reyn@trsvax.UUCP (02/03/88)
The official return-to-flight date for the space shuttle is now August 4, 1988. Qualification motor tests for the SRBs are now planned on April 7 and June 9 with a product verification and motor test firing on July 6. The space shuttle Discovery will be rolled out to the launch pad on May 13 for a 20 second flight rediness firing of its liquid fueled main engines on June 13. Keep your fingers crossed
mjohnson@encad.Wichita.NCR.COM (Mark Johnson) (02/09/88)
In article <191800003@trsvax> reyn@trsvax.UUCP writes: >The space shuttle Discovery will be rolled out to the launch pad on May 13 for >a 20 second flight rediness firing of its liquid fueled main engines on June >13. Has anyone else observed that this schedule leaves the Discovery sitting out exposed to the weather for the bulk of the (often violent) Florida summer thunderstorm season? What about the distinct possibility of lightning strikes to the launch complex/vehicle???? -- Mark Johnson (mjohnson@ncrwic.UUCP) NCR Engineering & Manufacturing-Wichita, KS phone: (316)688-8189 email:...!rutgers!hplabs!hp-sdd!ncr-sd!ncrwic!encad!mjohnson US snailnet: 3718 N. Rock Rd., Wichita, KS 67226
kwh@sei.cmu.edu (Kurt Hoyt) (02/11/88)
In article <248@encad.Wichita.NCR.COM> mjohnson@encad.Wichita.NCR.COM writes: >Has anyone else observed that this schedule leaves the Discovery sitting out >exposed to the weather for the bulk of the (often violent) Florida summer >thunderstorm season? What about the distinct possibility of lightning >strikes to the launch complex/vehicle???? It's been done before. There is a lightning rod on top of the service tower on both pads. I'm sure that surviving a Florida thunderstorm is one of the requirements on most launch vehicles (at least surviving on the ground). The only thing that might worry NASA is a hurricane (the east coast of Florida is 'due' for a good one, but they are protected by the Gulf Stream -- hurricanes seem to get deflected by it to North Carolina instead). -- Kurt Hoyt | ARPA: kwh@sei.cmu.edu Software Engineering Institute | BITNET: kwh%sei.cmu.edu@cmuccvma | CSNET: kwh%sei.cmu.edu@relay.cs.net "From previous research with rendering systems we have learned that a good dose of gratuitous partial differential equations is needed to meet the paper quota for impressive formulas." SIGGRAPH '87 Proceedings, p. 73
karn@thumper.bellcore.com (Phil R. Karn) (02/11/88)
> Has anyone else observed that this schedule leaves the Discovery sitting out > exposed to the weather for the bulk of the (often violent) Florida summer > thunderstorm season? What about the distinct possibility of lightning > strikes to the launch complex/vehicle???? Lightning is so common in central Florida that lightning protection has long been built into the launch pads. That tall white mast you see on the fixed portion of the shuttle launch tower is a fiberglass (!) lightning rod. A heavy cable runs from the ground south of the pad through the pulley and back to ground on the north side of the pad; this wire is often visible in pad pictures. This system serves as a lightning rod. The fiberglass rod ensures that strikes travel through ground via the wire and not the launch tower itself where they could induce secondary surges in nearby shutte systems. As long as it's on the pad, the shuttle is quite safe from lightning hits. The tower has already withstood several hits with the shuttle on the pad. The high winds often accompanying thunderstorms are another matter, and of course the shuttle is not protected from lightning when it's somewhere on the 3-mile 3-hour trip between VAB and pad. Phil
slr@ho95e.ATT.COM (Shelley.L.Rosenbaum) (02/16/88)
In article <941@thumper.bellcore.com> karn@thumper.bellcore.com (Phil R. Karn) writes: >> Has anyone else observed that this schedule leaves the Discovery sitting out >> exposed to the weather for the bulk of the (often violent) Florida summer >> thunderstorm season? What about the distinct possibility of lightning >> strikes to the launch complex/vehicle???? > >Lightning is so common in central Florida that lightning protection has >long been built into the launch pads. [...] > >As long as it's on the pad, the shuttle is quite safe from lightning >hits. The tower has already withstood several hits with the shuttle on >the pad. I went to see the nighttime launch of Challenger a few years back, and there was a violent (probably level-5) thunderstorm a few hours before launch. I have some pictures of lightning striking the top of the tower (and the VAB, too). According to news reports we were listening to while we were waiting for the launch, NASA wasn't too concerned about the lightning--they just delayed the launch around 2 hours so the thunderstorm cell could pass and the winds die down. -- Shelley Rosenbaum; AT&T Bell Labs; (201) 949-3615 {ihnp4, allegra, cbosgd}!ho95c!slr "He's been up there for a week! But he's coming down!"