这个宇航中心建的太聪明了。 大大有助于提高民众对宇航事业的热情支持。 连我这个科盲也开始对此倍加关注。
在宇航中心, 看到当年一个个阿菠萝登月火箭发射失败, 宇航员们前赴后继英勇牺牲, 我竟然也热血沸腾。 原来, 除了爱国主义, 还有爱球主义。
今天,Discovery号推迟反航, 我的心悬了起来: 千万不要重蹈2年前Columbia号的覆辙 呀。
特摘录新闻如下。
USA Today:
CAPE CANAVERAL- All future shuttle flights are on hold indefinitely because of trouble with Discovery's fuel tank - the same problem that caused Columbia to disintegrate while re-entering the Earth's atmosphere in 2003 and which NASA vowed to fix. Members of Congress have expressed doubts about NASA's competence, and the aging shuttles are to be retired in 2010.
Entry director said there was a only slight chance that rain showers at the shuttle's primary landing site in FL would keep the ship from coming home today. The "go/no go" decision was to be made about 80 minutes before the scheduled 4:46 AM EST landing. (事实上, 今早新闻说, 推迟到明天5am) The indefinite grounding of the shuttle has implications for the Hubble Space Telescope, the International Space Station and the shuttle program's next 5 years.
This is not the 1st time the foam insulation on the fuel tank has been a problem. A chunk of it bashed a hole in Columbia's wing, which led to the shuttle's destruction. Despite 2.5 years of work, forma peels off 5 spots on Discovery's tank and overshadowed its mission.
Head of the space station program said Atlantis could launch on the next planned mission no earlier than Sept22. If Atlantis doesn't get off the ground before Setp26 - if it needs a new fuel tank, for example - it'll have to wait till Nov 7-10. The next launch window would be in Marc.
The short launch windows and their infrequency are driven in part by NASA's requirement that liftoff by well-lit so cameras can spot flying debris. The timing is also dictated by the need to line up the shuttle to dock with the space station.
Atlantis also could be delayed by another post-Columbia rule: Asecond shuttle, in this case Discovery, must be ready to rescue the Atlantis crew if something goes wrong. Turning Discovery around fast enough to fulfill the rescue role will be the "real constraint" tot he next launch, NASA official said.
That could have implications for the space station, which is half-built. No other existing space vehicle is big enough to carry pieces of the station. 19 to 20 flights are needed to finish the orbiting laboratory. Shuttle difficulties could also complicate NASA's plan to send astronauts to fix the Hubble Space Telescope, which has dying battery.
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