Forum Home
PC World Chat
Thread ID: 119366	2011-07-19 23:27:00	Atlantis returns on the last mission	Ulsterman (12815)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1217783	2011-07-19 23:27:00	If my maths are correct, Atlantis will be landing at 2156 Thursday NZST. Looking forward to that. I have just been watching NASA TV and they showed a video of the launch of STS - 135 which is very spectacular. Shortly after lift off the shuttle and booster roll over. This roll seems to be a part of every launch but I have never heard why they do it. It seems to me that if they wanted the shuttle and booster in that orientation, why were they not facing that direction on the pad so a roll was not necessary? While the video was playing they superimposed the numbers of all the shuttle programmes and it appears that although the last number was STS - 135 there was not 135 launches. As the numbers flew past I noticed that the numbers were not consecutive so I assumed that there were less than 135 shuttle missions. Is that correct? Are there many others who are interested in watching NASA TV and the space programme? It costs a helluva lot of dollars but I think it's fantastic!	Ulsterman (12815)
1217784	2011-07-19 23:52:00	Have a read of the technique they use to wash off speed before landing it is really spectacular. As many as six huge banking turns to lose energy by heating up the thin air and the tiles as they re-enter the atmosphere. They want to look at the Earth, so effectively they 'fly' upside down in orbit, perhaps that is the reason for the manoeuvre. Perhaps they want the shuttle to be below the rocket engines so it does not get heated???	zqwerty (97)
1217785	2011-07-20 00:05:00	While the video was playing they superimposed the numbers of all the shuttle programmes and it appears that although the last number was STS - 135 there was not 135 launches. As the numbers flew past I noticed that the numbers were not consecutive so I assumed that there were less than 135 shuttle missions. Is that correct? Pretty sure there have been 135 flights, but the numbering scheme changed a couple of times throughout the program's history so they won't be sequential right through the list.	inphinity (7274)
1217786	2011-07-20 03:32:00	If my maths are correct, Atlantis will be landing at 2156 Thursday NZST. Looking forward to that. I have just been watching NASA TV and they showed a video of the launch of STS - 135 which is very spectacular. Shortly after lift off the shuttle and booster roll over. This roll seems to be a part of every launch but I have never heard why they do it. It seems to me that if they wanted the shuttle and booster in that orientation, why were they not facing that direction on the pad so a roll was not necessary? While the video was playing they superimposed the numbers of all the shuttle programmes and it appears that although the last number was STS - 135 there was not 135 launches. As the numbers flew past I noticed that the numbers were not consecutive so I assumed that there were less than 135 shuttle missions. Is that correct? Are there many others who are interested in watching NASA TV and the space programme? It costs a helluva lot of dollars but I think it's fantastic! If you are interested in the Space Shuttle, you maybe interesred in this Space Shuttle Simulator. Here. (www.space-shuttle-mission.com) :)	Trev (427)
1217787	2011-07-20 04:00:00	Thanks very much for that, Trev. Most interesting. It's surprising how realistic it is, even down to the sometimes unintelligible conversation between Houston and the shuttle! Well worth looking at.	Ulsterman (12815)
1217788	2011-07-20 04:14:00	Found this article - Why the space shuttles rolls (wiki.answers.com)	wainuitech (129)
1217789	2011-07-20 04:47:00	Thanks, Wainui. That explains it well. Thank goodness there was a translation. I tried to find something on Google about that but it seems that I used the wrong search terms. You are a clever lad! It did give the reason for the roll, but the roll of the shuttle only. They said that it was leftover from the Apollo days. When Apollo took off it rolled as well, but unfortunately, he did not know why. I understand now why the shuttle rolls but am still mystified why there was a need for the roll at the very beginning. Perhaps someone else can help?	Ulsterman (12815)
1217790	2011-07-20 06:41:00	Found this article - Why the space shuttles rolls (wiki.answers.com) Interesting info WT, cheers for that. The total maneuver is really expressed as a "quaternion," a grad-level-math concept for combining all three rotation matrices in one four-element array. Lost me right there lol :D	Iantech (16386)
1