers Fl Anybody know if I will be able to view the landing approach ?
I was going to stand outside about 1-1/2 hours ago and watch for the shuttle and the ISS, but heavy rainclouds spoiled everything.
With the economic disaster resulting from Obama I’m starting to doubt I’ll see another American manned launch in my lifetime after the final shuttle flight.
Me too, Sad.
Is it me or does it the every time a rat is President they go after NASA.. However, a GOP is President, they support NASA (since Nixon)..
Won’t see it at that height during the day but you will hear the double sonic booms.
IMHO that’s the way Obama designed it. The shuttle program was point of pride for America. He is doing is best to cut us down to size due to his hatred for the US.
Saw em both in South Jersey last night( 4 minutes) and tonight( 2 min—1 min) . Gonna miss that show .Shuttle was in view for two minutes(tonight) and the ISS came into view as the shuttle faded .
Last night was awesome. The shuttle was about a fist ahead of the ISS for a 4 minute view on a ctystal clear night .
Damn, this country needs some direction again.
It’s flying due north of me right now (though only about 10 degrees elevation), and will be back by in 90 minutes for a straight overhead pass, disappearing into shadow when it’s just about straight up. The ISS is about 2 minutes behind it. The sky is clear and I’ve got my alarm set.
If I were republican president I would support funding NASA but only if they get back to exploration. I would also ditch the outer space treaty to put a possibility of profit into space.
twin booms means it’s lunch time!
Don’t be sad. Be mad!
Be mad at every liberal who ever hoped for some kind of space-faring society being responsible for ALL space advancement’s demise by supporting Obama.
And, Cripplecreek?
HELL yeah!
Bring profit into Space exploration.
People don’t realize that we have an international agreement that doesn’t allow ownership of any natural bodies in space. Outer space has the same status as Antarctica.
Private industry will never be more than freight haulers and taxi drivers until they can lay claim to things they find in space.
You and me both. I worked on the STS contracts from 1979 thru 1996.
Thanks, according to the flight path it is coming in from west of Cuba across Sarasota FL. I am actually on Sanibel facing south. hope to hear or see something.
My brother is just south of Clearwater. Usually when it passes over Punta Gorda he can hear it .
I may have to drive up to one of the causeways and try to get a glimpse of it when it comes in for the landing.
TV will carry it live, but it just isn’t the same.
Ground tracks have been posted for Discovery's landing opportunities
I always liked Rush’s take on the Outer Space Treaty. Abolish it, and see what innovations occur. The first person to land on Mars OWNS it. Now That would satisfy even the jerkiest billionaire’s ego. Ha! You call that a yacht? I’ve got a frickin’ PLANET.
With God’s Grace, for Discovery, the final numbers of launches and landings will be the same, unlike that for two of her sister shuttles, and their brave crews.
I will miss the Shuttles. I remember the Moon Landings on TV a HUGE thing.
Amazing, most of us were here from the beginning.
Who would of ever thought there would be an end?
Just watched her fly over the last time, assuming landing tomorrow.
Just watched her fly over the last time, assuming landing tomorrow.
I doubt that, NASA got caught recently continuing to work on the Constellation project (return to the moon). I think there are enough patriots at NASA that they know they just have to wait this out and Obama's departure will mean new funding.
Keep in mind that even the finale flight (Endeavour) will mean that they must prepare Atlantis for flight in case it is needed for a rescue mission. So it would actually be fairly easy for NASA to continue shuttle flight with return of funding.
However, keep in mind that the shuttle is a space vehicle, although a really good one, that was designed in the 60's, built in the 70's and then started flying in the 80's. It has served it purpose and way beyond. It is well past time for NASA to move on.
Just went out in the backyard and caught it at the right time ....it was really going fast! Terrific.
Oh yes, I am pi$$Ed off too, for those reasons and much more.
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The satellite?
Opansy could not get it up!
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When does it land, I have not payed attention to this?
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Dunno
Obama as scared limp that a Shuttle accident will happen during his term -
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I am totally uninformed on all of this, have not followed it but found this;
Mission: STS-133
Space Shuttle: Discovery
Primary Payload: Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM)
Launch Date: Feb. 24
Launch Time: 4:53:24 p.m. EST
Launch Pad: 39A
Landing: March 9, 2011
Landing Time: 11:57 a.m. EST
Landing Site: Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
Mission Duration: 13 days
Inclination/Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles
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Obama will be on his knees on his Muslim prayer rug until all missions that could have bad results are completed and programs with risks are closed down
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Eisenhower created NASA, not Kennedy. So to be frank Republicans started supporting NASA with Eisenhower not Nixon.
Io answer your question I think its rather obvious that Democrats are much more interested in spending Federal Money on domestic matters then foreign matters.
Space exploration and colonization is indisputably a foreign matter, therefore Liberals would rather not spend Federal money on it.
Liberal plans for NASA are primarily using it as a tool to advance their political interest specifically right now that is advancing the myth of man made global warming as to justify aggressive domestic power grabs.
To be honest upon looking at the whole situation, including:
A: The Federal Constitution(which does not authorize NASA).
B: The inability of NASA to get anything done due to having its missions changed by president elected for other reasons.
C: The need to draw funds from other lands.
I think we might be better off if we simply took NASA out of the Federal goverment and instead made it into a compact type organization under the direct control and financing of the several States.
Perhaps to be controlled by the electors. We might even change the Acronym into the North American Space Agency and run it a bit like the European Space Agency, with Canadian Provence’s being allowed to contribute financially and participate as if they were U.S. States.
For the cubicle bound or those that do not have access to NASA TV, watch the space shuttle return on NASAtelevision: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-hd-tv
There is a viewer count as of this posting (5:13 AM EST) of approximately 2029 at the bottom of NASA’s screen.
After reading Deke Slayton's career autobiography (DEKE!), I was left with the impression that he believed Democrats like Kennedy and Johnson got us to the moon and Republicans like Nixon and Reagan killed the dream of spaceflight beyond low earth orbit over budget-cutting. He also left me with the impression that a lot of astronauts and NASA staff of the 60's and 70's and early 80's felt that way.
I could live with that impression, since it was just his opinion though he was quite close to the action and so in a position to know. But he was also a federal government "double-dipper" and it just tickled him over what a great deal that was. Especially after he quit the Air Force after 19 years while able to work with NASA and bumming on that move. Even after his nominal CO in the USAF basically told him he could ride out his commission to retirement, he simply had to observe restrictions over his flight status.
Yeah, drawing a pension from and still working for the Federal government is a darn good deal. Especially after learning you coulda been a triple-dipper! I lost some esteem for him over reading that.
No doubt. The cloudy weather we’ve had didn’t allow for flyover sightings either. Totally bites.
http://www.virgingalactic.com/
Can an expert (ie, somebody who knows what they are talking about) tell me what time this will start to get ‘exciting’.
The reason I ask is I’m a teacher in a boarding school in Australia and I’ve agreed to wake up boys to watch the landing and while I want them to get a good show, it is going to be the middle of a school night here and we can’t have them awake any longer than we have to. It’s the first time we’ve had access to NASA TV readily available to us.
I’d also love to get some sleep myself, but that’s less important. :)
Can an expert (ie, somebody who knows what they are talking about) tell me what time this will start to get ‘exciting’.I'm not an expert, but...
There's nothing to see until about a minute before the landing. The only reason to watch earlier than that is to hear the radio chatter between the Shuttle and ground.
And, frankly, the launches and landings all look very similar (except, alas, for the last Challenger launch).
STS 107 Columbia, February 3, 2003
“...However, keep in mind that the shuttle is a space vehicle, although a really good one, that was designed in the 60’s, built in the 70’s and then started flying in the 80’s....”
It was ironic that when the appropriations bill was passed by Congress in 1972, Space Shuttle Columbia’s eventual first commander was walking on the moon when the word was passed along to the Apollo 16 crew. John Young was the guy to command the very first space shuttle flight. His Apollo 16 command module pilot, Thomas K. Mattingly II flew a few shuttle flights as well.
Judy Resnik was a mission specialist aboard the maiden flight of Discovery, and perished during the launch of Challenger STS 51 at the age of 36 years.
And the US manned space program comes to an end. The future belongs to China, India, etc., as the US will be content to sit and gaze at it`s navel.
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