back to article Shuttle crew completes daring wing repair

The space shuttle Discovery has uncoupled from the International Space Station and is heading back to Earth, after an eventful 11 day stay in orbit. The shuttle's journey home will take two days, and it is scheduled to land back at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on Wednesday afternoon. The crew of Discovery spent time this …

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  1. Steve ten Have
    Flame

    Components...

    Components. American components, Russian Components, ALL MADE IN TAIWAN!

  2. Ian Ferguson
    Heart

    Cufflinks...

    ...is there anything they can't do?

  3. Matthew
    Thumb Up

    Cufflinks

    I can't remember to pack them when I go away for a dinner and yet NASA packs several spare pairs for formal dinners on the ISS!

  4. Adrian Jones
    Heart

    Cufflinks?

    I sense a NASA merchandising opportunity.

    Just in time for Conspicuous-consumption-mas too.

  5. Anonymous John
    Alert

    Er, no.

    "the unextended wing would have undermined the strength of the ISS' structure."

    The damage only undermined the strength of the solar panel, not the whole ISS.

    Reuters (your source?) made the same mistake.

  6. Nexox Enigma

    Re: Er, no.

    It is actually quite possible that damage to one component could affect any of the other components of the station. In space you have to worry a lot about resonance and momentum causing torques on manuevers, and a component that doesn't behave as designed could potentially cause damaging vibrations through out the structure.

    I don't know if that is the case, but I know that I wouldn't exactly want to orbit in a space station with anything unpredictable going on.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    Re: Re: Er, no.

    The folks stationed at Mir did :)

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