West Wing and its "unknown" orbiter

[georgeniebling]

I'm love to get some opinion about the recent West Wing episode and its "unknown" "military" orbiter ... could such a thing exist in a hanger somewhere? <br />If I remember correctly the body core for Endeavor was actually begin substantially before that Orbiter was actually built.<br /><br />note: x-posted to Science Fiction

 

[SpaceKiwi]

I'm sure some around here could tell ya, but then they'd probably have to kill ya. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br />In actuality, I believe the plan was for the military to 'borrow' one of the existing Orbiters for launches out west. The Challenger tragedy put an end to that. najaB did tell me which Orbiter, but I have since forgotten. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em><font size="2" color="#ff0000">Who is this superhero?  Henry, the mild-mannered janitor ... could be!</font></em></p><p><em><font size="2">-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</font></em></p><p><font size="5">Bring Back The Black!</font></p> </div>

 

[georgeniebling]

yeah, that was what I always understood too .... I think it was Discovery(?)<br /><br />This sounded kinda .... "Armageddon"-esque to me ...

 

[wvbraun]

Unlikely. But I'm quite sure there is an unknown spyplane sitting in a hangar somewhere: Aurora (or whatever they changed its name to).

 

[adzel_3000]

Here's a pic of the West Wing military shuttle ready to launch...

 

[georgeniebling]

I knew about Challenger being an STA but I thought I read somewhere that the "begin production" date on Endeavor was pre-Challenger ... trying to find it on Google ... but as I remember it was a NASA doc ... <br /><br />found it:<br />http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/resources/orbiters/endeavour.html<br /><br />Construction Milestones<br />07/31/87 Contract Award <br />02/15/82 Start structural assembly of Crew Module (yes 1982) <br />09/28/87 Start structural assembly of aft-fuselage <br />

 

[adzel_3000]

I've never seen West Wing either...I think this came out of the Gerry Anderson (old Thunderbirds TV show) skunk works...<br /><br />Someone here can probably tell me what it is right down to the power source and serial number!!!!!

 

[SpaceKiwi]

Some great vehicles rolled out of that Works, to be sure! <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />F.A.B. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em><font size="2" color="#ff0000">Who is this superhero?  Henry, the mild-mannered janitor ... could be!</font></em></p><p><em><font size="2">-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</font></em></p><p><font size="5">Bring Back The Black!</font></p> </div>

 

[davf]

What a dismal plot line. All these years they've done a reasonable job of walking the line between complete fantasy and plausible fantasy. But this really put them right out into never-never land. So much so I have lost a great deal of my interest in the show.

 

[shuttle_rtf]

Moonraker anybody <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br />http://www.007bond.de/qandco/cars/images/shuttle.jpg

 

[CalliArcale]

I always liked Moonraker. What can I say; I was a little kid when it came out, and so the physics seemed entirely plausible. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> And it seemed quite technically feasible that a couple of miscreants could steal an orbiter by stowing away on it during a piggyback ferry flight on an SCA, firing up the main engines, and pulling away from the 747. <img src="/images/icons/tongue.gif" /> They are working for a supergenius bad guy, after all.<br /><br />(Cheesy movie. Obviously thrown into the 007 series as a response to Star Wars and the excitement surrounding the nascent Shuttle program. But it's got James Bond gadgetry, Richard Kiel, spaceships, space battles, and space shuttles. It's fun!) <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[drwayne]

"I was a little kid when it came out"<br /><br />Thanks a lot! <img src="/images/icons/frown.gif" /><br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>

 

[odysseus145]

That was my favorite one too (other than Goldeneye), but it came out nearly a decade before I was born <img src="/images/icons/crazy.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[drwayne]

" but it came out nearly a decade before I was born "<br /><br />Now you could gone all night without saying that!<br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br />But hey, I made "Solar System" tonight, so so what if I am a bunch older than you!<br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>

 

[odysseus145]

lol, I felt compelled <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /> <br /><br />I've only got 21 left untill I make planet, which I never really expected to get when I joined. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[drwayne]

I bet I saw "Willy Wonka" more than you at the theater.<br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>

 

[davf]

I was too young when taken to see Willy Wonka... scared the hell out of me! <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" />

 

[shuttle_rtf]

Roger that, Calli <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />I had to wait till it came out on telly, as I'm a bit young to remember it first coming out. First film I saw at the pictures was ET - and I was but knee high to a grasshopper <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />Sorry Dr. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" />

 

[najab]

><i>If I remember correctly the body core for Endeavor was actually begin substantially before that Orbiter was actually built. </i><p>Correct. In 1983/4 Congress approved the construction of a set of structural spare parts, the idea being to have them on hand to rebuild an Orbiter which was damaged. After STS-51L those spares were used to build Endevour.</p>

 

[najab]

><i>In actuality, I believe the plan was for the military to 'borrow' one of the existing Orbiters for launches out west.</i><p>Correctomundo! The plan was for Discovery, as the first "full-capability" orbiter, to be based out of VAFB primarily for DoD missions. The combination of the Challenger 'accident', the out-of-control cost growth of the SLC-6 launch complex, doubts over the feasibility of the fillament-wound booster casings, and the fact that without those lighter boosters the Shuttle would never be able to launch its prime military payload (KH-11) lead to cancellation of the 'Blue Shuttle' program.</p>

 

[quasar2]

if i`m not mistaken she was the same vehicle in an episode of "Dark Skies". <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[quasar2]

& if anyone has ever read of Ben Bova`s character Chet Kinsman. excellent description, she was called "Manta" in there. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[georgeniebling]

THANK YOU .... you are the only other person I've ever heard admit that ... that movie scared the BEJEEZUS out of me ... can't watch it to this day with the skin crawling ... never have seen it the whole way through.

 

[SpaceKiwi]

C'mon you two, are you men or mice? Whaddaya mean, "pass the cheese"! <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br />For scare value, you couldn't beat the episodes of Dr Who which had the lizardy things with some kind of lighty thingy in their foreheads. The time lady might be able to provide the name (I'm sure my subconscious is blocking the scary details out even now!), but when they rocked around the corner of some cave at the end of an episode......let's just say 'toilet emergency'! <img src="/images/icons/shocked.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em><font size="2" color="#ff0000">Who is this superhero?  Henry, the mild-mannered janitor ... could be!</font></em></p><p><em><font size="2">-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</font></em></p><p><font size="5">Bring Back The Black!</font></p> </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

Ah yes, those would be the Silurians. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> (So named because the writer didn't realize when the Silurian Era really was.) A race of reptilian bipeds who roamed the Earth long ago. They went into deliberate suspended animation when the Earth's climate got unfavorable. When they were woken up again after the climate got suitable again, they were rather upset to find that some upstart mammal had taken over.....<br /><br />There was another race of reptiles as well -- the Sea Devils, who were marine. They coexisted with the Silurians, who were terrestrial. They also revived after millions of years in suspended animation. I liked the Sea Devils better; they had cool heads.<br /><br />The Doctor Who monsters that scared me most as a child were probably the Wyrrn. Very unconvincing now, but as a small child it terrified me. They're a bit like ichneumon wasps -- they'll infect you and take you over. There were several episodes with alien nasties that did stuff like that, and it always spooked me. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>