Last mission for Discovery shuttle - humanoid robot on board

[TUS 373]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-1256...

Can't quite believe how old the shuttles are now, but Discovery is the first to be retired. Onboard is a robot that looks like something from Buck Rogers. I never knew such a thing existed.

[Streps]

The shuttles have had a good run.
But it's going to be a sad day when they are all reduced to museum pieces.

[Eric Mc]

There is a long running thread on Shuttles over in the "Planes and Trains" forum.

[jmorgan]

Streps said:

The shuttles have had a good run.
But it's going to be a sad day when they are all reduced to museum pieces.

Aye but at the expense of proper exploration. Hopefully they will get back on track but the money looks thin on the ground as is the political will.

[cazzer]

Onnn Ourrr Wayyyy Hommmmme

[tinman0]

They could have named it something other than R2. I know it's Robot 2, but even still...

Does everything have to be reduced to modern entertainment?

[lostsoixanteneuf]

Any ideas what the shuttle was putting in to orbit when it first started seemed the air force used it as a big pickup truck

[jmorgan]

lostsoixanteneuf said:

Any ideas what the shuttle was putting in to orbit when it first started seemed the air force used it as a big pickup truck

There were a few secret cargo flights. But many were not, you can look them up. The ones that don't tell you what they did would, I assume, be the ones you are looking for.

For example
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlem...

or

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlem...

[lostsoixanteneuf]

Thanks some astronomers here say whatever they are the look like the hubble when they view them from ground based telescopes

[Mojocvh]

tinman0 said:

They could have named it something other than R2. I know it's Robot 2, but even still...

Does everything have to be reduced to modern entertainment?

Is D2 in the hold??

[jmorgan]

lostsoixanteneuf said:

Thanks some astronomers here say whatever they are the look like the hubble when they view them from ground based telescopes

Which astronomers? Communication satellites look different. I have seen Envisat for example but as a dot of light as its reflects the sun, as does the ISS and shuttle. To see what it looks like would depend on you tracking it with a scope and at a time you can see detail and the scope and tracking up to it. So I would say that looks depends on function.

Also I have read that people have identifies secret sats as they are not listed (??). Article in some mag once.

[TheEnd]

Great fun

[TheD]

TheEnd said:

Great fun

From Aliens I believe.

[Corsair7]

TUS 373 said:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-1256...

Can't quite believe how old the shuttles are now, but Discovery is the first to be retired. Onboard is a robot that looks like something from Buck Rogers. I never knew such a thing existed.

hope they dont let it drive.

[TUS 373]

Launch coming up on Sky News in a couple of minutes.

[davepoth]

jmorgan said:

Which astronomers? Communication satellites look different. I have seen Envisat for example but as a dot of light as its reflects the sun, as does the ISS and shuttle. To see what it looks like would depend on you tracking it with a scope and at a time you can see detail and the scope and tracking up to it. So I would say that looks depends on function.

Also I have read that people have identifies secret sats as they are not listed (??). Article in some mag once.

Who says they're communication satellites? Something with appropriate focus that size would be quite nice for reading the newspaper headlines in Tehran...

[jmorgan]

davepoth said:

jmorgan said:

Which astronomers? Communication satellites look different. I have seen Envisat for example but as a dot of light as its reflects the sun, as does the ISS and shuttle. To see what it looks like would depend on you tracking it with a scope and at a time you can see detail and the scope and tracking up to it. So I would say that looks depends on function.

Also I have read that people have identifies secret sats as they are not listed (??). Article in some mag once.

Who says they're communication satellites? Something with appropriate focus that size would be quite nice for reading the newspaper headlines in Tehran...

Wasn't saying they were anything in particular, just that there are a variety wizzing around so who has seen what? A comms sat will look different to a spy sat (but are the geostationary ones will be a bit too far out??), but then I say that having only seen commercial comms sats as opposed to top secret naughty stuff that may be in lower orbits (and then seen in the blurb not in real life). I would imagine something like hubble would not work. I assume the person saying it was "like" hubble even though size is different? How are optics mounted on a spy satellite anyway?

On the subject of resolution, what is it on a spy satellite? James Bond see the atoms in the full stop good or sommit a tad more realistic?

[Eric Mc]

lostsoixanteneuf said:

Any ideas what the shuttle was putting in to orbit when it first started seemed the air force used it as a big pickup truck

The Shuttle was designed to carry both military and civilian payloads. The size of the cargo bay was determined by the maximum size of the US DoD Big Bird spy satellites. Also, the gliding capability of the Shuttle (in other words, the wing area) was also designed to a military requirement to allow it to glide 3,000 miles either side of its original intended re-entry corridor if any of its normal landing strips had been nuked.

NASA had originally planned a smaller Shuttle based in the lifting body principle, rather than a winged orbiter.

As well as the military paylods, Shuttles deployed quite a few communications satellites, including the three TDRS satellites that are used to this day to provide full global communications for the Shuttle and ISS.

The Shuttle launched a couple of space probes, Magellan (to Venus) and Galileo (to Jupiter).
It also placed the Hubble Space Tel;escope in orbit and conducted a number of Hubble repair and maintenance missions.

Before the ISS, the Shuttle also docked with the Russian Mir space station.

As well as conducting medical and physical experiments on board the Shuttle itself, the European Space Agency designed and built a manned space laboratory which fitted into the Shuttle's cargo bay. This was called Spacelab and a number of Spacelab flights were carried out in the 1980s and 1990s.

So, quite a record over the 30 years of its life.

Edited by Eric Mc on Thursday 24th February 22:54

[Puggit]

Video of the launch from an airliner: http://mashable.com/2011/02/26/discovery-flight/

[Eric Mc]

Lucky them. What a sight.