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Author
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Topic: STS-135: Viewing, questions, and comments
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Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 07-11-2011 10:30 PM
   
quote:
Originally posted by mooncollector:
Will we be seeing on STS-135 the striking solid rocket booster videos that the last few flights have featured so prominently?
Yes, the solid rocket booster cam footage will be released, once it is retrieved and processed. Thunderstorms at Cape Canaveral have delayed NASA's open assessment of the boosters by about a day. Mission management team chair LeRoy Cain said Monday it might still be possible they would get the SRB video data off the boosters tomorrow (Tuesday) but it will still take time to process and release. "The public affairs team will have it available to you as soon as they are able to catalog all that information and get it out to you. We're anxious to see it, and we know you all are anxious to see it as well, and we'll get that to you just as soon as we can." |
GACspaceguy
Member Posts: 2475
From: Guyton, GA
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 07-11-2011 11:02 PM
quote:
Originally posted by GACspaceguy:
I will post photos as soon as I can.
After watching Atlantis launch into space on Friday under power of the two Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) and the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) we had a special opportunity. We caught word of when the SRBs were coming into port and where to see them. Sunday we saw the right hand come into the same channel at Cape Canaveral that the cruise ships use. We were directed to Jetty Park and at noon on Sunday in came Liberty Star (one of the two special retrieval ships) with the right hand SRB in tow proceeded by a tug spraying a couple of large fountains of water (see the below photo).
After docking for a couple of hours the SRB was strapped to the right side of Liberty Star and the combination headed through the locks and back to the home base to be recovered and hopefully reused for another program some day.
We then waited for Liberty Star's sister ship the Freedom Star. We had heard times from four to six more hours. We waited for three hours and then were informed it would be after dark. We were disappointed but had fun watching boats go in and out, people fish and finally three cruise ships leave port. But, it does not end there as while we were watching the news Monday morning we saw that the Freedom Star would be entering the locks in an hour so away we flew. We were there within minutes of the Freedom Star steaming into the channel and toward the locks. In came the left hand SRB. What is also important to know is as these SRBs are reusable the various segments flew on a number of different missions. This final left hand booster for STS-135, the final flight for the shuttle program, contained a segment that was used on the first launch of the shuttle STS-1, Columbia
A few days earlier we saw these two SRBs launch the STS-135 Atlantis mission into orbit. Then for the last time they were returned into home port and we were there for both events. What a great way to end the space shuttle program for us, it was fantastic.
One interesting note was that Liberty Star, now free of its SRB as it was dropped off the day before, met Freedom Star at the west end of the locks. The left hand SRB was removed from the Freedom Star at which time the accompanying Zodiac boats pulled and pushed the SRB over to the Liberty Star that took it the rest of the way to port. Not sure if this was typical procedure or not.  
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crowe-t
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posted 07-12-2011 03:18 AM
This was my first shuttle launch in person and can't believe I finally got to see one after 30 years. It'll be a day I'll never forget.Here's a couple of pictures I took of STS-135's launch from the Causeway.  
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dfox
Member Posts: 208
From: Scarsdale, NY, United States
Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 07-12-2011 09:10 PM
Had the pleasure and privilege of attending the launch from the KSC Visitors Center. Weather was very dicey. Was encouraged when they decided to load the fuel at 2 a.m. Had to get up at 3:30 a.m. to make sure I got there by the 5 a.m. time listed on my parking placard. Weather was no go until about T-60. Heard some great speeches by Mike Mullane (Riding Rockets) and Sam Durrance. |
ilbasso
Member Posts: 1522
From: Greensboro, NC USA
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 07-13-2011 03:30 PM
I was going back over the ET video of Atlantis' launch and noticed a "glory" around its shadow as it punched through the cloud deck. A "glory" is a small circular rainbow that appears at the subsolar point when a shadow is projected onto a cloud. Quite fitting and quite beautiful!  |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 07-13-2011 04:40 PM
quote:
Originally posted by mooncollector:
Will we be seeing on STS-135 the striking solid rocket booster videos that the last few flights have featured so prominently?
The solid rocket booster footage will begin playing on NASA TV at 9 a.m. CDT on Thursday and will be replayed throughout the day. (We'll also host the video on our Flight Day Journal once available.) |
crowe-t
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posted 07-13-2011 04:47 PM
Robert, do you know if NASA will be replaying the post-launch news conference? I set the DVR but missed a few minutes of the end. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 07-13-2011 05:32 PM
Probably not, but the audio can be downloaded here and the video can be seen on YouTube. |
mjanovec
Member Posts: 3811
From: Midwest, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 07-13-2011 06:25 PM
quote:
Originally posted by jasonelam:
About ten seconds after SRB separation, something orange seemed to fly back over the right wing. Any ideas as to what is to what it was?
Are you referring to the orange-colored puff of smoke that appears around that time? That's when the OMS engines kick in to give the shuttle a little extra boost on it's way to orbit. They burn for about two minutes, starting shortly after SRB separation. (Of course, the smoke doesn't really travel over the wing...it just appears to from the vantage point of the ET camera.)You can see the same puff of smoke of the ET footage from other daytime launches. If you watch ET footage from a night launch, you'll actually see a portion of the sustained plume from the right hand engine. |
jasonelam
Member Posts: 691
From: Monticello, KY USA
Registered: Mar 2007
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posted 07-14-2011 04:35 AM
Thanks for the info! I had never seen that before! |
ilbasso
Member Posts: 1522
From: Greensboro, NC USA
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 07-14-2011 09:00 AM
Another thing I saw that I hadn't noticed before was when the pyros fired to separate the ET from the Shuttle. As the pyro fires, you can see the frangible bolt on the bipod (forward attachment to the Shuttle) get driven down toward the tank. It was already protruding between the legs of the ramp where they meet at the top, but you can see it suddenly move several inches when the pyro fires. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 07-19-2011 03:55 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Cozmosis22:
Could you please point us to a groundtrack map of the last few orbits on that day?
The landing ground tracks are now available on NASA's website. |
Cozmosis22
Member Posts: 968
From: Texas * Earth
Registered: Apr 2011
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posted 07-19-2011 07:16 AM
Thank you. Was hoping for a night time reentry viewing opportunity in the southern US but looks like we will miss that chance by one rev around the planet. It appears as though a landing on Orbit 202 would have been ideal for that, but bringing the bird and crew home safe and sound is all that really matters. Bye-bye ISS and Godspeed Atlantis! |
mercsim
Member Posts: 219
From: Phoenix, AZ
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 07-19-2011 10:52 AM
It would be nice if they extended one orbit to allow a daytime landing. Probably not too many scientific or engineering reasons to do so other than it would be great to see it one last time  |
GoesTo11
Member Posts: 1309
From: Denver, CO
Registered: Jun 2004
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posted 07-20-2011 10:04 PM
I agree 100%. It's kind of unfortunate that they're planning on coming home in the dark. That's not a given, obviously, and I understand that operational considerations have to take precedence over posterity. But as someone who watched several of the first flights return to Earth lit by the early morning sun over the Edwards AFB high desert, this just doesn't seem quite right.
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Mark B
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posted 07-21-2011 04:27 AM
Option for those that don't have access to view live on tv (wait to load). |
Mark B
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posted 07-21-2011 04:54 AM
Unreal view looking outside the shuttle...This feed is brilliant... hard to beat other than flying in Atlantis. |
Jay Chladek
Member Posts: 2272
From: Bellevue, NE, USA
Registered: Aug 2007
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posted 07-21-2011 05:02 AM
Welcome Home Atlantis and We Thank You. |
crowe-t
New Member Posts:
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posted 07-21-2011 05:04 AM
Welcome home Atlantis! The landing was a beautiful end to the Shuttle program. |
moorouge
Member Posts: 2454
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 07-21-2011 05:05 AM
Just watched Atlantis land on NASA HD channel along with about 55,500 others. Brilliant views from the flight deck of the dawn and of the runway immediately prior to touchdown. Great shame nothing more like this in the immediate future. |
Cozmosis22
Member Posts: 968
From: Texas * Earth
Registered: Apr 2011
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posted 07-21-2011 05:09 AM
Congratulations NASA! Job well done.With over 125 million space miles under her belt the shuttle Atlantis is now retired. |
dabolton
Member Posts: 419
From: Seneca, IL, US
Registered: Jan 2009
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posted 07-21-2011 05:10 AM
Thank you Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavor for being such a huge part of my life for the past 30 years. |
Jay Chladek
Member Posts: 2272
From: Bellevue, NE, USA
Registered: Aug 2007
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posted 07-21-2011 05:47 AM
All crew members are out of the orbiter and as "Comrade" has said:"Elvis has left the building" |
AusSpace
Member Posts: 25
From: Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Registered: Nov 2010
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posted 07-21-2011 05:49 AM
Congratulations to the shuttle crew, the ground support crew, the Agency, third party contractors, people who have spent time in office and supported exploration and most of all, congratulations and thank you to the people of the United States of America for giving the rest of the world such a wondrous, magnificent, imagination inspiring and unforgettable last 30 years. While the shuttle will not soar again its legacy will never be grounded. In a single lifetime you've taken what started as a weapon created for death and in turn given us a second moon. Thanks to the United States space program, kids no longer have to simply limit themselves to imagining what going to space would be like, they can aim to go there themselves if they really have enough passion to achieve it. I don't know what the next 30 years is going to bring for spaceflight, but I do know this, if the sons and daughters of Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and the shuttle hold the reigns, it's going to be one exciting journey. |
Henry Heatherbank
Member Posts: 244
From: Adelaide, South Australia
Registered: Apr 2005
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posted 07-21-2011 05:50 AM
quote:
Originally posted by dabolton:
Thank you Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavor for being such a huge part of my life for the past 30 years.
Well said. I concur. |
mercsim
Member Posts: 219
From: Phoenix, AZ
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 07-21-2011 10:52 AM
Lets not forget the first Space Shuttle, Enterprise. It was vary valuable in so many ways to the Shuttle program but most of all, it proved a Shuttle could fly! |
East-Frisian
Member Posts: 586
From: Germany
Registered: Apr 2005
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posted 07-21-2011 11:08 AM
Congrats to all, who have done work for this and the past missions. All in all it was a successful program, but today with the landing of the last shuttle, it is a sad day for all space enthusiasts too. |
drjeffbang
Member Posts: 110
From: Virginia
Registered: Nov 2009
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posted 07-21-2011 01:24 PM
What a fantastic landing! My daughter said "Make sure and wake me up!" She loved it!And good to see the back of Robert's head at the press conferences! |
tegwilym
Member Posts: 2331
From: Sturgeon Bay, WI
Registered: Jan 2000
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posted 07-21-2011 01:45 PM
Thanks for the ride over the last 30 years. It's been great!
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Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3120
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 07-21-2011 07:49 PM
A bittersweet experience watching Atlantis making the last landing of the shuttle programme. This took me back 30 years to the first flight of Columbia when we discovered that a winged spaceship really could fly!But I also found my thoughts drifting back to a bittersweet day in December, 1972. If you weren't around to experience the thrill of six landings on the Moon, you can't fully appreciate the feelings of pain and loss on hearing the NASA PAO announcing: "This station, which was Gemini Control, then Apollo Control, will reappear in the spring as Skylab Control. This is Apollo Control, signing off." |
dabolton
Member Posts: 419
From: Seneca, IL, US
Registered: Jan 2009
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posted 07-22-2011 12:11 PM
I keep seeing this reentry photo everywhere but no real explanation for the details of it. Is the direction of travel left to right? It seems like a very short burn and steep reentry path. Is this just an optical illusion from the angle? It looks almost like a vertical descent when we know the descent takes one fourth of the globe to perform (Pacific to Florida). |
katabatic
Member Posts: 72
From: Oak Hill, VA, USA
Registered: Jun 2005
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posted 07-22-2011 02:16 PM
It's moving from right to left, arching over towards the dawn horizon. (And getting brighter as it digs into the atmosphere.) |
Henry Heatherbank
Member Posts: 244
From: Adelaide, South Australia
Registered: Apr 2005
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posted 07-22-2011 06:56 PM
The caption to the photograph says "backropped against city lights ...". It appear city lights are visible at the extreme upper right of the photo. Which cities? As the de-orbit burn occurred south of Australia, pretty much in the Tasman Sea south west of New Zealand, and re-entry occurred on the ascending node north east across the Pacific, there aren't too many cities these can be ... |
AusSpace
Member Posts: 25
From: Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Registered: Nov 2010
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posted 07-22-2011 11:50 PM
The deorbit burn occurred off the coast of Kuta Malaka, Indonesia. The shuttle then started to interact with the very upper atmosphere over Western Australia while still 4430 nautical miles from landing. However, at this point the atmosphere is still far too thin to produce any noticeable effects. I photographed the shuttle cross the night/day terminator for the last time over 1000km after first atmospheric contact and there still wasn't any visible ionization yet.Since the upper atmosphere is incredibly thin, the majority of reentry is only causing the shuttle to loose velocity and height slowly, allowing it to still cover great distances. By the time atmospheric effects start to become pronounced, the shuttle is already approaching continental North America. This photo is only the very last, highley visible portion of reentry. You can see the faint glow slowly brighten while following a slight decline as the atmosphere thickens, until the craft passes well under the Kármán line and the effects become pronounced with the shuttle rapidly loosing altitude. Once the craft passes below about 3km/s, the ionization of the air ceases. Given that MACH 2.5 TAEM would occur not too far after the ionization track ceases, and that Mach 2.5 was located over central Florida, I'd say the city lights are either on the Coast of Mexico, or Florida its self, but it's hard to tell which one since I don't know the distance between the ISS and the reentry trail and the perspective of the photo feels unnatural. |
Space Cadet Carl
Member Posts: 199
From: Lake Orion, Michigan
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 07-23-2011 07:51 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Blackarrow:
...my thoughts drifting back to a bittersweet day in December, 1972
Agreed. While walking around the Saturn V on display at Kennedy I kept thinking to myself: "This beast should have been used on Apollo 18, 19 or 20 instead of sitting inside a building as a static tourist display relic. |
Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3120
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 07-23-2011 05:10 PM
Absolutely right, but at least the vehicle wasn't broken up for scrap. It still serves a purpose, which is a small consolation. Of course, when Atlantis goes on display, she will have served the purpose for which she was built (just not often enough....) |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3208
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 07-24-2011 11:21 AM
On Flight Day 12, the ISS did a 90-degree yaw maneuver for a unique photo opportunity after STS-135 undocked. I haven't seen any of those fly-around photos posted anywhere since then. That seems a bit odd. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 07-24-2011 11:42 AM
There is one shot here, just as fly-around began. It may be that the others weren't downlinked and are waiting to be processed once the cards are retrieved from Atlantis. I will inquire on Monday. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3208
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 07-24-2011 11:50 AM
Okay, thanks Robert. I think the objective was to get some unique close-up side-on views of the station. I'm surprised the photos weren't given some sort of download priority. |
issman1
Member Posts: 1042
From: UK
Registered: Apr 2005
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posted 07-24-2011 12:00 PM
Unless I'm mistaken, I believe that some photographs of Atlantis were taken by Picosatellite during its deployment on Flight Day 13?Similarly, when can we also expect to see the "Death Cam" movie of the last external tank's plunge back into the atmosphere? |
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