STS-127 Shuttle Endeavour Launch Possible Debris

For those who just watched the latest Shuttle Endeavour launch, did anyone else notice what appeared to be several bunches of debris coming from behind the camera mounted on the main tank? I've seen what appeared to be small pieces of insulation before but I saw at least three seperate instances of what appeared to be sizeable groups of debris coming from off camera and they all looked very dark colored. I also noticed at least one spot on the belly of the shuttle that didn't look quite right. Did anyone else notice any of this? Could this just be nothing at all to get concerned about?

Yeah, I saw it. There's no doubt that Houston saw it. That's why the camera is there.

There will, as always, be a very careful examination of the exterior of the shuttle to make sure everything is OK. SOP.

[edit on 7/15/2009 by Phage]

Yes, I noticed that too.
I hope it`s nothing serious

I noticed it too.

It looked like a piece flew off even before the bunch of smaller pieces.

Yeah, I know they use the arm to take photos of the exterior, I just hope they don't find any major surprises. I just watched a full replay of that camera and there was even more debris than what was shown live. At lest one group of debris I saw the second time definitely impacted with the heat shields on the shuttle. They ricocheted off.

To wit:

CNET: Shuttle Endeavour blasts off; debris strikes mulled

The post launch press conference just started and one of the first things they mentioned was the visible insulation loss. He even mentioned some minor surface marks on the heat shield tiles near the front of the shuttle but they're not too concerned about those. They'd be more concerned with damage further back and of course the leading edges but they'll learn more about those once they do the inspection.

Originally posted by rogerstigers
To wit:

CNET: Shuttle Endeavour blasts off; debris strikes mulled

Well, if the debris striking the heatshield they mention is referring to the debris shown in the image they include in the article then there are at least two strikes. The one I saw was on the port side of the underbelly, pretty much across from where the debris is in the included image.

Unfortunately that video only shows 2 small pieces of debris at 2:42 and around 3:15
there was definitely a lot more than that

reply to post by MrGrey1701


Oh... I'm sure we will see more.
That's the best I could find at such short notice.

reply to post by SLAYER69

lol, no problem, still a great effort
I just thought I`d point it out to anybody who didn`t watch it live

reply to post by MrGrey1701


I agree, great effort, thanks!

When they were replaying each camera view they played that one from launch to ET separation and there were quite a few. In fact they said in the press conference that they counted probably 8 or 9 events. They also said that they have higher res cameras on the solid boosters that will show more of the rear of the shuttle. I was pretty amazed though at how many cameras they have to review. I think they said they have something like 50 some odd cameras just on the ground. Some are film cameras. Then the camera onboard the shuttle and the cameras onboard the ISS. It'll take close to a week to review everything. They're not acting overly concerned right now but I would say the majority of the media questions were regarding the debris.

[edit on 15-7-2009 by dneudecker]

I love how they switched the video after the first piece of junk sweeps past.

It was a beautiful shot anyway, why did they cut away after this obvious interest?

reply to post by star in a jar


I'm not sure but like I said, they later played the entire length of video from that camera on NASA tv, from launch to separation. It was quite impressive.

WOW... is that common?

Its not like its made in China...

reply to post by GEORGETHEGREEK


I can only speak on what I've seen before while watching launches. I've seen a chunk here and there before but I've never personally seen that much. They explained during the press conference that there's a period of time during the launch when the most damage can be done. It's kind of in the middle. Early in the flight and later in the flight the debris is moving at a slower speed relative to the shuttle so less likely to do damage. In the middle though the shuttle is moving faster but there's still enough atmosphere to slow down any debris much more as soon as it comes off meaning a greater chance that it can do serious damage. Make sense? That's my extremely scientific translation of what they said.

reply to post by GEORGETHEGREEK


It is kind of a quirk in the design of the main tank. And yeah, it has happened on every shuttle flight. Most people didn't even know about it until the tragic breakup on reentry.

reply to post by rogerstigers


I remember when the post-landing inspection was the first time during each mission that they get to look at the heat shield. This is the problem with launching a fragile payload (in this case, the entire spacecraft) parallel to a cryogenic tank. Funny that I heard them suggesting launching Orion on a modified shuttle stack similar to the Shuttle-C proposal as an alternative design recently; some engineers never learn. Forunately, I doubt that will ever come about.

Here is the Hull Cam ONLY:




I posted this in the science forum--forgot about this one , Asked a mod to merge/move it here)

Read my analysis of the strike seen AFTER Nasa TV switched to another feed:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

[edit on 7/16/2009 by Pharyax]