DISCOVERY’S
June 9, 2008—On a percentage basis, what do you think is the most dangerous part of the current mission of Space Shuttle Discovery? That question came up when Astronaut Mike Foale joined us for our “live” coverage of the launch last week.
During the liftoff of Discovery last Saturday, whose mission patch is pictured here, former International Space Station Commander Mike Foale and I sat in the hot sun in our spot in the grandstand. We both had to navigate the tangle of cables that channeled electricity, phone lines, and NASA’s mission audio feed to the box, which in turn, funneled our comments back to the station for broadcast. One more gadget played into the event, Foale’s digital watch. Once Discovery’s solid rocket boosters roared to life, and the Shuttle jumped from stock-still to 200 mph as it leaped from the pad, the Astronaut started his stopwatch.
He was keeping track of “seconds and energy”. Foale was watching, for his own sake, where the Shuttle was during its trip to orbit and what would happen if something went wrong at an given point. Two minutes after launch, the boosters fall away. Then, comes the call from Mission Control to “one engine TAL”. That means Discovery could reach to a trans-Atlantic emergency landing spot in
On a book related note, many thanks to all who clicked on the YouTube clip of that UCF-TV “Expressions” program on “Final Countdown.” Internet hits streamed in during the Memorial Day holiday (folks where probably taking a break from barbeques). If you’d like a gander, here’s the link…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv_lMXGFtFA
Also, I’ll be heading over to the More to come... Photo courtesy of NASA |
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