Originally posted by shadow watcher
I think size does matter. It has to be of considerable size to be seen so far away. If the shuttle lost something of that size, those astronauts should be most unsettled. I cannot see a bolt being noticed that readily on camera. This is why I am curious.

Every article I've read about it says they don't know how far away it is therefore they can't determine it's size. Did I miss something that said how far away it was?

You can't tell in space, because there's nothing to measure it against except the earth, which makes EVERYTHING look small.

Originally posted by Astygia
Given that they're delaying the landing until Thursday, it's likely a piece of the shuttle. But I hope not.

I'm with you. I think it must have come from the shuttle if we aren't already aware of it. It has to be new debris. I hope they're gonna be O.K.

Got Cha
Hears a thought in about twenty minutes we get a close up and it's broken peice of the shuttle and it has printed on it MADE IN CHINA

On the video's voice over I thought it was determined. It was right around when the object was still clear over the cloud cover, but before it disappeared.
Being NASA, they could have changed their story.

They are saying now that it is most likely debris from the shuttle.

IS/could the object actually be blocking the shuttles reentry path or could the shuttle manouver around it?Please excuse my lack of knowledge lol.

I'm not NASA or space flight expert, but something doesn't sound like it's adding up to me here...

They're delaying the return of the shuttle because of a tine peice of debris that came off of the shuttle? They said it's moving away from the shuttle at 2 feet per second. I would think they could go around it. But cancel a return because of a tiny peice of debris? Don't buy that.

I just got home from work and read this story on cnn.com

Just doesn't sound right.

Nice find, i am however quite suprised that this has been reported. I thoght they usualy kept these things quiet?

CX.

KSC Press Conference is on NASATV
Flight Control Sysytem Shakeout may have dislodged debris.
No impacts were noted to indicate damage.
The image resolution was poor, 2 pixel size object.
There is no speculation about distance/size of object.

Originally posted by classified material

They're delaying the return of the shuttle because of a tine peice of debris that came off of the shuttle? They said it's moving away from the shuttle at 2 feet per second. I would think they could go around it. But cancel a return because of a tiny peice of debris? Don't buy that.

The problem is that it may be part of the Heat Shield so now they have to take the Shuttles arm and look it over with the Cameras and make sure that everything is o.k. before they can re-enter the atmosphere.

That is why the piece of debris is delaying the Shuttle landing by one day.

Ok, just watched the extended video from NASA on the object and have two questions that hopefully someone can answer:

1) If the object is in "space", how is it that it disappears in the cloud tops?
2) If the object is low enough in earth's orbit to disappear in the cloud tops, wouldn't it's obit decay quick enough to to eliminate it as a hazard to the shutte? (Assuming that it isn't something neccessary to the orbiter itself that would cause it fatal harm upon re-entry.)

I really hope nothing catastrophic happens to the the crew - prayers to them and their families.

edit - grammar

[edit on 9/19/06 by surfinguru]

It's not IN the cloud tops, or it wouldn't be an issue. It's a perspective thing. It's not that it's a hazard to the shuttle as it's that they don't know where it came from. If it came from the tiles of the shuttle, then we're facing another Columbia if they're not careful. If it's one of the bolts they lost in the spacewalk recently then it's not a problem and they come home Thursday.

Zap m8 I agree with your first part of your post but to say it's a bolt that they dropped days ago,I just can't see it being that.

Surely if it was a bolt close enough you could tell it was a bolt ,and if the bolt was far away you would not see it.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
Depends on the radar they're using to track it. There are some missile radars that NORAD uses that will track tiny objects very far away.

yet, they cant track 4 hijacked airplanes.
Oops, wrong topic

Originally posted by lost_shaman

Originally posted by classified material

They're delaying the return of the shuttle because of a tine peice of debris that came off of the shuttle? They said it's moving away from the shuttle at 2 feet per second. I would think they could go around it. But cancel a return because of a tiny peice of debris? Don't buy that.

The problem is that it may be part of the Heat Shield so now they have to take the Shuttles arm and look it over with the Cameras and make sure that everything is o.k. before they can re-enter the atmosphere.

That is why the piece of debris is delaying the Shuttle landing by one day.

Let's say they find out it is indeed a tile, ( and no it won't say "made in China" on it! ), and it's from a leading edge or some other crucial place. Will they be able to do anything about it? I know they practiced with some repair techniques, but wasn't the shuttle attached to the ISS when they were performed? Will they be able to repair something so late in the mission? I think these contingencies were to repair damage from liftoff, not from late in the mission. . .

Again, I hope they're gonna be alright. If they lose this one all hell's gonna break loose. Could it be the end of the shuttle program, and we'll have to rely on Soyus to maintain the ISS.

They were to repair damage INCURRED early in the mission, but could be performed at any time.