PDA

View Full Version : Remembering


pfc_m_drake
02-01-05, 07:51 AM
http://grin.hq.nasa.gov/IMAGES/SMALL/GPN-2003-00070.jpg
JoeBob
02-01-05, 12:24 PM
Gone but not forgotten.
Ankf00
02-01-05, 12:50 PM
STS-114 launches in May.
dando
02-01-05, 01:44 PM
Lest we not forgot the grand ol' gal that launched the Shuttle program in 1981:

http://encyclopedia.fablis.com/images/encyclopedia/shared/3/3c/Shuttle.jpg

Godspeed, crew. :thumbup:

-Kevin
Wabbit
02-01-05, 03:23 PM
Is it just me, or is it weird to see the main tank as white instead of orange?
dando
02-01-05, 09:35 PM
Is it just me, or is it weird to see the main tank as white instead of orange?
Yup. 'tis a bit odd looking. IIRC, the painted external tank only lasted two flights due to the cost. The image is from her maiden voyage on 4/12/01. I can remember watching the launch on TV. Since we didn't have a VCR @ the time, I recorded the audio from radio. Wish I had kept the tapes, but they were lost while moving over the years.

BTW, there's a rememberance feature @ nasa.gov for Apollo I, Challenger, and Columbia.

-Kevin
JoeBob
02-01-05, 09:59 PM
It wasn't so much cost of the white as the weight. The external tanks were always orange, but they painted them white for the first two missions. To save weight, they stopped painting them for the 3rd mission.
dando
02-01-05, 11:25 PM
It wasn't so much cost of the white as the weight. The external tanks were always orange, but they painted them white for the first two missions. To save weight, they stopped painting them for the 3rd mission.
Correct. IIRC, it was a combination of both factors, but once STS started carrying payloads, the weight of the paint became a bigger factor.

-Kevin