[amsat-bb] Re: ANDE Deploy Anomoly

[Wayne N5WD]

On Sat, 23 Dec 2006 09:29:17 -0500 (EST), Bob Bruninga answered a question from someone:
>> I don't understand how it could have been allowed to stay hung in
>> the can.

> Oh, sorry.  I assume that everyone had seen the video, but of
> course they probably havent.  The can was also deployed.  So the
> Shuttle was free to go.
>
  <snip>
> To the media and most viewers, it looked like a nominal deploy.
> But we should have seen 5 pieces (three shell pieces and two
> satellites), but only 4 were visible.
 <snip>> 
>I'm sure there will be a study.

Watching the video feed live it became apparent within a very short time that both
the folks in Discovery and the folks down in Houston were aware that there was something
wrong with the deploy - when Houston's CAPCOM asked the Discovery folks to find a camera
with a longer lens to get some stills of the bottom cannister, the folks in the shuttle reported 
back that the request was already being taken care of.

Personally (humor mode = ON) I think that one of the space mice, stowed away in the
can, had already tripped the mousetrap!  Probably from the same family of space mice that 
chewed the SUITSAT-1 coax cable! (humor mode = timed out)

Wonderful video of the deploy - and great commentary on the fact that the ANDE was carrying
a package to be used by the amateur radio community.


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   R. Wayne Day    N5WD    n5wd at charter.net
   Fort Worth, Texas  USA
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