Ken... you had a 3-series too?

If you count 3 months of hell....stayed in shop more than garage.:lalala:

I refuse to count it

I thought this was a thread for spaceships and jets?

When will I be able to move to the moon?

:D

http://i1261.photobucket.com/albums/...761F63B4A2.jpg


Just for Jordan

Not anytime soon. But NASA is taking volunteers to help colonize Mars.

In the meantime... C_C, you can inhabit the International Space Station. :cool:

Good luck with that. :lol:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache...c-a6038ae288d5

Go get it Jordan.

I found that listing a while ago. Lol

I wish I could. But the only time I'll be going off the planet is on an American spacecraft.

Oh and by the way.. The number for today is 28. I will have a write-up later today.

I'm sure one day you will. :thumb:

I was just about to text you about that.

A plus about today is that I get to go into the NSF database and pull rarely seen pictures.

Can you only do that today?

I can do it for certain missions on certain days. The big guy that's in charge of the NSF for space shuttle history missions opened it for me and a couple others. Hopefully STS-107 will be open for Friday.

By the way, I goofed. It's 27, not 28.

Wow nice. Can't wait to see it.

Exactly 27 years ago this minute.

http://lenvt.tumblr.com/post/4168198...dterm-27-years

January 28th, 1986.

Space Shuttle Challenger sits on Launch Pad 39B for STS-51-L. This is the 25th planned Space Shuttle mission, and Challenger's 10th planned mission.

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=377803;image

On board Challenger isCommander Francis Scobee, Pilot Michael Smith, Mission Specialist 1 Ellison Onizuka, Mission Specialist 2 Judith Resnik, Mission Specialist 3 Ronald McNair, and Payload Specialist 1 Gregory Jarvis. Also on board is the first teacher in space, Christa McAuliffe.

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=377805;image


To the worldwide public, this is the day America will have it's first in-flight tragedy. To the people who worked on the shuttle and shuttle enthusiasts, this is known as the day the Space Shuttle Program lost its innocence.

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=378704;image
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http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=378719;image
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http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=379502;image


Here we'll go and recap exactly what went wrong on this dark day in history, what resulted, and where the fallen Space Shuttle Challenger is today.


Launch day:

The crew starts off the day eating the traditional astronaut breakfast.

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=379766;image
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After their breakfast, the crew heads out to Launch Pad 39B, where the mighty Space Shuttle Challenger waits.

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=379809;image
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However, the launch control team first notices a problem with the entire launch pad.. ice.

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=380078;image
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http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=380164;image



The astronauts arrive at Launch Pad 39B at 8:03 am EST. A launch pad technician, who the other day had worn a mortarboard in honor of the “Teacher in Space”, today handed her a red apple. Thanking him, Christa McAuliffe asked him to save it for her. “I’ll eat it when I get back.”

A launch pad technician, who the other day had worn a mortarboard in honor of the “Teacher in Space”, today handed her a red apple. Thanking him, Christa McAuliffe asked him to save it for her. “I’ll eat it when I get back.”

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=380313;image
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Launch


http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=380506;image
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http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=380822;image

Mission Control Houston now gives the "Go at throttle up" command to Space Shuttle Challenger. After this, the last words ever heard from the Challenger crew was heard. Commander Scobee says, "Uh-Oh".


http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=380824;image

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=380826;image
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http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=381348;image


And at that very moment in time, STS-51-L was ended. Not completed, demolished. All crew members perish, and the Space Shuttle Challenger is lost.

Now we'll take a closer look to see exactly what went wrong.

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=384555;image


Due to the freezing temperatures in Florida, an O-Ring on the right SRB failed. Evidence of this failure was later seen in photographs.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...oke_on_SRB.jpg


By this time, it was already too late. Challenger was going, and it was going fast.

Fast forward to the Throttle Up call.

At this time, flames is seen escaping from the failed O-Ring.

http://www.galaxiki.org/images/blog/..._2_200_200.jpg

The flames will later reach the ET, which holds all the fuel for the Space Shuttle's main engines.

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=384709;image
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=384711;image
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http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=384996;image



Next came the many week of searching for the wreckage and bodies. I will now show you pictures of that. Most of which are very hard to find nowadays.

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=385450;image
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=385651;image
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http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=386117;image


Now a common question a lot of us get from people is, "Where is Challenger now?"

Fortunately, Space Shuttle Challenger is still in Florida. Unfortunately, it's not where most of us want it to be.

Space Shuttle Challenger is buried in an abandoned missile silo at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=386124;image
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http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=386139;image
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=386141;image


NASA had refused to show pictures of the crew compartment until 1993. This is what was revealed.

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=386143;image
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=386145;image
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=386149;image


11 years after the Challenger Disaster..

"December 17, 1996: Two pieces of the Space Shuttle Challenger, which exploded nearly 11 years ago, were found by beachgoers Tuesday morning, officials at the Kennedy Space Center said. The parts -- a 6- by 15-foot rectangular section and a 4- by 8-foot section -- may be part of the ruddertail, wing, or body flap sections of the space shuttle, according to NASA spokesman Lisa Malone. The parts were found covered with barnacles in about 3 feet of water."

This structure is an elevon from the wing of Space Shuttle Challenger.

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=386155;image
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=386159;image
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http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/ind...h=386187;image


No matter how many years pass, the world will never forget the tragedy and sacrifices Space Shuttle Challenger and her crew made on their final mission, STS-51-L.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/1cdd6a4d8...bjyo3_1280.jpg

Nice write-up, Jordan.

Very touching. Thanks.

Godspeed to the entire NASA team on future missions! :usa:

Thanks guys. It took a while.

Unfortunately, I'll have to go through the same thing on Friday or Saturday.

http://media.web.britannica.com/eb-m...4-A45A2C8F.jpg

A new commercial featuring a Space Shuttle..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=u6rDh-pGxfM

That's so tragic.

Extremely detailed write up. I learned a great deal of things. These guys and gals were a courageous bunch; each a hero.

Great write-up, I don't know which was worse, Challenger happening so suddenly or watching how radio contact was lost with Columbia and just awaiting. Either way, both tragic.

So what got you so interested in Space? and another how was communication done to the orbiter, through High Frequency? Or what wavelength? Or through bouncing off satellites?