STS 128 Discovery Post Launch Thread.

[3488]

Discovery has just crossed northern China & over North Korea & is now over The Sea of Japan.

Andrew Brown.

 

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Discovery has just crossed Japan & is over the Pacific Ocean orbiting in a NW to SE direction.

Andrew Brown.

 

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Discovery has just passed New Zealand & is now over the Southern Ocean with Antarctica to the south.

Andrew Brown.

 

[neuvik]

I went to grab some chow during the news briefing. Did they say if the Vernier thruster problem would hamper the docking at all?

 

[3488]

I went to grab some chow during the news briefing. Did they say if the Vernier thruster problem would hamper the docking at all?

Hi neuvik,

No there is no problem, docking is still planned for 21:04 EDT, 01:04 GMT / 02:04 CET (BST).

Discovery has passed over Chilie, Argentina & Uruguay & is passing over the Atlantic east of Brazil.

Andrew Brown.

 

[MeteorWayne]

I went to grab some chow during the news briefing. Did they say if the Vernier thruster problem would hamper the docking at all?

No it won't hamper it, though the maneuvers will be more energetic than if it were using the lower thrust vernier jets.
So they will notice it more on deck, but it will not affect the RPM as far as effectiveness. It's pretty much a minor inconvenience.

MW

PS, Last NCC maneuver cancelled since the change in velocity was too small to be required.

 

[3488]

Discovery has just crossed the Atlantic & has passed over Sierra Leone & is passing over Guinea, West Africa.

Andrew Brown.

 

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Discovery has just crossed Mali & is now passing over Algeria.

Andrew Brown.

 

[neuvik]

Ah good to hear. Is it the type of manuver or a redundant system that causes the bump? Thanks Andrew and MW!

 

[3488]

Discovery has just crossed Algeria, Tunisia & has crossed the Mediterannean & southern Italy.

Andrew Brown.

 

[3488]

Ah good to hear. Is it the type of manuver or a redundant system that causes the bump? Thanks Andrew and MW!

Hi neuvik,

It is a type of maneuver that causes the 'bump', however Discovery will approach & make soft dock in the traditional VBar manner & the hard dock will occur. The Vernier thruster issue, really is a non issue as that is for mostly very fine tuning & the RPM may spin up a bit quicker than normal, but as Wayne says, it is only a minor inconvenience.

Discovery has just crossed Eastern Europe & The Balkans & is now passing over the Ukraine.

Andrew Brown.

 

[3488]

Discovery is passing over Kazahkstan & is only 20 KM behind the ISS.

Andrew Brown.

 

[3488]

Discovery has passed over Papua New Guinea & is over the Soloman Islands.

Andrew Brown.

 

[MeteorWayne]

Time for one of the few second tweaking burns...

 

[3488]

Discovery has just passed New Zealand & is now over the Southern Ocean with Antarctica to the south.

Andrew Brown.

 

[3488]

Discovery has just crossed the Southern & Pacific Oceans & is now crossing Chile & Argentina.

Andrew Brown.

 

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I am back following another computer reboot.

Discovery is now passing over Guangdong Province, China, near enough right over my wife's home city of Zhanjiang & over the hot tropical Chinese island of Hainan, to the east of Vietnam.

Andrew Brown.

 

[neuvik]

Sorry about your computer crashes Andrew, hope it aint seriouse.

Discovery is about 2500 feet from the station. Its getting bigger on the screen!

 

[3488]

Hi neuvik,

In fact it's becoming a problem again. SDC is almost unusable now, though I do not know if that is my end or SDC is having problems, very slow & I dare not put on any streaming video.

Discovery is now passing over Queensland, Australia.

Andrew Brown.

 

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Discovery is now passing over the Tasman Sea between Australia & New Zealand.

Andrew Brown.

 

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Discovery has just passed right over the South Island of New Zealand & is now over the Southern Ocean with Antarctica to the south.

Andrew Brown.

 

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Discovery has just passed over Brazil & is now passing over Venezuela.

Andrew Brown.

 

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Discovery just passed to the west of the Canary Islands, closest to the Canary islands of El Hierro & La Palma & is now passing right over the volcanic islands of The Azores.

Andrew Brown.

 

[3488]

Discovery just passed to the west of the Canary Islands, closest to the Canary islands of El Hierro & La Palma & also passed Madeira is now passing right over the volcanic islands of The Azores.

Andrew Brown.

 

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Discovery is passing virtually right over my head over Ashford, Kent, United Kingdom.

Andrew Brown.