Why couldn't we pray for safe return of all who go out of our Mother---Earth
--to come back safe?
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: Let's pray for Sunita's safe
returnDate: Thu, 21 Jun 2007 10:56:38 +0000
Let's pray for safe return of Sunita Williams
...Sunita Williams back home after a six month sojourn in space, NASA experts
studied a damaged thermal blanket at its rear. Stitches holding the blanket
that forms part of the shuttle's heat protection may have ripped during
Friday's launch, causing a few inches of the thick material to peel away from
Atlantis.
Engineers do not think the damaged section of the thermal blanket, which
protects part of the shuttle from the blazing heat of re-entry, would endanger
the spacecraft during landing. But it could cause enough damage to require
schedule-busting repairs.
James Reilly and Danny Olivas plan to come out of the International Space
Station (ISS) with which the Atlantis has been docked before midnight (IST)
tonight to staple down the blanket that peeled back during the launch of space
shuttle Atlantis last on Friday.
The ISS had its own share of problems due to malfunctioning Russian computers
though some communication with the systems was restored. Seven visiting shuttle
astronauts and three ISS crew members are currently living at the orbiting
outpost and evacuation of the station is not being ruled out.
As US space shuttle Atlantis hurtled up to bring Indian American astronaut
Sunita Williams back home after a six month sojourn in space, NASA experts
studied a damaged thermal blanket at its rear. Stitches holding the blanket
that forms part of the shuttle's heat protection may have ripped during
Friday's launch, causing a few inches of the thick material to peel away from
Atlantis, US space agency NASA said. If experts determine the damage poses a
threat to the safety of the shuttle, which encounters high temperatures when it
returns to earth a space walking astronaut could repair it, officials said at a
briefing at Johnson Space Centre in Houston. On Saturday evening, Atlantis was
about 4,000 miles behind the space station and catching up at the rate of 713
miles per orbit. It's due to reach an awaiting Sunita at the International
Space Station Sunday afternoon (1:00 a.m. IST Monday). Atlantis' seven crew
members inspected the spacecraft's heat shield using its robotic arm and an
attached boom extension to check its underside, nose cap and leading edges of
the wings as well as hard to reach shuttle surfaces. The robotic arm cameras
were used to take a closer look at an area of insulation blanket on the port
orbital manoeuvring system pod that pulled away from adjacent thermal tiles.
Experts on ground are analysing the imagery to determine if any repairs are
needed. Since the 2003 Columbia accident, the space agency has been
particularly sensitive to issues involving fuel tank foam. Columbia's tank shed
a piece of insulation during lift off, which smashed into the ship's wing and
broke a hole in its heat shield. The shuttle was destroyed as it attempted to
fly through the atmosphere for landing 16 days later, killing all seven
astronauts aboard, including Indian-born Kalpana Chawla on her second space
mission. The crew also prepared for their arrival at the Space Station checking
the extension of the shuttle's docking ring and the tools they will use to
rendezvous and link up with the station. Astronaut Clay Anderson will replace
Williams who is also set to break astronaut Shannon Lucid's record for the
longest space flight ever by a woman -- 188 days and 4 hours - three days
before Atlantis brings her back to Earth June 19. Anderson will join Russian
Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and flight engineer Oleg Kotov at the space station
and would return with this year's third NASA space mission in October. Atlantis
was originally scheduled to fly in mid-March, but two weeks before blast-off
the spaceship's fuel tank was damaged during a freak hailstorm that passed over
the Kennedy Space Centre Feb 26 and needed extensive repairs
Curtsey:
The Times of India and other Daily journals.
Mushroom Softech Pvt. Ltd.
Divert technology for mushrooming growth of your business
C-41/B, LGF, Kalkaji New Delhi -110019, India. Tel: 91-11-40536110, 26211745
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.mushroomsoftech.com/
_________________________________________________________________
The idiot box is no longer passe!
http://content.msn.co.in/Entertainment/TV/Default.aspx_______________________________________________
assam mailing list
[email protected]
http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
