Comments on: You’ve been SRBd

By: Leon

Leon — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:17:06 +0000

That was great! Hey, I have a question.

Why don’t spacecraft need heat shielding on the way up? Aren’t they traveling at a speed similar to what they’re at on the way down?

By: karebear

karebear — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:01:45 +0000

Did anyone else feel a sense of exhileration when the SRBs seperated and the Shuttle with the external tank sped away? (at about 2:26)

This was awesome, thank you for sharing.

By: Ken

Ken — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 21:36:56 +0000

The links in this thread were more amazing. Watching the boosters tumble back down to Earth was remarkable. I actually thought they’d get dragged a long way from one another but you see in the SRB video that the other came down very nearby. The natural sound brought back “2001″ memories. At first I thought the Earth was the sun, and the space/sky was Earth. Until it inverted. What a neat illusion.

How do those parachutes work? There was 3 stages of deployment it looked like. Or was it due to a pressure change?

By: Michael Lonergan

Michael Lonergan — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 20:40:05 +0000

Newbie,
You are right. Also I recently read an article saying that a “One Way Trip to Mars” makes the most sense to establish a human beach-head there. Essentially a suicide mission. You can bet that people would line up around the block to volunteer for that as well!

By: Newbie

Newbie — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:35:05 +0000

I don’t think it’s necessary to ask an Astronaut to put his/her life on the line. Last I checked, the line of people goes around the block to volunteer for this.

By: Lugosi

Lugosi — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 10:38:34 +0000

@ bigfoot: Good thing that people like Columbus, de Gama and Megellan didn’t feel the same the way.

By: Bigfoot

Bigfoot — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:04:10 +0000

Great video (didn’t hear the sound so can’t comment on the music)!

And I agree it’s fantastic what humans can do when they apply science and engineering knowledge.

I still think we are unnecessarily endangering crew members, as the scientific value of what they are personally doing is so insignificant compared to the known risks they face in the spacecraft we have available today.

Virtually every single thing humans are doing in space today could be done far more inexpensively (and certainly with far less risk to human life) by machines that those same clever engineers and scientists could create.

That said, my position does not take away any of my respect and admiration for the Space Shuttle and ISS crews; I will follow their adventures closely. But as a taxpayer of this country, I can’t help but feel partially responsible every time they face a unnecessary risk or are involved in an easily avoidable tragedy. Every time they enter a high-risk phase of a mission, my anxiety builds as I know so well the frighteningly high likelyhood that a catastrophic failure may resuilt.

Let’s work on engineering solutions that have much lower risks of failure, and perhaps even much higher scientific returns, before we ask Astronauts to put their lives on the line for us.

Sorry, I fell back onto my soapbox again.

Have a safe return trip, Endeavor!