\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/logo.cafepress.com\/3\/4811501.1268853.jpg\"){kind=logo}
<\/em><\/font>**STS-121: Launch: July 4 LIVE Launch\/Debris\/Flight Day 1**<\/font><\/font> \u2013 review the day\u2019s events in full.<\/p>\n**FREE VIDEOS**<\/em><\/font> \u2013 <\/font><\/em> Five videos of the debris events. Full T-30 mins to T+60 mins STS-121 launch video and all views of launch, plus more. In addition four of the five pieces of foam seen leaving the External Tank were below the mass that would endanger the vehicle \u2013 if they had come off in the first two and a quarter minutes. In addition, Mission Specialist Mike Fossum captured video footage of what appeared to be fabric thermal insulation blankets tumbling away from Discovery immediately after separation from the External Tank. However upon further inspection, it was determined to just be an ice formation that had separated from the shuttle\u2019s main engines after launch. It was very similar to one seen last year after Discovery\u2019s launch on STS-114. <\/font><\/p>\n **NASASpaceflight.com Job Opportunities**<\/font> <\/font><\/em><\/font><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/u><\/p>\n <\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The prognosis for Discovery\u2019s launch was excellent, according to Space Shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale. The relief was evident in Hale\u2019s positive comments on the early evaluations relating to images and video of the observed foam liberation that came off the External Tank. Discovery, so far, has been classed as the much-needed \u201cclean flight\u201d during […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42018"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42018\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
(Video section is FREE, but you need to sign up as a member of the forum to enter the video section of the site. We only use your e-mail to send you your password. It will not be used for spam etc.)<\/em><\/font>
<\/em><\/font><\/font><\/font>
<\/font>During a briefing this evening, Hale described five minor foam shedding events, all of which occurred after the \u201cdanger cut-off\u201d point of two minutes, fifteen seconds. As explained by Hale, after this point there is simply not enough atmosphere to accelerate any foam or debris to a fast enough velocity to damage the orbiter\u00c2\u00b9s delicate underside. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think the tank performed very very well indeed, as opposed to where wewere last year. We saw nothing that gives us any kind of concern,\u201d concluded Hale.
Even though Discovery has been given a preliminary clean bill of health, the crew will perform a very thorough inspection of the vehicle using the fifty-foot Orbital Boom Sensor System (OBSS). It will be used beginning tomorrow to scan the leading edges of the wings, the nose cap, and the crew compartment.
The OBSS includes two laser imagers that can resolve details at a resolution of few millimeters. The boom will scan Discovery at a rate of about six centimeters per second. If shuttle engineers suspect damage has occurred to other areas, as evidenced in imagery captured during lift-off, then additional regions may be scanned later in the mission.<\/p>\n
Hale had this to say about the ice: \u201cYou look and those photographs and you would think that\u2019s gotta be fabric. That\u2019s what the crew clearly thought. It is clearly ice. If you look at that video a while you see it clearly breaking up into water vapor. So that is not an issue.\u201d
Other than those two issues, Discovery\u2019s ascent to orbit was flawless, and all other systems on the orbiter remain in good health. Discovery lifted off on time Tuesday at 2:37 p.m. EDT and carries a crew of seven on a scheduled 13-day mission to resupply and deliver a third crewmember, Thomas Reiter, to the International Space Station.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/em><\/font>
<\/font><\/em>
<\/em><\/font>LIVE UPDATE PAGES<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n<\/p>\n