What is Digg?202 Comments
- mriegger, on 11/14/2007, -2/+92That was the first time ever that the F-15 pilot was jealous of someone else's job
- saltmountain, on 11/14/2007, -2/+71Oh, those birds are definitely armed with missiles, not counting the internal 20 mm cannon with 940 rounds.
The F-15C does not need to carry missiles on the under-wing pylons. It normally carries FAST (Fuel And Sensor Tactical) packs attached to the side of the fuselage outside of each air intake that tanks conform to the aerodynamic shape of the side of the fuselage. Because they are streamlined to the shape of the fuselage, there is very little adverse aerodynamic effect and very little degradation in performance The FAST packs are only very rarely actually taken off the aircraft. Even with the FAST packs fitted, the F-15C still retains the capability of carrying Sparrow (AIM-7) or AMRAAM (AIM-120) missiles on the lower corners of the fuselage. Both missiles are 12 feet long. Up to four AIM missiles or 4400 pounds of other missiles or bombs can be mounted on these corner hard points..
If you look at the other photo linked to this discussion, (http://www.taosecurity.com/images/f-15_shuttle_lau ... you will see two long AIM missiles with white tips mounted in this position. The white-tips indicate the presence of live warheads, or war shots, rather than blue-tipped training rounds. For a better view of where the missile attachment points are located, see this image (http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/images/ORD_AIM ... where the hard points are outlined in red. You can see that
The presence of FAST packs plus wing-mounted external fuel tanks means that these F-15 aircraft were intended to fly CAP (combat air patrol) for an extended period of time, loitering over the area for as long as possible. Any aircraft getting too close could be destroyed from over 100 miles away. - doctorfungi, on 11/15/2007, -6/+73I like this one more :)
http://www.taosecurity.com/images/f-15_shuttle_lau ... - kschramm, on 11/13/2007, -3/+56How's an F-15 going to protect the shuttle from budget cuts?
- FortyCaliber, on 11/13/2007, -1/+50An incoming enemy bogey would simply be deterred by the presence of an F-15 wing. Missiles would likely cause collateral damage. The planes probably act as radar painters for ASM systems and would use the 20mm Vulcan for defensive capabilities.
- noodhoog, on 11/13/2007, -13/+47Err, yeah. 'cuz I'm sure teh terrists are just itching for a chance to hijack a shuttle and fly it into the moon....
- dsully215, on 11/13/2007, -9/+40Hello, new desktop background.
- SRSco, on 11/13/2007, -1/+31Cool picture but...
What. A. Retarded. Title. - jlhoben, on 11/13/2007, -11/+40Protecting it from what?
- vroom101, on 11/13/2007, -4/+32Bandwidth-friendly, 1600 x 1050 pixels, 879907 bytes: http://chamorrobible.org/images/photos/gpw-2005112 ...
via http://chamorrobible.org/gpw/gpw-20051129.htm - IShouldBeWorkin, on 11/13/2007, -2/+29This is cool even without the jet in frame, I've never seen the Cape Kennedy launch area from the air.
- black296tuuk, on 11/13/2007, -1/+28Man, does someone mow all that grass? I would like to see NASA's gardening budget.
- mrkmrk, on 11/13/2007, -5/+30Yeah. What this guy said.
- fnaqzna, on 11/13/2007, -3/+27The turrists.
Duh. - fcukbush, on 11/13/2007, -1/+25launch day takes care of it.
- Dokument, on 11/12/2007, -4/+24BOOM AERIALSHOT!
- jggr, on 11/13/2007, -4/+23Um, I am no war plane expert, but that plane does not look armed. It looks like there are extra fuel tanks, but no armament. So, can anyone enlighten me as to why these planes are there? Is it for protection, as subby indicated by his title, or is it more of an observation thing? (Observation is more likely methinks, but I really am not sure.)
- AnthonyA7, on 11/13/2007, -3/+21STFU
- SRSco, on 11/13/2007, -6/+24What. A. Retarded. Title.
- deaconyermouf, on 11/13/2007, -4/+19I'm so torn whether or not to bury or to digg... it's such a cool picture, but if I digg it, I'll be justifying that retarded-ass title. Buried on principle.
- snaacks, on 11/13/2007, -0/+14in real life, fuel tanks don't randomly make everything explode when they are shot
- Sham1969, on 11/12/2007, -8/+22this is really cool!!
- thailand1972, on 11/13/2007, -4/+17Well, they missed the guy in the balloon who took the photo
- tito13kfm, on 11/13/2007, -1/+131440x900 version with some color corrections and slight sharpening here (My GIMP skills suck, be gentle)
http://i3.tinypic.com/6uo2ejk.jpg - vroom101, on 11/15/2007, -2/+13Military Poised to Use Deadly Force to Protect Shuttle as 'No Fly Zone' Expanded for Launch
By Todd Halvorson, 27 November 2001: http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sts108_securi ... - charliespopcan, on 11/12/2007, -1/+11*facepalm
- Nerfdude, on 11/12/2007, -0/+9like a guy with a bomb, on foot, is going to get anywhere remotely near the launch site. give me a break.
- vroom101, on 11/12/2007, -2/+11Shuttle Launch to Take Place Amid Unprecedented Security By Todd Halvorson, 26 November 2001: http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sts108_previe ...
- fcukbush, on 11/12/2007, -1/+10probably terrorists. That's what you guys are in perpetual fear of right?
- saltmountain, on 11/13/2007, -0/+9Here's that image link again:
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/images/ORD_AIM ... - justinmt7, on 11/12/2007, -0/+8yeah the media really spins it out of control. The real reason the F-15's are up is to police the airspace around the shuttle's path. That jackass in the cessna looking for a great photo or some news helicopter could cause a disaster it it gets in the way of the shuttle.
- KarthVader, on 11/12/2007, -0/+8The ramp that is used to get the shuttle to the launch platform kinda looks like a star destroyer...okay, nerd moment over.
- cmorwhat, on 11/12/2007, -1/+99/11.
- tikiman453, on 11/13/2007, -2/+9wow. reading that made me feel smart. way to know your stuff.
- fnaqzna, on 11/12/2007, -1/+8Hmmm... any lower and you couldn't get everything in focus. It's not about the size.
- comradeTJH, on 11/12/2007, -0/+7Zee Germans!
- saltmountain, on 11/12/2007, -2/+8If you think that security at space launch sites is a paranoid new concept that is particular to America, take a look at the guard force at the European Space Agency's Ariane equatorial launch site in French Guyana. Since 1973, there's been an entire French Foreign Legion regiment (3ème Regiment Etrangère D'Infanterie) based there to protect the launch site. 2600 soldiers sweep the surrounding 800 square kilometers 36 hours before a launch to make sure that nobobdy gets close enough to pose a security risk. In their free time, the regiment also runs the Legion's main Jungle Warfare School and monitors the Brazilian border as well as a nasty mercenary war in neighboring Suriname.
http://www.fortunecity.com/tatooine/leiber/50/dgff ...
At least we don't have to deal with jungle sweeps in Florida. - myheaditches, on 11/13/2007, -1/+7To protect it from anyone attempting to damage the $1.7B craft. It would be idiocy to not protect it.
- vroom101, on 11/12/2007, -1/+7Photo from the International Space Station...
Rollout of NASA's Space Shuttle Discovery at Kennedy Space Center, Florida (April 6, 2005): http://img455.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rolloutsh ...
Details: http://digg.com/space/Rollout_of_NASA_s_Space_Shut ... - Xondar, on 11/12/2007, -3/+8The title of this article makes me gag.
- FenrisUlf, on 11/13/2007, -0/+5This was two months after Sept. 11th.
- TheSabre, on 11/13/2007, -3/+8No, but I bet they're just itching to fly a commercial jet into the launch pad and cost the US billions of dollars.
- antdude, on 11/12/2007, -0/+5So? It's new to some of us including myself.
- desertDenizen, on 11/12/2007, -4/+9Screenshot from Ace Combat 6
- tjordan83, on 11/12/2007, -0/+4Yea because I bet the F-15 was the only security measure they took. I'm almost positive there were some people on the ground guarding it...
- EBFoxbat, on 11/12/2007, -1/+5Didn't all F-15's just get grounded (with very few exceptions about imminently protecting troops)?
- vat0r, on 11/13/2007, -2/+6He says they are eyes in the sky for the smart guns on the ground. He's right.
- vroom101, on 11/12/2007, -3/+7Air Force Jets Ready To Protect Shuttle From Terrorism
http://www.wesh.com/news/9793300/detail.html - arpad, on 11/12/2007, -1/+5Oh, don't be a shmuck. If the terrorists of the world could even interfere with a shuttle launch, let alone destroy a shuttle, it would be a titanic propaganda coup. There's no need for any lame, Hollywood shuttle-hijacking scenarios. If they could even kick off some kind of a security scare and put off the launch for a day they'd try to do it.
- ayeroxor, on 11/12/2007, -1/+5Took me to some overly complicated download page. Next time, try an image host.
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