If anyone is interested in other space news I thought we could start it here. What made me think of it was the sightings of the shuttle & ISS from earth. If you go to this site: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/si ... index.html
and enter your info, it can tell you what will be in the night sky and where. We just watched the space station fly overhead and then saw the shuttle shortly behind as it chased it! Tomorrow, we can see them as one dot as they will be together. It was a cloudless sky and boy, were they cookin' (Sorry, midwest slang!).
It is so amazing to think that there were people in both! If you've never seen them before, it is a wonderful sight! My family went out and saw it together, we even saw a shooting star!
You're telling your age Aquila!
It is so cool to see!
Simon,
From what I have heard about past missions, we have taken unbelieveable risks that the public did not know about at the time. With everyone's eyes on this mission and the consequences if something goes wrong, I think that they are making the best decisions they can and are not going to take such great risks. I trust Mike Griffin and the rest at NASA that they will not intentionally put the crew in unnecessary risk; however, they are always at risk, that is the nature of the job. Would we have known about all of this if it wasn't for Columbia? Would they have been in even greater danger that we wouldn't know about? I can imagine there are some people who think, "If you think this is dangerous, you should hear about mission STS-##!" I hope that your concerns are for nothing and they return safely. You are not alone with your concern for this mission. Talk about some brave people! WOW!
I've been glued to my computer watching NASA tv since the launch. The press kits and other info are also great for us engineer geek types. If only they could come up with somthing like Shuttle@home to get the public more involved. I;m afraid that as soon as it appears to be a routine job once again the public will be more interested in brittnay spears once again.
Well done is better than well said.
Benjamin Franklin
You can register and retain your current location, and it has access to a database of literally dozens of naked-eye viewable objects (tossed-off boosters, satelites, etc.), not to mention many more that normally require "assistance" to see (ie, binoculars). Lots of other stuff too...check it out!
Aquila,
By the way, I meant that watching the ISS & Shuttle in space is cool, not that you mentioned seeing Mir in space and showing your age. Sorry! When I reread that after it posted I thought "I'm probably hated now...."
Nikita wrote:
Aquila,
By the way, I meant that watching the ISS & Shuttle in space is cool, not that you mentioned seeing Mir in space and showing your age. Sorry! When I reread that after it posted I thought "I'm probably hated now...."
Don't worry, I actually got a laugh out of that.
Oh, Alex41, nice find on the boosters.
Everyone talks about SOH CAH TOA, but no one ever talks about CHO SHA CAO.
The Dawn Mission is allowing the public to have their names put on board the spacecraft when it goes to the asteroids. Although it isn't an involved project like this, it's still kinda cool! I put my mother's name on it, printed out the page, then dressed up the page and gave it to her as a birthday gift. She couldn't search for the dust because of her health, so it was a perfect way to get her something cool! She really got a kick out of it and has the paper on top of her entertainment center. Also, my kids thought it was "awsome" that their names could go out into space. I think it was Deep Impact that did the same before, so some of you might remember that. Anyway, something little while we wait!
Nikita wrote:
Simon,
From what I have heard about past missions, we have taken unbelieveable risks that the public did not know about at the time. With everyone's eyes on this mission and the consequences if something goes wrong, I think that they are making the best decisions they can and are not going to take such great risks. I trust Mike Griffin and the rest at NASA that they will not intentionally put the crew in unnecessary risk; however, they are always at risk, that is the nature of the job. Would we have known about all of this if it wasn't for Columbia? Would they have been in even greater danger that we wouldn't know about? I can imagine there are some people who think, "If you think this is dangerous, you should hear about mission STS-##!" I hope that your concerns are for nothing and they return safely. You are not alone with your concern for this mission. Talk about some brave people! WOW!
Well,being an English learner,I am not good at using the suitable English words at the right time,and that may cause some misunderstandings,as it did in the case of you.I said "concerning" doesn't mean worrying,but keeping on reading the news and learn something of it
I believe if I misunderstood you, I am sorry. But concern is the word I would have used, as this mission held many reasons to be concerned about! They did land safely and NASA's reputation held. I know I was surprised at the decision to only do some modifications at a time instead of all possible changes to prevent another explosion. But there you go, I had to trust and like you, watched the news and waited.
It is wonderful that we can all read and watch the events immediately and together across the world together.
By the way, are you also watching the info on the Russian Inflatiable Satellite - Genesis I? Here's a good site to get various info:
Nikita wrote:<...>
By the way, are you also watching the info on the Russian Inflatiable Satellite - Genesis I? Here's a good site to get various info:
Jupiter's storm's are passing and you can also get an update there.
Happy stardust hunting Simon, I wish you luck!
Just a tiny correction, although the launch was in Russia, Genesis I is the start of an project from the American private company Bigelow. see http://www.bigelowaerospace.com/
Enjoy! 
