What's Up? The Space Place

Hey Space Placers! Space Shuttle Discovery returned to Earth landing at the Kennedy Space Center at 11:57 a.m. 3-9-11. It was the end of her operational flying career as Discovery will be removed from service and made safe during a nine-month overhaul to make her museum ready. Word has it that Discovery will go to the Smithsonian Museum which means Udvar Hazy in Chantilly. The non-flyimg shuttle Enterprise is there now. It would be something to see two shuttles side by side! Atlantis up on deck for a mission to the ISS next month and she too will be retired upon return and maybe end up in Ohio at a DoD centric museum. Endeavour flies this summer and may stay at KSC upon retirement. Each shuttle will be sold for over $28.8 million and must be housed in a dedicated building to protect them. The ISS under went another configuration change with the delivery of a storage module and is quite an impressive view as you can see in this picture taken by the STS-133 crew upon their depa...

Hey Space Placers! Tuesday night, 3-8-11, Space Shuttle Discovery will be flying over the Washington, D.C. area at 7:23 PM with the International Space Station (ISS) flying over at 7:24 PM.  This will be our LAST opportunity to see Discovery in orbit so please, please make an effort to see her. I went out tonight and was able to see the two spacecraft fly over low on the horizon in and out of clouds. It was not as good a flyby as Tuesday night as the two will pass nearly overhead. I have to tell you I was SO EXCITED to see 12 humans, 1 robonaut and over 1 million pounds of beautiful spacecraft fly over. I waved and toasted the crews. I hope to get a picture tomorrow night - couldn't do it tonight as there was way too much light pollution. I will never forget the sight though - it was incredible. Check this website for more information: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/cities/view.cgi?country=United_States&region=DC&city=Washington This was one of thos...

Hey Space Placers! I hope you watched the beautiful lift-off of Space Shuttle Discovery today. It is the last time we will ever see her do so.  Off on an 11-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS) to deliver supplies, a large storage container and a Robonaut, Discovery will link up to the ISS in 2 days. Upon her return to Earth, Discovery will be stripped and sold to a museum somewhere. There are 2 shuttle missions left if NASA can get the funding for the flight this summer. The end of the 30-year era of the Space Shuttle is fast approaching. Follow the mission here: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html/ On a personal note I saw Discovery in December on the launch pad and the pictures I took of her will join those I have of Endeavour and Challenger....personal treasures beyond compare. I will be watching for viewing opportunities of the ISS so we can all wave at a million plus pounds of spacecraft, 12 humans and a Robonaut! Sky Guy in V...

Hey Space Placers, Space Shuttle Discovery, which I saw on Pad 39A from about a mile away 2 weeks ago today, was rolled back into the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on Dec. 22 for further tests. The tests consist of x-rays of all 108 aluminum stringers in the External Tank (ET) and will hopefully shed some light on why cracks were discovered in several of the stringers which are located in the ET intertank. The work is supposed to commence today and continue for the next week. Dec. 30th is currently scheduled as being the decision point on whether modifications will be needed on the ET.  Read more about it:  http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/discovery_rss_collection_archive_1.html I'll update you as facts become available. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Space Shuttle Discovery will remain on the launch pad until at least Feb. 3rd, 2011. NASA announced the move following a mission status meeting on Thursday. Engineers need more time to study the cause and effect of the two cracks found in the U shaped aluminum stringers on the external tank. The cracks have been repaired and the insulation replaced, but it is still not known precisely why this happened. Tests and scanning of the tank will hopefully provide some answers so Discovery can be launched. Space Shuttle Endeavor will now look at an April launch date for the last shuttle flight. Read More About It: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html