"New Horizons", Pluto mission to launch January 17th
- Thread starter MarkMark
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Dead Cat Bounce
A member of the Waffle elite.
Could these stopped launches have any thing to do with the 33kgs of plutionium on board?
I'm sure that any 'normal' rocket would be halted if the weather would be seen to cause a problem , but are NASA playing it extra safe this time?
The BBC were reporting a 350/1 chance of problems upon takeoff....
I'm sure that any 'normal' rocket would be halted if the weather would be seen to cause a problem , but are NASA playing it extra safe this time?
The BBC were reporting a 350/1 chance of problems upon takeoff....
Cos if they fuck up with 33kg of plutonium on a vehicle that can go bang with a force measured in kilotonnes it would make for a severely messy year...Crispy said:probably something like a 'tiny tiny screw not tightened to the right torgue' error
Why do spaceships have to be so complex?
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
MikeMcc said:Cos if they fuck up with 33kg of plutonium on a vehicle that can go bang with a force measured in kilotonnes it would make for a severely messy year...
The RTG (radioisotope thermal generator) on interplanetary probes is contained in a housing designed to withstand explosion on the pad or direct re-entry from orbit. (somebody correct me on that, but I'm pretty sure it's standard practice.)
The nasty stuff isn't carried in a 'bomb configuration' (ie. weapons-critical) needed to produce such an explosion. This has been controversial though and there is a small but significant environmental risk... namely the risk of dispersing plutonium 'pellets' into the atlantic.
Sesquipedalian said:
is that as it leaves Earth or after it uses several planets' gravity to accelerate towards pluto?
Welcome back folks and its Groundhog Day here at Atlas Launch Control!
eyes down for then for the count... lift off due in just over 2 hours
live here:
http://www.nasa.gov/55644main_NASATV_Windows.asx
Hanfstaengl
New Member
I can't get the link, could you keep us all informed about what's happening on the launch pad?MarkMark said:
Hanfstaengl said:
try other links here
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
or you can watch it live now from the front page of the BBC site
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
or just refresh this if one if you can't watch webcasts
http://spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av010/status.html
Hanfstaengl
New Member
just made itMarkMark said:
Thanks
Crispy said:I just got in all sweaty after a very fast ride home, Just in time for the launch. Now I've got half an hour to eat my tea
and I'm stuck here again
(as I was here late on Tuesday, I left early yesterday so couldn't really slope off again today
)... mind you... now all of a sudden they're fretting about this low cloud so who knows... maybe they'll delay it again
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
MarkMark said:and I'm stuck here again
(as I was here late on Tuesday, I left early yesterday so couldn't really slope off again today
... mind you... now all of a sudden they're fretting about this low cloud so who knows... maybe they'll delay it again
Damn cloud. It's just some thinly dispersed water vapour, what's the big deal?
EDIT:
There you go.
Juuust kidding.
THere you go.
Juuuuust kidding.
No really, there you go.
Aaaah. Just kidding.
Crispy said:Damn cloud. It's just some thinly dispersed water vapour, what's the big deal?
I dunno but heard one of the mission controller say something about it intefering with the optics. Maybe its to do with tracking it visually. If it develops problems and have to self-destruct it, they'll need to see it, if possible, to make that decision I suppose (?)
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