Shuttle to land at Edwards

[JB in so cal]

It's looking like an edwards touchdown at 12:49, today:) Boom-boom!!

[yopengo]

Cool, we always get a good (((((((((boom))))))))) when they come in. :D

[RitcheyRch]

Wish knew earlier as would have driven out to see it. Have always wanted to see it land

[Riveratz]

Wish knew earlier as would have driven out to see it. Have always wanted to see it land
I would have loved to take my son there to watch. He loves watching planes land...

[PaPaG]

Wish knew earlier as would have driven out to see it. Have always wanted to see it land
You have about 1.25 hrs to get there. A buddy of mine is in the media and he is there right now, they just escorted the media past the gates, he said estimated time of making entry is just over 1.25 hrs.

[RitcheyRch]

I wouldnt make it.
You have about 1.25 hrs to get there. A buddy of mine is in the media and he is there right now, they just escorted the media past the gates, he said estimated time of making entry is just over 1.25 hrs.

[HalletDave]

It's looking like an edwards touchdown at 12:49, today:) Boom-boom!!
I will see it touch down from my office at Edwards.:D
You know the reason for the double booms don't you?
The first is from the nose and leading edges of the wings and the second is from the vertical stabilizer.

[JB in so cal]

Atlantis just completed the de-orbit burn - on the ground in a hour;)

[yopengo]

wow good one

[yopengo]

shook the house good

[Ziggy]

I just had two real strong pops...shook the builds good.

[Cigalert]

holy poo...everything in my building just rocked...equipment, compressor lines

[Havasu1986]

Just shook my office. :D

[RitcheyRch]

I didnt hear them :mad:

[Jbb]

pretty landing...!

[BarryMac]

BOOM BOOM, just heard here in C'bad by the Sea... :D well 10 minutes or so ago...

[HalletDave]

BOOM BOOM, just heard here in C'bad by the Sea... :D well 10 minutes or so ago...
It rocked us pretty good at Edwards. Welcome back Atlantis crew.:)

[HalletDave]

BOOM BOOM, just heard here in C'bad by the Sea... :D well 10 minutes or so ago...
It rocked us pretty good at Edwards. Welcome back Atlantis crew.:)

[Miss Perfect]

We heard the boom in downtown San Diego. I didn't realize we would hear it all the way down here.

[HalletDave]

We heard the boom in downtown San Diego. I didn't realize we would hear it all the way down here.
:idea: The shuttle came in over San Diego this time.
The last time the shuttle recoverd at Edwards it came in over L A.

[Miss Perfect]

:idea: The shuttle came in over San Diego this time.
The last time the shuttle recoverd at Edwards it came in over L A.
Well that explains it! :)

[Froggystyle]

Got a couple of questions for you Shuttle aficionados...
From the path of the booms, it must have been coming from nearly due south. I just checked Google earth, and they made over 150 miles in under three minutes, and were parked in that period. Even 60 miles out they were greater than the speed of sound, so they must have been nearly 40,000 feet over San Diego because of the steep glide-path, right?
So, if it was coming from the south, but all of the footage I have seen from the shuttle indicates a equatorial orbit, how did they get the thing turned in orbit to start going north/south, and how could they have possibly hit KSC instead with that path?
Can they do a 90 degree turn in the atmosphere? Was their orbit still West-East, but they made the turn once they had decelerated enough?

[Cigalert]

Got a couple of questions for you Shuttle aficionados...
From the path of the booms, it must have been coming from nearly due south. I just checked Google earth, and they made over 150 miles in under three minutes, and were parked in that period. Even 60 miles out they were greater than the speed of sound, so they must have been nearly 40,000 feet over San Diego because of the steep glide-path, right?
So, if it was coming from the south, but all of the footage I have seen from the shuttle indicates a equatorial orbit, how did they get the thing turned in orbit to start going north/south, and how could they have possibly hit KSC instead with that path?
Can they do a 90 degree turn in the atmosphere? Was their orbit still West-East, but they made the turn once they had decelerated enough?
This was recently installed on the shuttle
http://www.genesbmx.com/Flux-Capacitor.jpg

[Froggystyle]

This was recently installed on the shuttle
http://www.genesbmx.com/Flux-Capacitor.jpg
That would explain it... the old Flux-capacitor....
I wonder if they hit 1.81 Gigawatts before landing? :D
You would think they would have stepped up to the "Mr. Fusion" by now...

[Phat Matt]

I am watching the replay of the landing right meow, looks like it made a 180 degree back on it's aprroach to land.
Brian
Yep. Pretty cool on the nasa channel.
Look how late they pull out the landing gear. Right at the last minute.

[wsuwrhr]

Yep. Pretty cool on the nasa channel.
Look how late they pull out the landing gear. Right at the last minute.
I saw that. Scary late.

[Sleek-Jet]

Yep. Pretty cool on the nasa channel.
Look how late they pull out the landing gear. Right at the last minute.
Considering the thing has the glide ratio of a greased brick, they keep the gear in the wells till the last couple seconds... Of course, if the gear didn't come down at all, what would they do??? :idea: Not like they can go around again for another try...

[skeepwerkzaz]

1.21 gigawatts.....:)
FYI Something for the geeks....
DEORBITING THE SHUTTLE
To return to Earth the astronauts must perform a number of checklist items including cleaning up the crew cabin, reinstalling the mission and payload specialist seats, powering down scientific experiments or the Spacelab, and closing the payload bay door s. If the doors fail to close an astronaut must perform an EVA to remove four shear pins that allow the doors to be manually closed; the orbiter cannot reenter with the payload bay doors open. Next the astronauts don the pressure suits which they wore during ascent to prevent loss of oxygen and pressure during descent and to accomplish the contingency abort if it becomes necessary.
After the astronauts are suited and seated, the shuttle commander orients the shuttle using the RCS so that the OMS engines are pointing in the direction of the orbiter motion. An OMS burn performed in this position slows down the orbiter so that its new perigee point is about 6 miles or 36,000 feet above the Earth's surface. Another RCS maneuver points the nose forward and sets up a space-atmosphere interface attitude of about 30º nose up. This insures that the thermal energy is concentrated on t he heat tiles. From a point halfway around the world the shuttle begins its entry.
The orbiter enters the Earth's atmosphere as it travels toward its new perigee point. A spacecraft normally increases velocity as it travels from apogee to perigee, but the drag induced by the Earth's atmosphere begins to slow down the shuttle. This decrease in speed causes the orbiter to increase its descent rate as the perigee point changes due to the spacecraft slow down. The pilots continue to orient the spacecraft using the RCS so that its bottom surface faces down with the nose facing forward.
About 30 minutes after the deorbit burn the shuttle begins to penetrate the Earth's atmosphere in earnest. Tremendous heat builds up on the orbiter's underside until it reaches a maximum at 20 minutes before landing. Thermal protection of the spacecraft is vital to human survival; this protection depends upon 32,000 silica glass tiles. These tiles vary from a measurement of six inches by six inches to eight by eight inches. They range in thickness from one-half an inch to 3.5 inches and are the consistency of chalk. Twenty thousand of these tiles are called high temperature reusable surface insulation (HRSI) and cover the areas most likely to encounter intense heat such as the bottom of the orbiter and its nose. These tiles are painted black and resist temperatures up to 1300ºF by radiating 90% of the heat back into the Earth's atmosphere. Low temperature reusable surface insulation tiles are painted white and resist temperatures up to 1200ºF. These tiles cover the upper side of the or biter's wing and the sides closest to the nose.
Because of the intense heat generated on the orbiter's nose and leading edges of the wings, reinforced carbon-carbon with a temperature resistance of 2300ºF is used to cover these surfaces. The rest of the orbiter including the top of the wings and the payload bay only encounter mild heat effects so they are covered with a thin layer of white insulation called flexible reusable surface insulation (FRSI) which protects up to 700ºF.
The reentry heat also causes another phenomenon called ionized communications blackout. The energy causing the heating strips away the electrons from the nitrogen and oxygen molecules causing positive ions which ensheath the sides and bottom of the orbiter thus causing loss of communications from 25 minutes before landing until 12 minutes before landing.
During the last 16 minutes before landing the orbiter performs four S-turn maneuvers to slow it down. Each of these turns removes energy from the vehicle very much like that experienced by a giant slalom skier. At this time the flight control systems such as the elevons and the rudder have sufficient air pressure to accomplish the maneuvers and the RCS is turned off. The last S-turn is performed five minutes prior to landing while the orbiter's speed is still MACH 2. At 5 minutes before landing the shuttle is at 83,000 feet. Its target is a 15,000 foot runway which looks like a skinny postage stamp at this altitude. At 86 seconds prior to landing the orbiter is at 425 miles per hour and at 13,000 feet; at this point the autoland sequence begins. Approaching the runway from this altitude, the shuttle has a 22º glide slope and a rate of descent approaching 22,000 feet per minute. The average airliner uses three degrees and a rate of descent of 700 feet per minute. At 17 seconds prior to touch down the glideslope is changed from 22º to 1.5º. At 14 seconds prior to touchdown the landing gear is lowered and then touchdown occurs at 215 miles per hour. When all three gear are firmly on the runway a small drag chute is released to slow the orbiter further and expend less energy on the wheel brakes. The orbiter rolls to a stop and then a convoy comes out to safe the craft. The major fact to remember is that this entire landing sequence is done without any power and the astronauts are f lying nothing more than a large glider.
The recovery convoy tests the vapor level from the hydrazine used in the RCS; if hydrazine, hydrogen or ammonia are detected a huge fan is used to blow away the hazard. The purge equipment then purges the orbiter's lines of any residual hydrogen and oxygen and sets up an airflow through the payload bay to remove any lethal gas buildups. Once the area is determined to be safe from lethal gas the crew is taken off the shuttle after a brief medical examination. The orbiter is safed for towing and is take n to the OPF for the next flight or to a waiting Boeing 747 for a trip to KSC from Edwards Air Force Base depending upon the landing site.

[skeepwerkzaz]

:)

[ToMorrow44]

I was there at the official space shuttle viewing area at the north east corner of the dry lake bed. Very cool to see.
-Tom

[Desert Rat]

This is how close I get......
Took this a couple of years back of Endeavour. Sorry for thr size
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/shuttlelanding.jpg
I Have alot of the inside I posted up the last time it landed here. If anybody is interested...

[Froggystyle]

This is how close I get......
Took this a couple of years back of Endeavour. Sorry for thr size
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/shuttlelanding.jpg
I Have alot of the inside I posted up the last time it landed here. If anybody is interested...
Hell yeah! Post them up. I am such a fan of the Space program...

[mondorally]

Got a couple of questions for you Shuttle aficionados...
From the path of the booms, it must have been coming from nearly due south. I just checked Google earth, and they made over 150 miles in under three minutes, and were parked in that period. Even 60 miles out they were greater than the speed of sound, so they must have been nearly 40,000 feet over San Diego because of the steep glide-path, right?
So, if it was coming from the south, but all of the footage I have seen from the shuttle indicates a equatorial orbit, how did they get the thing turned in orbit to start going north/south, and how could they have possibly hit KSC instead with that path?
Can they do a 90 degree turn in the atmosphere? Was their orbit still West-East, but they made the turn once they had decelerated enough?
From the NASA website - ground tracks for Edwards landing. They also have them for KSC.
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/180635main_EDW219_long.gif
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/180637main_EDW219_mid.gif
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/180633main_EDW219_close.gif
link
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts117/main/landing.html
-Justin

[Desert Rat]

OK here are a few...
When they don'y wear diapers
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/881DSCN0202a.jpg
Nose shot
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/881DSCN0191a.jpg
Cockpit
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/881DSCN0193a.jpg
On the ramp
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/881100_0013a.jpg
Departure
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/881Shuttle_Take_off_046a.jpg

[wsuwrhr]

Awesome, just awesome
Brian
OK here are a few...