Excitement crept into the eyes of NASA watchers everywhere as the mighty bird, the space shuttle Discovery, made its way back the launch pad. One of the great symbols of mankind’s future prepared itself for its first journey since the Columbia disaster back in early 2003.
The crews at NASA have spent the last several months addressing a variety of issues to prevent anymore disasters, similar to what befell Columbia and the sister ship Challenger back in the 80s. In both cases, all hands were lost.
Some initial testing back in April revealed some inconsistencies in the fuel process so crews elected to run another test in May. Then, they decided to take the space shuttle back to the hangar and refit it with a newer fuel tank/booster rocket combo. This new combo including a heating unit to help prevent ice from building when the massive fuel tank is filled with super cooled fuel.
“The team went off and wrote an outstanding test plan,” said NASA Space Shuttle Program manager Bill Parsons. “We had some special instrumentation that we wanted to put in place so that we could make sure we were getting the right data.”
The successful second tanking test was followed by a test of the vehicle’s Auxiliary Power Units. Technicians also verified that retract link assemblies on Discovery’s landing gear were in good condition following the recent detection of a small crack on one of Atlantis’ assemblies. Inspections and photos of Discovery’s landing gear assemblies showed the ship’s landing gear is free of cracks. The flawed assembly on Atlantis will be replaced with a spare.
Space Shuttle Discovery is slated to blast off on its 8-minute leap sometime during a July 13-31 window.
Astronauts Are Heros
On a personal note, I recall seeing the Columbia launch and land the very first time well over 20 years ago. As a boy, my eyes lit up then much like when I see a movie of unbelievable scope and fantasy like Star Wars or Jurassic Park, something that’s larger than life and certainly unbelievable. But this one was quite real. Our hearts broke when Challenger exploded on its way up. They broke when Columbia fell apart on its way down.
Some people say we shouldn’t devote so much money to the space program, to exploring space. But they are wrong. President Bush realized this when he said his words after the Columbia disaster. Going into space isn’t so much about nationalism or space races. It’s about dreams and the future. Mankind has always looked into the sky for its hope. Stone Henge was built on the stars. The Great Pyramids were built looking toward the stars. Even three wise men followed the stars about 2000 years ago. So we follow the stars, like all those who came before us. Our hopes and dreams go up with Discovery. The seven members of that crew will head to the International Space Station and they get it. They get what they are there for. To those of us who look at tech and study it for a living, these folks are the pinnacle. Thank you for the hope NASA and good luck on your next great Discovery.
John Stith is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
