Shuttle Return...I have a bad feeling about this....

[sweetpatata6]

Simply Friggin Amazing.

The thing that still astounds me is the timing. Like the reporter at KSC said-
They said 1232 hours........

THey landed it at 1232 hou rs!

I don't get it... Can someone explain?

[RICHARD]

I don't get it... Can someone explain?

Sure!

First,
Nasa figures out the exact times that they have to shoot off or land any missions. For the satellite/rover missions they need to put the payload into orbit at an exact time-so that way it will orbit the earth or use the earth's gravity to sling it out towards the target.

It has to do with gravity, where the target planet is, or where they want to orbit the earth.

----------------------------

The scientists know how long it takes the shuttle to orbit the earth. So what they do is figure out the best time to land by calculating where the shuttle will be on the orbit that will bring them over the Space Center in Florida.


1232 hours is 12:32 p.m.

1232 is in military time. Since a day has 24 hours, the first 12 hours are 1-12,
the afternoon hours are 13-24.

So the first two digits tell you a.m. or p.m., the second pair tell you the minutes in that hour.

When you get to the 13-24 hour set, you subtract 12 and you get a p.m. time.

So..... 1415 hours is 2:15 p.m.! 1849 would be 6:49 p.m.!
0600 is 6:00 a.m.!

Practice and it gets easy!