综合一区欧美国产,99国产麻豆免费精品,九九精品黄色录像,亚洲激情青青草,久久亚洲熟妇熟,中文字幕av在线播放,国产一区二区卡,九九久久国产精品,久久精品视频免费

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  

东乌珠穆沁旗| 同仁县| 丰都县| 肇东市| 新民市| 兴和县| 慈溪市| 盖州市| 迁西县| 沐川县| 田林县| 安福县| 祁连县| 兴安县| 托克逊县| 峨边| 怀安县| 霍林郭勒市| 离岛区| 镇原县| 固镇县| 桃园市| 龙游县| 蕉岭县| 澄江县| 阿合奇县| 南岸区| 广元市| 右玉县| 寻乌县| 林西县| 紫金县| 南城县| 吉木乃县| 驻马店市| 南宁市| 宣武区| 宜良县| 土默特左旗| 台前县| 仙居县|