Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

I don’t know about you, but this sounds more like National Lampoon’s Space Vacation than any real shuttle mission.  You don’t have to make this stuff up. 

On Wednesday, September 6, Space Shuttle Atlantis was to take off from Cape Canaveral.  Destination:  International Space Station.  Mission: Hook up solar panels for more power.

A quick rundown of wacky, zany antics of the latest space mission:

• A bad fuel cell delays launch for two days.
• A faulty sensor delayed the launch for another day. 
• Sept. 9 - Just before takeoff on Saturday, the NASA DJ plays the wrong music.
• Sept. 9 - Pieces of foam fall off the shuttle on liftoff - this is becoming the reoccurring gag for each episode.
• Sept. 12 - while assembling the solar panels during a spacewalk, astronaut Joe Tanner dropped a bolt.  In space, no one hears you curse.
• Sept. 18 - smoke detector goes off.  There was no fire, but toxic gasses may have been in the air.
• Sept. 19 - when packing up to go home, the crew spots an unknown object floating under the shuttle, delaying the trip home.  Tanner swears he didn’t drop anything else.
• Sept. 20 - Russians deliver a Iranian / Muslim / Trekkie tourist early this morning.  Seriously. Anousheh Ansari loves the USS Enterprise.
• Sept. 20 - Re-inspecting the shuttle, the crew spots three more unidentified objects floating around the spacecraft.  Tanner again denies any knowledge.

Thanks to the Orlando Sentinal space blog, The Write Stuff and Florida Today’s space blog, The Flame Trench for links.  By the way, you can read Anousheh Ansari’s webpage and blog:  Anousheh Ansari Space Blog.

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