Overflow's Great Thread of NASA Knowledge

[Overflow]

Originally Posted by Envy

Here's another favorite of mine Jordy.
There really are some amazing pictures in here!

Wow! One of the reasons a night launch is so amazing.

[Texas2SS]

Originally Posted by Overflow

Wow! One of the reasons a night launch is so amazing.

I agree. That is an awesome scene.

[Overflow]

Originally Posted by Ladybugsmom

It may be beating a dead horse, but.... Wasn't one of the criteria for choosing locations for the shuttles supposed to be that the place had to have a display spot READY for them?? What's up with temporary locations??? Don't get me wrong, having an interactive display with the trainer is VERY cool, but the Seattle Flight Museum had a spot READY - no need for temporary anything - and got snubbed. Why did the decision makers ignore their own rule???

I can give you an explanation to why the MOF didn't get an orbiter. This may get a little confusing, so excuse me if I start going all over the place.

First off, remember that there were 4 orbiters to distribute among the institutions. The MOF came in 4th place, in front of The Air Force museum, San Diego, and Houston.

NASA did keep to the "Must have a spot ready for the orbiter" rule. Just once they realized that only a very few amount of institutions had facilities ready for the orbiters, they twisted it a little. They gave 10 points for "Has building ready/in construction". This added many more institutions to the running. Even if the institution had a ground breaking for the building a week before the grading, it would still get the 10 points.

The institutions were graded on the following categories; Commitment to Funding, Funding Risk, Facility Availability, Transportation Effort/Risk, Meeting Delivery Schedule, Attendance, Regional Population, International Access, and American Association of Museums or Smithsonian Affiliate.

The institutions with the most points got the orbiters.

Commitment to Funding - All institutions told NASA they were committed to funding, so they all got 15 points in that category.

Funding Risk - Out of all the institutions, MOF was the only institution that had funds ready for the orbiter. So it was the only institution that got 10 points in this category, while all the others got 5 points.

Facility Availability - KSC, MOF, AF Museum, and Evergreen were the only institutions that had facilities ready for the orbitors. So they got 10 points while the other institutions got 5 points.

Transportation Effort/Risk - The MOF received maximum points for this along with many other institutions.

Meeting Delivery Schedule - All institutions were able to meet the delivery schedule.

Attendance - This is where the MOF ranked among the lowest of the institutions because it only gets .29M -.05M annual visitors. It only got 5 out of 15 points for this category.

Regional Population - The MOF also scored low in this category because it only has a regional population of 11.9M - 5M. It got 5 out of 10 points in this category.

International Access - The MOF got 5 out of 15 points for this category.

American Associate of Museums or Smithsonian Affiliate - The MOF got maximum points for this category because it is either an American Associate of Museums or Smithsonian Affiliate.

The Seattle Museum of Flight got a score of 80/105 points.

So there's 4 orbiters up for grabs, and the MOF came it 4th, so it should get an orbiter, right? Well, this is where there's a twist..

Since the National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (NASM) is payed for by tax payers and is part of the National Collection, it automatically got first dibs on an orbiter, and it got Space Shuttle Discovery.

So now there's 3 orbiters left, and the MOF in 4th. Meaning it does not get an orbiter, but instead got the astronaut training simulator from Houston.

Here is the scores for all the institutions and their scores..

1st place - Intrepid. 90/105 points.

2nd place - California Science Center (tied with Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex). 85/105 points.

3rd place - Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex (tied with California Science Center) 85/105 points.

4th place - Seattle Museum of Flight. 80/105 points.

5th place - National Museum of the US Air Force. 75/105 points.

6th place - Adler Planetarium. 75/105 points.

7th place - March Field. 75/105 points.

8th place - San Diego. 70/105 points.

9th place - Evergreen. 70/105 points.

10th place - Johnson Space Center (Houston). 65/105 points.

11th place - Tulsa. 55/105 points.

12th - United States Space and Rocket Center (Huntsville, AL). 55/105 points.

13th place - GW & Texas A&M. 55/105 points.

[Overflow]

Originally Posted by Texas2SS

I agree. That is an awesome scene.

Envy did a good deed posting that picture.

Here are some more night launch photos..

[Texas2SS]

^ That last one is my favorite. Awesome color effects.

[Overflow]

Originally Posted by Texas2SS

^ That last one is my favorite. Awesome color effects.

The cool thing is, that picture is hardly modified. A night launch is really that bright.

[Ladybugsmom]

Ahhhhh - a point system. I was not aware of that. I was under the impression there was a list of criteria, and the list had to be met in it's entirety... That explains a lot! Thanks!

[AZCamaroFan]

i love this thread. love the launch pictures. and it always amazes me that there is a crane strong enough to pick up a shuttle

[Overflow]

Originally Posted by Ladybugsmom

Ahhhh
h - a point system. I was not aware of that. I was under the impression there was a list of criteria, and the list had to be met in it's entirety... That explains a lot! Thanks!

Nope! They didn't do a list of criteria because if they went by who had the home ready, the orbitors would've almost all went to undeserving homes.
No problem!

[Overflow]

Originally Posted by AZCamaroFan

i love this thread. love the launch pictures. and it always amazes me that there is a crane strong enough to pick up a shuttle

I plan on adding a cool bunch of photos tomorrow. I think you and a bunch of people will enjoy them.

[2010 SSRS]

Hi Jordy

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Here's some random pictures..

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And a little fact for today, when the RS-25 (SSME) ignites, it actually bends from the huge amount of power coming from the engines.