posted 08-25-2005 11:17 PM               

STS-114 Commander Eileen Collins will be on CBS' The Late Show with David Letterman on Tuesday, August 30.

Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao will be on CBS' The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on Tuesday, August 30 (repeat).

posted 08-26-2005 07:33 AM               

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Space Shuttle Discovery Commander Eileen Collins will make her first visit to the LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN, Tuesday, Aug. 30 (11:35 PM-12:37 AM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. This will also be Collins' first talk show interview since Discovery's safe return to Earth in early August from its recent space mission.

Collins commanded Discovery's launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 26, the first Space Shuttle mission since the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy in February 2003. During Discovery's time in space, the astronauts aboard made first-ever spacewalking repairs to the Shuttle, tested new equipment and procedures, and made groundbreaking in-orbit maneuvers, including Collins flying Discovery through a complete 360-degree pitch maneuver and becoming the first astronaut ever to accomplish such a feat. Collins helped lead her crew and Space Shuttle Discovery to a safe return to Earth on August 9 at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Throughout her career, Collins has been a pioneer in space flight -- in 1995, she became the first woman pilot of a Space Shuttle and, in 1999, made history again when she became the first woman commander of a Space Shuttle mission.

The LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN is a production of Worldwide Pants Incorporated. Maria Pope, Barbara Gaines, Rob Burnett and Jude Brennan are the executive producers.

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posted 08-31-2005 07:54 AM               

Shuttle's Collins gets Letterman up to speed

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Astronaut Eileen Collins explained to an agog David Letterman Tuesday night that the space shuttle goes from zero to 17,500 miles per hour in less than nine minutes.

“You are hauling,” she acknowledged to laughter.

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posted 08-31-2005 01:01 PM               

This is something I've wondered about. Does the Shuttle really undergo a change of velocity from "zero" to 17,500 mph (or a delta V of 17,500 mph)? Or does the rotational speed of the Earth at the launch point compute into the total of 17,500 mph? In other words, just by sitting on the ground, isn't the shuttle already "moving" because of the Earth's rotation? It's velocity is never zero. Or is the 17,500 mph figure we often see quoted the amount of ADDITIONAL velocity required to achieve orbit based on where the shuttle is launched from?

I seem to recall hearing that launches of space vehicles would be the most efficient near the equator, where the rotational velocity of the Earth was the greatest (thus needing less fule to achieve the required orbital speed).