Kennedy Space Center – May 27, 2005 -. Steve Robinson, mission control specialist for Discovery, said as a young boy he dreamed about building and working in a space station.
His dreams are about to come true.
Sometime between July 13 and July 31 Discovery will blast off, becoming the first shuttle to take to the air since Columbia exploded on re-entry to the earth’s atmosphere on Feb. 1, 2003. The Columbia accident was caused by insulating foam flying off the external fuel tank, hitting a panel on the wing, creating a hole and allowing hot gasses to seep in.
The Discovery flight was delayed from the original targeted date — between May 15 and June 3 — because of concerns over ice building up on the shuttle’s external tank. The fear is that the ice could fall off as the shuttle blasts off, striking the shuttle’s thermal shield.
The July dates were the next window to allow the shuttle to link up with the orbiting International Space Station.
Robinson considers the flight a test flight, even though the crew will deliver supplies to the International Space Station. That’s because the major focus of their mission will be testing and evaluating new shuttle safety methods, including inspection and repair techniques.
Robinson and Soichi Noguchi will conduct three space walks outside the space station, in part to test repair techniques of the shuttle's heat tiles and panels that shield the wings.
Twelve days after lift-off, Discovery is scheduled to re-enter the atmosphere and land at the Kennedy Space Center.
Robinson acknowledges there are risks involved in space flight, but he also recognizes its importance.
"If you try to take the fragile human body from zero velocity relative to the surface of the Earth, accelerate it to 17,500 mph in the vacuum of space, and then reverse that process and bring it down, it is inherently dangerous," he explains. "It is, however, worth it because this is the human destiny."
Shuttle Atlantis will be on standby in case there is a problem.
Meet Astronaut Steve Robinson
- •Steve earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical aeronautical engineering from the University of California at Davis in 1978; a master's degree in 1985; and a doctorate in 1990, both in mechanical engineering from Stanford University.
- •Robinson started work at NASA's Ames Research Center in 1979 as a research scientist in the fields of fluid dynamics and aerodynamics.
- •In 1990, he became chief of the Experimental Flow Physics Branch at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., where he led a team of 35 engineers in fluid dynamic and aerodynamic research.
- •In 1995, he was selected as an astronaut, reporting to the Johnson Space Center to begin his training.
- •This will not be Robinson’s first flight into space — in 1997, he was mission specialist on Shuttle mission STS-85, and in 1998, he flew on STS-95 with his hero, John Glenn. But this will be the first time Robinson will see the International Space Station up close.
- •He has more than 1,400 hours flying various aircraft, from antique taildraggers to NASA jets.
Additional Links:
NASA Human Space Flight
Shuttle Mission Images
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EAA member and NASA Astronaut Steve Robinson in his official NASA portrait.
EAA member and NASA Astronaut Steve Robinson in his “un- official” NASA portrait.
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