News Decommissioning of Discovery (OV-103)

[Keatah]

I'm amazed at how dirty the shuttle looks on the outside, overall. Yet how clean it looks in the engine bay!

---------- Post added at 07:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:10 PM ----------

They should keep one shuttle 100% exactly how it is after the last flight. Just blast away all the poisons with a firehose and be done with it. No raping and pillaging.

 

[hribek]

Example of a full lifecycle spaceplane program? Who will that matter to? Who is seriously planning to build a spaceplane, or indeed any spacecraft even vaguely like STS? Can we be sure we'll even have a spaceplane program of any kind within the next 50-60 years? :dry:

You tell me.
http://www.reactionengines.co.uk/skylon.html

 

[Fabri91]

I really hope Reaction Engines succeed, their projects look to be too good to be true
@ky: don't despair, the shuttle orbiters had their engines removed after every flight. And they'll be replaced by engines built out of parts that have also actually flown.

 

[agentgonzo]

If I had the money, I'd give it to NASA to ramp the program back up long enough to develop another manned spaceflight program that would include a method of getting to/from ISS, among the other goals (Moon/Mars, etc). I appreciate Russia's willingness to allow us to fly on the Soyuz, but if you have a vehicle that still works, and are trying to develop a replacement, you need to keep the other one flying until the replacement is ready. My opinion anyway.

To me, it is analogous in my world to taking one of my users' old laptops away and saying "We haven't chosen a replacement model to purchase yet, but we can't afford to keep repairing these older ones. You and the person in the next cubicle can share a laptop until we make a decision and buy you a new one."

So, basically, Constellation then.

---------- Post added at 10:52 ---------- Previous post was at 10:51 ----------

They should keep one shuttle 100% exactly how it is after the last flight. Just blast away all the poisons with a firehose and be done with it. No raping and pillaging.

Yeah, that's what they're doing.

 

[Mantis]

Yeah, that's what they're doing.

Sadly that's not the case. Both Atlantis and Endeavour will receive the same treatment that Discovery is receiving now.

 

[T.Neo]

You tell me.
http://www.reactionengines.co.uk/skylon.html

Yeah. I'm sure we can all rely on Skylon...

 

[orb]

Spaceflight Now: Third engine removed from Discovery (PHOTO GALLERY)

 

[Arthur Dent]

Didn't they usually take out the main engines after each flight? AFAIK they almost take them completely appart for maintenance reasons. Thats probably one of the reasons why the Space Shuttle Program turned out to be expensive.

 

[agentgonzo]

Didn't they usually take out the main engines after each flight? AFAIK they almost take them completely appart for maintenance reasons. Thats probably one of the reasons why the Space Shuttle Program turned out to be expensive.

AFAIK you are correct. They had to do a full refurbish of the SSMEs after each flight and it was massively expensive (almost as expensive as building new ones)

 

[orb]

Didn't they usually take out the main engines after each flight?

They remove them after each mission, and even those Spaceflight Now photo galleries are tagged as STS-133, but there's no reason to post them in STS-133 thread as the mission ended, and by quoting description of one of images from NASA Kennedy Media Gallery:

{...} The removal is part of Discovery's transition and retirement processing. Work performed on Discovery is expected to help rocket designers build next-generation spacecraft and prepare the shuttle for future public display. {...}

 

[N_Molson]

I love those engines, thats real hi-performance stuff !

 

[Zachstar]

You cant just blast out all the poisons. You have to make sure that nothing on the shuttle is going to deteriorate and pose a danger to the public in a few decades.

 

[orb]

NASASpaceflight: NASA Updates OV-103/Discovery End State Requirements:

One month after the completion of her STS-133 mission, Discovery is nearing completion of Down Mission Processing (DMP) activities inside OPF-2 at the Kennedy Space Center. With DMP nearly complete, technicians will soon begin the initial stages of Transition & Retirement processing on the Shuttle Program’s fleet leader. With this step, technicians will follow a revised/updated Delta End State Flow Review for Discovery, as approved by the Program Requirements Control Board.

{...}

 

[Kyle]

Discovery to be moved to storage in the VAB to make room for Atlantis on July 13th.

 

[IronRain]

Discovery leaves hangar to make room for Atlantis

The space shuttle Discovery on Wednesday morning made her first public appearance outside the hangar since being retired, emerging without any main engines, nose thrusters or aft rocket pods. Seeing the stripped down orbiter with a gaping hole in the nose was a harsh reminder that the spaceship's flying days are over.

NASA was moving the ship to the nearby Vehicle Assembly Building to enter storage, opening up that hangar to receive Atlantis after the final space shuttle landing next week.

Technicians are in the midst of a multi-month process of safing the Discovery's systems and readying the orbiter for the Smithsonian. NASA will outfit the ship with mocked up propulsion pieces to look "normal" in the museum display before she leaves Florida next year.

"We're currently in the process of decommissioning Discovery. Part of doing that means we have to go in and safe the major systems that have hazards," said long-time Discovery flow manager Stephanie Stilson.

All photo's, Page 1
All photo's, Page 2

 

[orb]

You can find more and higher resolution photos in KSC Media Gallery (KSC-2011-5520 - KSC-2011-5574).

 

[FADEC]

Can we be sure we'll even have a spaceplane program of any kind within the next 50-60 years? :dry:

I doubt

 

[Chub777]

I thought they only remove the OMS pods after each mission...

 

[IronRain]

Discovery makes brief appearance on road to retirement

 

[T.Neo]

Now our spacecraft take intrepid voyages, in an incomplete state at a few kilometers per hour...