国产热热热精品,亚洲视频久久】日韩,三级婷婷在线久久,99人妻精品视频,精品九热人人肉肉在线,AV东京热一区二区,91po在线视频观看,久久激情宗合,青青草黄色手机视频

WORLD> Photo
Atlantis inspected for damage while chasing Hubble
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-05-13 16:25

CAPE CANAVERAL – The Atlantis astronauts inspected their ship Tuesday for any signs of launch damage as they raced after the Hubble Space Telescope on an especially perilous and bold repair mission.

Atlantis inspected for damage while chasing Hubble
Space shuttle Atlantis lifts off on a mission to NASA's Hubble Telescope from its launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida May 11, 2009.  [Agencies]

Their launch pad took a beating, and NASA wanted to make sure none of the blasted-off material — or anything else — hit Atlantis during Monday's liftoff.

Back on Earth, NASA continued prepping another space shuttle to rush to the astronauts' rescue if any serious damage is found. Engineers were scouring launch photos, and the astronauts' inspection was expected to provide additional insight.

Atlantis' crew used a laser-tipped boom to look for damage during a survey that was expected to take several hours. Initial launch photos indicated that Atlantis looked fine.

Atlantis will catch up with Hubble on Wednesday; the shuttle was trailing the telescope by 8,000 miles Tuesday morning and closing in. The astronauts will capture the aging observatory and, the next day, begin the first of five grueling spacewalks to install new cameras and equipment and repair some broken science instruments.

First, though, the seven astronauts have to make sure their spaceship was unscathed by liftoff. Columbia was doomed by a chunk of fuel-tank insulation foam that broke off during launch in 2003, and NASA consequently made shuttle surveys standard procedure.

Related readings:
Atlantis inspected for damage while chasing Hubble Astronauts inspect Atlantis while chasing Hubble
Atlantis inspected for damage while chasing Hubble Atlantis checked while chasing Hubble
Atlantis inspected for damage while chasing Hubble US space shuttle Atlantis returns home
Atlantis inspected for damage while chasing Hubble Lost city of Atlantis remains at large

Atlantis inspected for damage while chasing Hubble Lohan, Theron and other celebs at grand opening of Atlantis

This final trip to Hubble is also more dangerous because of all the space junk in the telescope's 350-mile-high orbit. Recent satellite smashups have added to the litter.

Unlike other space flights, Atlantis can't reach the international space station as a shelter if there is damage, which is why shuttle Endeavour is in place for a rescue.

The launch pad used by Atlantis, meanwhile, suffered more damage than usual. The heat-resistant material that covers the bricks beneath the pad was blasted off an approximate 25-square-foot area, said NASA spokesman Allard Beutel. Some nitrogen gas and pressurized air lines also were damaged.

The damage to the bricked flame trench — which deflect the flames at booster rocket ignition — was near a previously repaired spot but not an area severely battered last year. Monday's damage was also not as bad, Beutel said.

   Previous page 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next Page  

大安市| 柏乡县| 吉林市| 灌云县| 固安县| 彭阳县| 灵山县| 华安县| 香港 | 海阳市| 吉安县| 马鞍山市| 佳木斯市| 奇台县| 浦北县| 宁安市| 潞西市| 沂源县| 西贡区| 郯城县| 页游| 达州市| 建德市| 札达县| 登封市| 班玛县| 松阳县| 雷波县| 安泽县| 获嘉县| 永平县| 阿荣旗| 江陵县| 陇南市| 霍州市| 淮阳县| 贵定县| 介休市| 响水县| 始兴县| 泾阳县|