back to article NASA 'naut falls off bike, misses shuttle launch

Astronaut Tim Kopra will miss the forthcoming launch of Discovery on its STS-133 mission to the International Space Station, after falling off his bike over the weekend. There are reports that Kopra broke his hip in the mishap near his Houston home, but NASA remains tight-lipped. It said: "Tim is doing fine and expects a full …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. John H Woods Silver badge
    Unhappy

    Unluckiest...

    Person... EVER

    1. No, I will not fix your computer
      Thumb Up

      Re: Unluckiest

      Michael Collins was going to be the command module pilot on Apollo 8 but needed an operation on his back so Jim Lovell took his slot instead (Collins was probably gutted and Lovell probably felt really lucky) although when Collins was fit he took Lovells spot on Apollo 11 and landed on the moon instead of Lovell.

      So maybe Lovell was luckier/unluckier (mind you who remembers Collins even went there?), of course this twist and turn of fate put Lovell on Apollo 13, was that good or bad luck?

      1. Mike Perrin
        Stop

        Memory fail?

        Just to point out that Collins *was* on Apollo 11 but didn't *land* on the moon; Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin did the blasty landy bit, whilst Mr Collins stayed aloft throughout.

        Yes I do remember he went there. God bless them all and 'mankind's greatest adventure'.

      2. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

        A small correction

        Michael Collins never landed on the Moon. He was the CM pilot and was watching the show from the lunar orbit (but did not see very much) while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made the landing.

      3. Clive Summerfield
        Thumb Down

        Landing 69 miles off the ground....

        "although when Collins was fit he took Lovells spot on Apollo 11 and landed on the moon instead of Lovell."

        Hmmm. Given that Collins stayed in the CSM in orbit while Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the surface in the LEM, it's a bit of a stretch to say that Collins landed on the moon. In reality he never got any closer than about 69 miles.

        1. No, I will not fix your computer
          Headmaster

          Good call...

          Only a typo, mean to be "went to" rather than "landed on" (although you could argue the point that Apollo 11 was the mission, the mission landed on the moon, in the same way as mung bean, petuli oil parents say "we're pregnant", but it's not what I meant, just a typo), maybe Lovell was the lucky one, after all, he was made commander of the backup team (was this a consolation prize?), I guess it's all butterfly effect from the back surgery onward, who knows what the space program would have been like if he'd delayed the operation, would Apollo 13 got back OK? it was touch and go, decisions made at different times could have changed it.

          What (on the face of it) might seem bad luck, could be good and vice versa, cancelling Apollo 18-20 sounds bad, but it allowed skylab which was great for the skylab teams (can't think of anyone except Pete Conrad that was on an apollo team?).

  2. Mako
    Unhappy

    I bet he's using his good leg...

    ...to kick himself with.

    Poor guy.

  3. Iain 15

    Gaffer Tape

    See bottom right hand corner of pic - clearly the shuttle is begin repaired in the finest traditions of all bodgers everywhere

  4. DZ-Jay

    Lesson learned:

    Whenever I'm up for space travel, I'll make sure to stay indoors, in a padded room, and have my meals brought up to me and my personal needs attended by carefully chosen professionals. I'll also will not take the opportunity to taste any new foods nor practice any new activity, regardless of how attractive or pleasurable it may promise to be.

    No need to increase risk of missing my mission.

    -dZ.

    1. King Edward I
      Stop

      and...

      ...then you get kicked off the mission for failing the final fitness test. Unlucky.

      :P

  5. Paul Bruneau

    Don't be so quick...

    He could be the luckiest

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    The BBC...

    ...had this on their front page in the slightly jokey "Also in the news" section, but I don't think it's amusing at all. Can you imagine how gutted you would be?

  7. cosymart
    Paris Hilton

    Oldsters

    As a mere 50+ person I am surprised how old the "technicians" appear to be who are working on this fuel tank. I suppose they were quite young when the Shuttle programme started.

    Paris Hilton as she was quite young when she started...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Unhappy

      Its about time

      When I was coming up, I was always told that experience was worth a lot. So I expect that's what the techs in the photo have.

      I only wish my experience was worth more than it is.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    abc &/or 123

    "I think Steve will fit in well with this crew. He obviously doesn't have time to make a huge impact"

    That's just as well. Making a huge impact is where Tim went wrong.

  9. Gene Cash Silver badge
    Go

    Dremel tool

    Nice to see they're using a frickin' Dremel tool there on the shuttle tank. At least it's the latest model.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Oh, *Please*

    "he will not be able to support the launch"

    Talk English. He is not a piece of software, and I don't suppose he was ever going to hold anything up in the air.

    For Goodness sake: is it rocket science?

  11. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

    So, Bowen is flying?

    My God, it's full of stars!

    Only 10 years later than Clarke has predicted...

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    not THAT unlucky

    According to the NASA website, he's spent 2 months in space in the past and done a space walk, so he's not missing his only chance to ever get into space

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Better than

    falling off the space shuttle and missing his bike ride

  14. mhenriday
    Stop

    «... he will not be able to support the launch window next month.»

    Where does NASA find those geniuses who write their press releases ?...

    Henri

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I'm glad

      I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this stuff is crap.

  15. Francis Boyle Silver badge

    Falling

    is what astronauts do best.

    The trick is , of course, to miss the ground.

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like