| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
After a short delay due to bad weather, NASA launched shuttle mission STS-130 to the International Space Station this morning. A fully loaded Endeavour lifted off from the Kennedy Space Centre on what was the last ever night-time shuttle launch ...
A perfect take-off for Endeavour
Of course, all the cool stuff happens at the beginning of the video, but it's worth sticking it out to the end as you get to see the shuttle detach from the external fuel tank and fly gently away. You also get to hear Ground Control talking to Shuttle Commander George Zamka about emergency landing options all the way up into orbit which is something I haven't heard before and found quite interesting. Endeavour is also carrying British Born Nicholas Patrick as the mission specialist to help fit the Tranquility Node and the Cupola to the ISS.
With President Obama's space flight review not extending the life of the shuttle beyond the next four missions (all day launched) this is the last time you're going to see the spectacular night lift-off of this amazing spacecraft. It's a shame that the shuttles haven't been more resilient in the past as a night launch is always awe inspiring, much more so than a daytime one.
So here's my bitch now. Why oh why are they not building shuttle v2? With everything NASA has learned from the previous hundreds of launches and the exotic new materials, computers and other technologies available to us in the 21st Century, surely it wouldn't be a huge task to build the next incarnation? Bigger, faster, safer ... unfortunately, it's all down to money. This is why we need an International Space Foundation to do this so we can remove the politics from it all.
NASA took a huge leap backwards with George W Bush show-boating the end of his term by saying we're going back to the moon because that forced NASA to start spending its budget on rebuilding 40-year old technology to fit the short time scales. I guess that President Obama is hoping that someone will build Shuttle v2 commercially and there's already talk of reinstating the Crew Return Module for the ISS ...
The space flight review has pushed NASA into a more research-led role and moves the responsibility for actually building and launching into industry. This is a big bet for Obama but I can see what he's trying to do. Like the Airlines of the 20th Century, once there is a guarantee of a major return on investment, some clever entrepreneur stands to make a lot of cash out of space flight to low earth orbit, the ISS and beyond.
Enjoy the Shuttle while you can ... only 4 more launches to go :(
Until next time ...
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
