Atlantis blasts off; debris falls off?

Space Shuttle Atlantis blasted off today with a wounded but repaired External Tank (above) that sustained damage after golf-ball sized hail stones smacked into it earlier this year. (The white "specks" on the tank represent where repairs were made to the dings in the External Tank.) Hopefully this marks a turning point for NASA, which has not had a great 2007. In addition to shuttle troubles, the well-publicized, diaper-wearing astronaut in a love triangle was definitely a low point for the space agency.

The crew of Space Shuttle Atlantis, from left, mission specialists James Reilly, Danny Olivas, Clayton Anderson, Patrick Forrester and Steven Swanson, Pilot Lee Archambault and Commander Rick Sturckow walk from the operations and checkout building to board a van to took them to Atlantis at Launch Pad 39-A at Kennedy Space Center.

I love looking at photos of a space shuttle taking off - it never ceases to take my breath away. I can still remember April 12, 1981, when the first shuttle took off. I was hooked. My mom used to let me stay home from school to watch subsequent missions take off for the next few years - she knew how much I loved it. I'm still hooked, over 100 flights later.

However, I do agree with President Bush - it's time to put the shuttles out to pasture. The biggest reason? After the Challenger and Columbia disasters, I hold my breath every time a shuttle goes up. I held my breath tonight when I read the AP headline Debris hits shuttle during launch. It seems to be unsubstantiated though, because AP later changed it headline to Patched-Up Shuttle Atlantis Blasts Off.

From AP:

The countdown was nearly flawless, but it appeared that something fell from the tank more than two minutes into the ascent, several seconds after the solid rocket boosters separated from Atlantis. Falling debris from the tank poses the most danger to the shuttle from liftoff to around that point in the ascent.

Shuttle program manager Wayne Hale said at a news conference that foam did fall off the tank, as expected, but that it happened too late in the ascent to be a problem. A preliminary analysis showed it didn't strike the shuttle, he said.

"The tank performed in a magnificent way, despite having several thousand repairs to it," Hale said. "(The debris) should not be a hazard that late in the flight."

I hope they're all okay. More than that, I sure hope NASA has learned some very hard lessons from the past. It was pretty painful to read that NASA knew that debris has struck a wing on Columbia while the orbiter was still in orbit. Tragically, nothing was done and a great deal of assumptions were made.

In the meantime, all we can do is hope that they get back on the ground safely. I'm also taking the time to appreciate the shuttle while it is still around. In less than three years, sites like the ones above and below will be a part of history.

It won't be long until NASA will begin officially testing the Ares Rocket Family and the Orion Spacecraft. These are what will take us back to the Moon and on to Mars. I hope I live to see it all happen.

I have to give credit to President Bush for putting these long overdue initiatives into action. Of course, like many of the president's pipe dreams, he has not stated how he will pay for them, but at least he got the ball rolling.

Photos from AP