Space Shuttle to fly again tomorrow

[Darsnan]

Originally posted by DRoseDARs
So much for that launch...

The damage has been repaired, and the launch is on!

Since the mission commander is a native central New Yorker, we've been getting deluged with info on her. Thought I'd share:

Eileen Collins had been picked to lead the Shuttle Discovery on one of the most closely watched space flights ever: It’s been about two-and-a-half years since the Shuttle Columbia accident.

But Colonel Eileen Collins’ love of space goes back to another crucial time for NASA: when the space program was in its infancy.

“There wasn’t much on TV back in those days other than the news,” Collins said. “I got most of my information through reading and my hometown.”

Collins grew up in the Twin Tiers. That’s the home of the National Soaring Museum.

“I never got a chance to fly gliders myself,” Collins said. “But we have a soaring field in Elmira, New York, that inspired me as a young child.”

A veteran now of three space flights, it’s a long-cry from the teacher Collins wanted to be as a high schooler in Elmira.

“In fact I did have an opportunity to teach when I was in college, I did some student teaching and assistant teaching. Some day I’m going to go back to teaching again,” Collins said.

But it wasn’t really teaching Eileen Collins was focused on as a student at Syracuse University in the late 1970’s. There was private pilot lessons she was taking, and then right after graduating in 1978 from SU, she went right off to the Air Force.

“My parents always let me know that they loved me and whatever I wanted to do in my life they would support that,” Collins said.

And her parents have supported her. Her father tells NewsChannel 9 that this is what she wanted to do.

Collins is NASA’s first woman pilot and first woman shuttle commander. And she’s also about to embank on one of NASA’s most important missions ever

Link

Here's to wishing the whole crew a safe trip.

D

[Dis]

Originally posted by DRoseDARs
So much for that launch...

actually they fixed it, and the launch date is still on.

[DRoseDARs]

I'm not holding my breath; call me when she's safely landed at Edwards...

[Dis]

I think it's supposed to land in Florida. . Landing in Edwards is only in an emergency. Or are they landing at Edwards for this mission only?

[Eli]

So what happens if Discovery goes kaboom?

[Dis]

I think we still have 2 more.

[DRoseDARs]

I couldn't remember if it was Andrews or Edwards they land at besides Kennedy.

[DRoseDARs]

If only the VentureStar program hadn't been nixed...

[Dis]

Originally posted by DRoseDARs
I couldn't remember if it was Andrews or Edwards they land at besides Kennedy.

Edwards.

Andrews is outside D.C. My dad was stationed there when he was in the air force.

Edwards is near Bakersfield, California.

[DRoseDARs]

Speaking of D.C., three guesses which US president nixed the VentureStar program...

[Dis]

I'm kind of cheating by using wikipedia, but I really didn't find out any president who nixed it. But I do see a date.

It looks to be GWB.

[DRoseDARs]

To be fair, NASA really was having difficulty with the project but should have been allowed to continue their research, perhaps with a refocusing on aspects that wre showing more promise. Technology might have caught up with them and given them the final tools they needed to make the project succesful, even if the final product was markedly different from the original. This was about replacing the aging shuttle fleet, not just a face-lift for it.

Since Bush has proposed (as if these were "original" ideas of his like Democracy(TM) ) returning to Luna and going to Mars, perhaps the VentureStar program should be revisited.

[Az]

The damage has been repaired, and the launch is on!

Ducktape

[DRoseDARs]

Originally posted by Az

The damage has been repaired, and the launch is on!

Ducktape

Unlikely, given the USAmerican sheeple bought up our country's entire supply after the DHS released its recommendations. NASA probably used chewed bubblegum.

[DeathByTheSword]

chewed bubblegum??? since when does maygyver work for NASA?