And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
The Russians are thinking about resurrecting (and upgrading) their own space shuttle the Buran (blizzard). I think it only made one flight. I suppose reusable rockets are a thing again.
It was a miracle of 60's and 70's engineering, literally thrown into space as hard as we could. I took a soldering course in 1988 that was NASA approved and brought into being through 'lessons learned' with construction of those monsters. Saved several tons of weight on the shuttle series over the old 'big solder blob' method of years gone by. Heat sink on wires to prevent wicking of excess solder, thermal strippers to prevent gouging wires and making break points due to vibration, flux and prep to use less solder overall. Lessons learned.
Took a similar class. Instructor stated that if the Apollo capsule and Saturn 5 rocket had employed the traditional soldering job in their construction, it would not have been able to leave the pad due to too much weight.
A proper soldering connection should look like it is chrome plated.
No lumps or bulges, just a very thin coating of solder, with the stripped wires having the minimum length to make a good physical connection, and nothing extra. You should be able to see the wire wrapped around the post, with that flash chromed finish appearance.
Likely from the ISS. The cargo bay doors (to the right of the image) open the top and the docking port is right there. It is likely solidly docked, or very near to it from the photo.
As vaunted as the space truck seems to be by many, I see it as a huge down turn from the mission established under Mercury/Gemini/Apollo programs. Before there was the ISS there was Skylab and Soyuz. That should have been sufficient. If not for the shuttle we would have gone to Mars by now, or at least several more to the moon. Contractors made fortunes off of the shuttle. It was defunct before the last flights were ever flown and well before the Challenger disaster. The complete schedule was not flown.
Through connections at Rockwell, I received and still possess much of the planning for the shuttle. The mission was never completed. Yes, of course, we have technologies and applications which came out of the STS. But that's a wash because we would have those same technologies if we had continued past LEO.
The Russians are thinking about resurrecting (and upgrading) their own space shuttle the Buran (blizzard). I think it only made one flight. I suppose reusable rockets are a thing again.
ReplyDeleteIt was a miracle of 60's and 70's engineering, literally thrown into space as hard as we could. I took a soldering course in 1988 that was NASA approved and brought into being through 'lessons learned' with construction of those monsters. Saved several tons of weight on the shuttle series over the old 'big solder blob' method of years gone by. Heat sink on wires to prevent wicking of excess solder, thermal strippers to prevent gouging wires and making break points due to vibration, flux and prep to use less solder overall. Lessons learned.
ReplyDeleteTook a similar class. Instructor stated that if the Apollo capsule and Saturn 5 rocket had employed the traditional soldering job in their construction, it would not have been able to leave the pad due to too much weight.
DeleteA proper soldering connection should look like it is chrome plated.
No lumps or bulges, just a very thin coating of solder, with the stripped wires having the minimum length to make a good physical connection, and nothing extra. You should be able to see the wire wrapped around the post, with that flash chromed finish appearance.
Selfie stick?
ReplyDeleteLikely from the ISS. The cargo bay doors (to the right of the image) open the top and the docking port is right there. It is likely solidly docked, or very near to it from the photo.
DeleteBack when we didn’t give a hoot of Muslims and how they felt.
ReplyDeleteAs vaunted as the space truck seems to be by many, I see it as a huge down turn from the mission established under Mercury/Gemini/Apollo programs. Before there was the ISS there was Skylab and Soyuz. That should have been sufficient. If not for the shuttle we would have gone to Mars by now, or at least several more to the moon. Contractors made fortunes off of the shuttle. It was defunct before the last flights were ever flown and well before the Challenger disaster. The complete schedule was not flown.
ReplyDeleteThrough connections at Rockwell, I received and still possess much of the planning for the shuttle. The mission was never completed. Yes, of course, we have technologies and applications which came out of the STS. But that's a wash because we would have those same technologies if we had continued past LEO.
That horizon is not void. It awaits for SpaceX, Blue Origin, etc. This is probably as it should be; open to private enterprise.
ReplyDeleteAnd then O'douchebag got rid of the program.
ReplyDeleteLooking right down into the OMS (orbital maneuvering system) hypergolic rockets. Monomethyl hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide pack a punch.
ReplyDelete