Deep Impact - Comet collision

So, happy 4th of July to all alte Amis out there. The impact was a success, read all about it here or here.

Here is a picture of the comet's surface seconds before impact:


Now all NASA has to do is keep that Space Shuttle grounded untill they've solved all technical problems. Read that flights are being scheduled for end of July already. Worry!

Saw this on the news this morning - fantastic achievement. Go NASA!

Yeah Janet, the timing, I never thought it would work after all the mishaps with the Mars mission etc. I am very worried about the Space Shuttle though.

Just wondering, MajorBrummer, do you have any basis for worrying or is this just because NASA has had some failures in the past (as is to be expected with any space program), and your trust is shaken? (i.e. pulling worrying outta left field?). Mind you NASA safety record is actually amazingly good, considering what they do.

It's not like the shuttle explosions were something rare in the history of the space program. Look at Apollo 1. Of course we want our vehicles to be as safe as possible, but we can't magically foresee every potential accident. Learn from the error that caused the crash and move on. All of the astronauts involved are away of the dangers involved in space flight. It is a risk one has to accept in the pursuit of knowledge.

the last Shuttle disaster must have what 4 years ago? Quite a lot of time to do repairs I would say.

@BostonSportsFan


I read that they still haven't solved the problems with the heatshields and the possibility of tiles being knocked off at take off. If you look at the total number of shuttles versus the total number of crashes I would say that it doesn't look too good for the next bunch of astronouts.. Statistically speaking. They need a new solution altogether and they know it. Astronauts are still not able to do small reports to the shuttle in outer space as was discussed. That's why I was kind of surprised that they are planning the next flights already so soon.

Two crashes in about 100 launches isn't good statistically?

2 out of 5 shuttles, compare that to normal flying statistics. I suffer from fear of flying and follow these statistics feverishly. 2 crashes out of 100 take offs would never do in the normal airline business. Yes, I actually do worry about the astronauts. Wouldn't put my foot in that thing untill they've cleared the security issues.

MajorBummer, the astronauts know exactly what they're getting into - an experimental program. Space flight is NOT past the testing stage. If they didn't want to take the risk, they wouldn't join the crew. It's a risk in the name of advancement in space science. Hell, I'd take the risk myself, if it wasn't a lifetime commitment to become an astronaut, rather than taking the paranoid alternative of remaining grounded.

1) don't compare # of shuttles to # of shuttles to have blown up... that's a bullshit statistic to pull outta yer arse. That's like saying "oh shit, my left front tire blew up. I aint drivin' again cause 1 outta 4 blowin up is a bad statistic."
2) Don't compare shuttles to normal commercial flight until shuttles are for normal commercial flight. You are trying to compare appels to super computers. Stop it. The difference in technology is great enough to make that comparison also bullshit.
3) Everyone worries for the safety of the astronauts. If NASA didn't feel them safe, they wouldn't be launched.
4) Even with those safety issues dealt with, there will always be more. If the brake cable on my truck were to fail, does that mean I shouldn't drive my truck again until there is not only a better cable, but also a redundent system in place? Then what happens when the throttle cable sticks? Damn, didn't think about that when fixing the brake problem now did we? There will always be safety concerns and issues. NASA has addressed them how it sees fit, has analysed the changes made, and in the end, is a LOT more qualified than you or I to make the call to whether the shuttle goes up or not.

Space flight is not "normal airline business." Space flight is never going to be 100% safe, neither is atmospheric flight, therefore it's just ignorant to think that a program should go be suspended until all plausable or possible failures can be accounted for. Something can always happen but that's an understood risk, and it is minimized as much as possible. NASA would not launch a shuttle unless it was confident in its safety.

@jip
Ok, ok, relax..


I'm not so sure about that.. I realize that it's two very different fields of aeronautics I'm comparing, but I still think it's not a good safety record for NASA. The Russians are statistically probably doing better with their old rusty tincans and have hardly any money to put into their space programmes. That's why I was hoping NASA would first at least fix the problems that caused the last crash before sending up another shuttle! Is that so unreasonable?

BTW: some photos of of Deep Impact up already on the homepage!

NASA may be just as worried about securing more funding as they are about the astronauts.

@BostonSportsFan

I fully agree with you. There will always be possible failures and problems that need to be handled in th future of space flight. But my point is, if you do know about a certain problem that needs fixing, shouldn't you first fix it and only then continue?

I would venture to guess that the statistics are sufficiently low as to make that statement completely nonsensical.

@IPJ

Would you care to elaborate on that? Comparing number of flights to number of casualties? Or do you mean that one can never trust any Russian statistic?

Holy fucking assumptions! I'm saying that, considering there have only been on the order of 100 US flights (which is too small a sample to be very statistically significant already), I'm guessing there have been even fewer Russian flights. The statistics just aren't there to speak of.

I assume she means that the sample sizes are so small (100-200 launches) that comparing statistics is not very reliable.

@IPJ and Boomtown Rat

Ok, I see what you mean. I thought that the Russians are currently doing a bit of a taxi-service between Earth and ISS for the astronouts and are getting a bit cheesed off by having to do this? Well, that's what I read. Therefore I assumed that the Russians send up manned rockets quite regularly.

The latest news is that somebody in Russia is trying to sue NASA for "...altering the orbit of the comet, so now there is a chance that the Tempel may well destroy the Earth some day!"
It seems that this person is trying to claim damages of $300 million for the "moral trauma" that she is now suffering!

What a crazy world we live in!

She is a "An amateur astrologist" according to the article so she probably needs all the help she can get.

A friend of mine back home has an exgirlfriend who's chi was thrown off when the December tsunami hit southeast Asia. I definitely want to find out what that whackjob thinks of Deep Impact. Some people are ridiculous.

um... about three months ago this all was covered on TT... the lady in Russia trying to sue nasa... it ended up in a complete bitching debate about the McDonald's Coffee incident... not caring to repeat a debate w/ people who think spilling coffee on yourself is someone else's fault... So we'll leave it there...

Sensationalist headlines in the Bild Zeitung today:



http://www.bild.t-online.de/BTO/news/2005/..._ist__drin.html

"What have we done?
Comet shoots back
50,000 Km wide poison cloud under way through the universe.
Nobody knows exactly what it contains"

Poison?

Oh well, best run for cover then.

@Twirlie

.. typical Bild Zeitung aimed at the mentally challenged. And at the very bottom of the article, just for the sake of completeness

To hell w/ Global Warming, We're goin for Outter Space-al Warming!!! muwahahahaha... (<- closest thing to evil laugh smiley)
[img]http://www.gazette.uwo.ca/2004/March/25/Pics/15B%20Dr.Evil.jpg[/img]

@jip
Oh be-have!