Update: Atlantis launched into orbit today, as I was somewhere on I70 heading home.
Space Shuttle Atlantis is due to launch into space at 2:45 in the afternoon Eastern time. However, the weather is iffy, with a front coming through (which will make my own plane ride home from Florida a bit bumpy, I imagine). Also, the launch window is a very narrow ten minutes, so the odds of the launch are pretty low.
Normally I would live-Twitter the launch, but I might not be home yet from the airport (especially if US Airways, once again, gives me a metaphorical colonoscopy as they did on the way here). If the launch is delayed, I’ll do my best to cover it live when it does eventually liftoff.
February 7th, 2008 at 8:16 am
“Liftoff is scheduled for 2:45 p.m. EST, which is the middle of the 10-minute launch window.”
Why don’t they aim for the _start_ of the window? What happens if launch conditions are okay at 2:40, but go bad enough to cancel by the time 2:45 rolls around? It sounds like they really only have a 5 minute window. (Or can they push the launch up a few minutes?)
February 7th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Phil, you know why we call the Useless Airways! Good luck with that one!
February 7th, 2008 at 9:15 am
I hope they’ve done something positive about the ice-falling-off-and-punching-holes-in-the-structure-below problem.
February 7th, 2008 at 9:15 am
They always try to launch in the middle of the 10-min window to the ISS because that’s the moment when the least fuel woud be needed for rendezvous with the station.
There are more than enough blogs or blog-like services covering this launch: try the official Columbus blog from ESA, the Mission Status Center from Spaceflight Now or the Flame Trench (cool name
from Florida Today.
February 7th, 2008 at 9:47 am
“What happens if launch conditions are okay at 2:40, but go bad enough to cancel by the time 2:45 rolls around?”
If everything is “go” at 2:40, then they’ll launch at 2:40. They won’t wait to see how things are five minutes later.
February 7th, 2008 at 10:35 am
If you don’t mind the metaphorical colonoscopy that they give you at airports, have you ever thought of trying the bill or rights gag that Penn Jillet invented on the security people?
Go to securityedition(dot)com, where they sell these wallet sized Bill of Rights that are made of metal, and have the fourth amendment highlighted in red. When the airport security guys ask you what you have in your pocket, you hand it to them and say:
“Oh, those are just my civil liberties. Here, you take them.”
February 7th, 2008 at 11:00 am
BA said “especially if US Airways, once again, gives me a metaphorical colonoscopy as they did on the way here”
Oh, you wouldn’t be complaining if the security person looked like Jessica Alba. I bet, this is just a guess mind you, that you might even go so far as to suggest she check all your pockets; just incase you have a concealed weapon.
However, knowing your luck, she’d smile and polity send you over to some 300lbs woman named Mrs. Grace, who’s a born-again-Christian, has “heard about the likes of you”, and decides a full body cavity search is in order … being “bad” and all that, you obviously cannot be trusted.
Hey. Have a great flight! Hope you don’t have any problems sitting through your flight.
:p
February 7th, 2008 at 11:19 am
dh, I think you’re on to something. I think the Transportation Safety Administration should subcontract out to Hooters.
I am so immature.
February 7th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
If this is put off until the weekend, I’m totally THERE.
February 7th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Launched! Yay!
February 7th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Dang…I take a nap, wake up, and the $%!@ shuttle launched without me…
February 7th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
And they’re off!
Yippee!!!
February 7th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Great launch, and there goes a smooth seperation, nice.
February 7th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Say what you will about NASA’s faults — watching the piggyback camera on the ET is one of the best things going!
Yee-hah!
February 7th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
That was hawesome! (as always)
Thanks, BA. I checked in on your blog just minutes before the launch and watched it for the 1st time on NASA TV.
February 7th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
I gotta agree right there! I love the view from the external camera. When the sun’s out of the way and doesn’t oversaturate the planet, you really get nice pictures of the earth under.
February 7th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
dhtroy, there could be a telescope hidden up there. That clearly falls under “banned things” as it could be used to spy on GW Bush
February 7th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Great stuff as usual. I really will miss the Shuttle when it’s gone.
February 7th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
watched it here from on base, had an excellent view. I’ll post up pictures when I get home tonight (which will be a while, knowing what traffic looks like on every exit of KSC for launch day)
February 7th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
After this mission is over, next launch of interest is the ATV on March 8th. Unfortunately, it will be at 4:25am here!
(
February 7th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
I have a question that’s been nagging me lately watching shuttle launches. What keeps it upright at the moment of launch and in its early phase while its clearing the tower? Its traveling very slow and there are no aerodynamic forces to keep it traveling straight. The forces of the engines would have to be perfectly balanced to make it travel straight and I imagine there are some massive gyroscopes. I can’t imagine the reaction jets can hold it in a straight.
February 7th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
paul:
just before the moment of launch, ordinance in the hold down posts on the solid rocket boosters releases them (main engines are running, SRBs are just kicking in), and from that point on stabalization is done with the orbiter main engines. The output of the engines is monitored, to say the least, which allows them to make predictive adjustments on the order of fractions of seconds. (computer, obviously, not like someone’s pushing buttons to do the work).
February 7th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
oh, and keep in mind the SRBs do have directional control (thrust vector nozzles), but that’s more for in flight. That’s used to “rotate” the shuttle into proper orientation, and of course overall directional control along with the main engines.
February 7th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
I read on the NASA site that this is an 11 day mission. Turns out I’ll be down in Florida during that time. Has anyone seen a shuttle land and if so, is it worth my time?
February 7th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Tried to watch it from Jacksonville, as I did some years ago, but a nice thick bank of clouds rolled in and obscured the view. So I ended up watching the video about ten minutes after.
February 7th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Always a spectacular sight!
Why does the Shuttle rotate 90deg (?) onto it’s back shortly after lift off though? Surely if it was correctly alligned on the launch pad it wouldn’t need to carry out this potentially risky manoeuver?
This has probably been asked a zillion times so forgive my ignorance.
Martijn
February 7th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
The launch pad is not on the correct alignment, so the shuttle has to roll. Bear in mind that the Shuttle doesn’t always head for the same orbital inclination (for example, it will head for one inclination to get to the ISS, and a different one to get to the HST), so it would have to roll to some degree anyway.
February 7th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Actually I believe that the shuttle rolls over (’Roll Program”) so that the shuttle’s antenna faces earthward, and they can keep in communication. When they rotate again at/near MECO, that’s so they can communicate via the TDRS satellites.
February 7th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Paul A asked: “I have a question that’s been nagging me lately watching shuttle launches. What keeps it upright at the moment of launch and in its early phase while its clearing the tower? Its traveling very slow and there are no aerodynamic forces to keep it traveling straight. The forces of the engines would have to be perfectly balanced to make it travel straight and I imagine there are some massive gyroscopes. I can’t imagine the reaction jets can hold it in a straight.”
Good question, Paul, and while Spiv has answered well, I thought I’d add a little bit of my own.
The rocket is kept upright *throughout* the launch phase (that is, until it gets into orbit) by making sure that the line of thrust is directly aligned with the Shuttle’s centre of gravity. This is as important in the last seconds of thrust as in the first few seconds – an engine hardover at any time it was firing would be dangerous for the Shuttle’s survival and would probably require the engine to be shut down. The alignment is conducted by (IIRC) a combination of gyroscopes, accelerometers and computers to do the sums a couple of times a second. The Shuttle acts on this information by gimballing (swivelling) the Space Shuttle Main Engines. This allows the Shuttle to take account of things like wind gusts, changes in the centre of gravity due to using up fuel, and required changes in course.
If you watch footage of a Shuttle launch, in the last minute before lift-off, one thing you might notice is that the crew test the gimballing of the Shuttle engines. Before they start, they swivel around a bit. Presumably, if that test doesn’t go right, the launch would be aborted.
As far as I know (not a great deal I admit) aerodynamic forces play little part in keeping the Shuttle travelling straight. For one thing, it’s only a short time before the Shuttle is so high that the air is too thin to provide any sort of help.
Also (AFAIK), the Shuttle’s Reaction Control System isn’t used during lift-off.
February 7th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Overstroming asked: “Why does the Shuttle rotate 90deg (?) onto it’s back shortly after lift off though? Surely if it was correctly alligned on the launch pad it wouldn’t need to carry out this potentially risky manoeuver?”
Again, Gareth and Kevin have answered well, but I thought I’d add a little more.
The Shuttle always goes into orbit on its back. I understand that, among other things, it’s easier on the astronauts both physiologically, and also to have a visible reference point (the Earth itself) in case things go funny during the launch.
However, as each mission is potentially to a different orbital alignment, the amount of roll is different for each mission.
There’s nothing risky about the maneuver that I can see. It’s carefully planned along with everything else in the mission, and Mission Control would be familiar with how to make it happen.
Incidentally, if you watch launches of the old Apollo missions on their massive Saturn V rockets, you’ll see that they do roll maneuvers shortly after launch too, and they’re usually called out by the crew. It’s just a bit harder to see because of the shape of the Saturn V. But if you look at the interstage between the 2nd and 3rd stages (the first point up from the bottom where the rocket narrows), you’ll find a useful reference point.
February 7th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
I haven’t seen a launch in a while. I watched today. I forgot how awesome it is.
Rocket ON!
February 7th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
I was on the beaches of Daytona today when the shuttle launched. Just in you don’t know, it’s roughly 30 minutes or so away by driving upon I-95. Everyone around me saw the shuttle, of course, blaze into space through the cloudy skies, yet there was a big problem…. no sonic boom or rumble that you hear minutes after the shuttle blasts off.
Was this do to the atmosphere and then inclement weather in any way? It began to rain in Daytona Beach about 30 minutes later.
I’ve lived in Daytona Beach for almost 20 years now, and I know there’s always a loud, rumbling sound as the shuttle takes off and of course two thunderous bangs as the shuttle returns to Earth and Kennedy.
So what’s the deal Mr. Bad Astronomy??? Why no sound in Daytona Beach after the take off??? (and yes, my ears are clean and work properly)
February 8th, 2008 at 7:47 am
Greg, if I were to hazard a guess (that’s all it would be, since I am in no way trained in mererology or acoustics), I would think that the lack of noise would be dependent on the humidity of the air, and wind direction/speed. I know the winds were fairly calm, but if they were blowing from you towards the launch site, that might attenuate the sound. Also, humid air conducts sound less efficiently than does dry air (ever notice how quiet it is when it’s foggy?).
Again, just my $0.02
But from what I saw on my computer, it was a BEAUTIFUL launch!
Best wishes to Atlantis and all aboard her.
February 8th, 2008 at 11:27 am
Paul A. writes:
[[What keeps it upright at the moment of launch and in its early phase while its clearing the tower?]]
I think the thrusters are gimballed, so they’re probably aligned so that the net vector of the thrust forces is straight up-and-down.
February 8th, 2008 at 11:28 am
Pat writes:
[[I read on the NASA site that this is an 11 day mission. Turns out I’ll be down in Florida during that time. Has anyone seen a shuttle land and if so, is it worth my time?]]
I believe they land in Nevada.
February 8th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Barton said: “I believe they land in Nevada.”
No, normally the Shuttles land at Florida if they can. They only land in the west (Edwards Air Force Base?) if the weather at Florida is dodgy.
I’ve never seen a Shuttle landing with my own peepers (living in Australia makes it unlikely), but I’d imagine it be pretty exciting. Just not as spectacular as a launch.
February 10th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
They land in Florida. If they land anyplace else, like Nevada, they have to strap the Shuttle on top of a special Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft which is expensive (millions of dollars) and a little bit risky.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttle_Carrier_Aircraft