Hubble And Shuttle:

The association between the Space Shuttle fleet and Hubble began at the point of the telescope’s departure from Earth, under the protection of Shuttle Discovery, as she lofted HST into orbit in her cargo bay on STS-31.

That early morning launch over 22 years ago always promised a new era of discovery, but it was the Shuttle fleet’s unmatched versatility that would prove to be the key for ensuring Hubble would fulfil its role. After all, Hubble – much to the shock of its team – was launched with a major fault.

The fault was only discovered after scientists first started to receive imagery from the telescope, revealing the main mirror had been ground incorrectly, effectively compromising Hubble’s eyesight.

Discovery’s younger sister came to the rescue of Hubble in 1993, as Endeavour launched on only her fifth mission to carry out a critical service mission, with the main goal of correcting the telescope’s impaired vision.

With STS-61′s five EVAs successfully installing a corrective optics package – along with new solar arrays – during the highly complex 11 day mission, Hubble was back to full health and started to provide the stunning images of the cosmos that have fascinated the entire human race ever since.

Discovery would return to Hubble in 1997, as STS-82′s mission upgraded the telescope’s scientific instruments, and increased its research capabilities. Discovery would visit her favourite telescope once again on the third servicing mission in 1999, replacing all six of Hubble’s gyroscopes – three of which had failed – along with replacing a Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) and the telescope’s computer.

In what was Columbia’s penultimate mission prior to her tragic loss, STS-109 carried out the fourth servicing mission in 2002.

The five EVA mission installed the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), new rigid Solar Arrays (SA3), a new Power Control Unit (PCU) and a new Cryocooler for the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS). Columbia also provided Hubble with a farewell push, as the orbiter reboosted the telescope to a higher orbit.

Due to Columbia’s loss the following year, NASA managers were left with a dilemma. Hubble was next scheduled to be serviced in 2005, yet NASA’s own Return To Flight (RTF) rules insisted on the “safe haven” requirement, allowing for an orbiter, damaged during launch, to fly to the International Space Station (ISS) for its crew to await another shuttle to bring them home safe.

With this “safe haven” requirement impossible for a mission to Hubble, the final Shuttle servicing mission was cancelled. However, with a robotic mission deemed not to be viable, pressure grew both at the public and political level to review the cancellation.

In 2005, incoming NASA administrator Mike Griffin eventually approved SM-4 for Atlantis and STS-125, after the Space Shuttle Program (SSP) started to prove its new safety measures were working – such as the increasing mitigation of External Tank foam loss and advances in Thermal Protection System (TPS) inspection and repair techniques – during the opening salvo of post-RTF missions.

The best possible crew were assigned to Atlantis for the final rendezvous between the world-famous vehicles, led by commander Scott Altman, assisted by six crewmembers that included John Grunsfeld and Mike Massimino.

Endeavour would also receive a co-star role by standing by as the STS-400 rescue mission, seeing her sat on Pad 39B ready to launch at short notice in the event Atlantis’ launch – from Pad 39A – suffered a major issue during the ride uphill on what proved to be a delayed launch date, as Hubble itself worked through problems on orbit.

That contingency wasn’t required, as Atlantis and her crew conducted a flawless launch and rendezvous with Hubble in May, 2009 – no easy task even under nominal conditions, as the orbiters used up nearly half of their prop capability just to reach the “height” of the telescope’s orbit and can endure higher MMOD risks.

The 14 day mission involved five back-to-back EVAs, including its own challenges – highlighted by Massimino literally using brute force to pull off the STIS hand rail from the telescope (see L2 video) during EVA-4.

However, the mission achieved all of its primary goals, including the installation of two new instruments, namely the the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) and the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC 3), leaving Hubble in a great condition to continue its role for many years to come.

One such example of the legacy Atlantis and STS-125 provided was seen via a NASA release on Wednesday, relating observations made by WFC 3 – an instrument that is much more capable than the WFPC2 (Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2) which it replaced.

Thanks to its additional imaging sensor that works in the near infra-red – something the older camera was not capable of – astronomers announced they have seen further back in time than ever before and have uncovered a previously unseen population of seven primitive galaxies that formed more than 13 billion years ago, when the universe was less than three percent of its present age.

These deepest images to date from Hubble yield the first statistically robust sample of galaxies that tells how abundant they were close to the era when galaxies first formed.

The results are from an ambitious Hubble survey of an intensively studied patch of sky known as the Ultra Deep Field (UDF). In the 2012 campaign, called UDF12, a team of astronomers led by Richard Ellis of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena used Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC 3) to peer deeper into space in near-infrared light than any previous Hubble observation.

Without STS-125′s delivery of the WFC 3 to Hubble, the latest results would have been extremely difficult to obtain.

The observations were made during six weeks in August and September, and the first scientific results now are appearing in a series of scientific papers.

“Our study has taken the subject forward in two ways,” Ellis explained. “First, we have used Hubble to make longer exposures. The added depth is essential to reliably probe the early period of cosmic history. Second, we have used Hubble’s available color filters very effectively to more precisely measure galaxy distances.”

The team estimated the galaxy distances by studying their colors through a carefully chosen set of four filters at specific near-infrared wavelengths.

“We added one filter, and undertook much deeper exposures in some filters than in earlier work, in order to convincingly reject the possibility that some of our galaxies might be foreground objects,” said team member James Dunlop of the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

Astronomers have long debated whether hot stars in such early galaxies could have provided enough radiation to warm the cold hydrogen that formed soon after the big bang. This process, called “reionization,” is thought to have occurred 200 million to 1 billion years after the birth of the universe. This process made the universe transparent to light, allowing astronomers to look far back into time. The galaxies in the new study are seen in this early epoch.

“Our data confirm reionization was a gradual process, occurring over several hundred million years, with galaxies slowly building up their stars and chemical elements,” said Brant Robertson of the University of Arizona in Tucson. “There wasn’t a single dramatic moment when galaxies formed. It was a gradual process.”

So while Atlantis is now long retired since completing her STS-135 mission, and is preparing to go on display to the public in her new facility at KSC’s Visitor Center, she – and her crew – can be proud of the legacy one of her many missions is continuing to provide to the public they served.

(Article images via L2, L2 Historical, NASA and Ed Cheung)

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Keeping Atlantis at home:

From the late 1970s to today, the Kennedy Space Center has thrived and lived for the processing and care of the Space Shuttle orbiter fleet. From Enterprise and Columbia, to Challenger and Discovery, to Atlantis and Endeavour, the workforce and the orbiters themselves lived and breathed in Florida.

After 30 years and 3.5 months of flight operations, it was, in many ways, mandatory that one of the most iconic vehicles in all history remained at home, at the Kennedy Space Center, FL.

The vehicle chosen for that honor was the Atlantis.

Undertaking the second-simplest retirement move of the Shuttle fleet, Atlantis backed out of the Vehicle Assembly Building shortly before dawn on November 2 to being her 9.8 mile, 11 hour journey to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

Riding atop her Orbiter Transportation System (OTS), a 76-wheeled vehicle, Atlantis’s route took her past her Orbiter Processing Facilities, where she underwent careful and meticulous processing for every single one of her 33 voyages.

After passing her OPFs, Atlantis’s driver turned the OTS south on the Kennedy Parkway. Atlantis was then be driven down the Kennedy Parkway to the interchange with the NASA Parkway.

Here, instead of turning west and lumbering a few hundred feet to the visitor’s center, Atlantis turned east and navigated (the wrong way, in terms of traffic flow) up the entrance ramp to NASA Parkway East road.

This placed Atlantis in the headquarters area of the Kennedy Space Center and took her past the Operations and Checkout Building (where all of her astronauts lived in the days before they climbed into her for their missions) and the formerly-named Space Station Processing Facility – where all of the payload elements for the ISS were processed for launched.

A short stop and ceremony for NASA employees followed once Atlantis reaches this point in the journey.

Afterward, she was driven around the headquarters area, off to the south, before turning west and driving over to the still-under-construction Exploration Park, located south of the visitor’s center. Here, members of the public who purchased tickets to see Atlantis were bused to her for an approximately 3hour-long walk-around and photography opportunity.

With that complete, Atlantis’s drivers set their sights on completing the 9.8 mile journey by turning Atlantis north onto Space Commerce Way and driving her north toward the NASA Parkway.

Once there, Atlantis turned east onto the parkway and driven the final few hundred feet to her permanent display location at the visitor’s center.

After delivery, Atlantis’s landing gear will be lowered, and the OTS will ease her down onto her wheels.

By November 11, Atlantis will be wrapped in a protective covering and then attached to steel support beams and leveling/lifting jacks, which will be used to raise Atlantis off the ground so her landing gear can be stowed for the final time.

Afterward, the beams and jacks will lift Atlantis about 36 feet into the air, her wings level with the ground.

Here, the complicated process of tilting Atlantis just over 43-degrees onto her side will begin.

The complicated process will see Atlantis attached to large support platforms that will bear her entire, off-balance, titled weight.

With tilting operations complete, construction of the building will be finished – with Atlantis cocooned for protection from building materials until late Spring 2013.

Once building construction is complete, Atlantis will be unwrapped and her payload bay doors opened through a completed process using payload bay door strong-backs and ceiling-mounted cables to counteract the force of gravity on the doors – which were designed for operation in the microgravity environment of Earth orbit, not the harsh gravity environment of Earth sea level.

When complete, Atlantis will be uniquely displayed as only astronauts have seen her – with her payload bay doors open, her robot arm extended, and her communications antenna deployed.

Backdropping Atlantis for the final display will be a giant LED television screen depicting the Earth, as seen from orbit, rotating slowly and peacefully below the Atlantis.

She will be displayed as she was meant to be – in orbit of Earth.

Atlantis - A lifetime of international success:

For over 25 years, Space Shuttle orbiter Atlantis served as a backbone to the world’s space community. Conducting more internationally themed missions than any other launch and entry vehicle in human history, Atlantis was a pillar of international cooperation both in space and on the ground.

Delivered to the Kennedy Space Center on 13 April 1985, Atlantis was the fourth and final of the originally-planned Space Shuttle orbiters, though she ultimately became the fourth of five Shuttles when Endeavour joined the fleet in 1992.

The only Shuttle orbiter named for a contemporary, 20th century, still-operational ship of exploration, Atlantis took her name from the Earth-bound ship of exploration for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute of Massachusetts.

That sea-fairing Atlantis, since transferred from Woods Hole to Argentina’s CONICET and renamed twice, holds the record of being the most-traveled sea fairing vessel in the world – with more scientific research-based miles to her name than any other ship in history.

Like her namesake, Shuttle Atlantis holds the distinction of being the most international space launch and entry vehicle in history, with 25 of her 33 missions dedicated in some way to the pursuit for multi-national cooperation.

And it all began on 3 October 1985.

CLICK HERE FOR PART 1 of Atlantis’ History:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/07/ov-104atlantis-international-vehicle-changing-world/

Launching on her maiden voyage on the STS-51J mission, Atlantis became the first and only Space Shuttle orbiter to have her maiden voyage classified by the Department of Defense (DOD) and the first Space Shuttle orbiter to actually launch on the first attempt on a maiden voyage.

Following this first flight, Atlantis was quickly processed for her second mission, spending only 26 days in the OPF, a record-fast processing flow never again matched and never again attempted in the history of the Space Shuttle Program.

In fact, the total time between her first and second launches was just 54 days – a record low for the Space Shuttle Program.

Tragically, before Atlantis could take to the skies for her third mission, her sister Challenger was lost with all seven crewmembers.

Following the disaster, Atlantis was used in 1986 for launch pad countdown procedure certifications/tests and emergency egress/rescue training.

Returning to active service nearly three years after Challenger and after the incorporation of numerous safety upgrades and enhancements, Atlantis conducted her first post-Challenger flight on 2 December 1988.

During launch of this STS-27 classified DOD mission, ablative insulation on the right hand Solid Rocket Booster liberated and impacted the right hand side of the Atlantis, causing significant Thermal Protection System (TPS) damage.

From the images the crew were allowed to transmit because of the classified nature of the mission, it was determined that the damage was no more severe than on previous missions.

Upon landing, however, over 700 TPS tiles were found to be damage, and one tile was completely missing.

Luckily, perhaps the only thing that prevented a burn through at the area of the missing TPS tile and the loss of Atlantis and her flight crew was the fact that the missing tile was located over a dense aluminum mounting – which provided some degree of protection during atmospheric reentry.

Thus, Atlantis became the most-damaged launch/entry vehicle to successfully return to Earth – a distinction she still holds.

After being repaired at the Kennedy Space Center, Atlantis went on to launch the Magellan interplanetary probe to Venus and the Galileo interplanetary probe to Jupiter in 1989.

She followed this success in 1990 with the STS-36 and STS-38 missions, both dedicated to the Department of Defense.

In 1991, she took up her role in the Great Observatories program with the launch of the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory on STS-37, followed by the STS-43 and STS-44 (her eighth and last solely domestic flight) missions later that year.

STS-45 and STS-46 followed in 1992 before Atlantis underwent her first Orbiter Modification Down Period to modify her for her upcoming role in the Shuttle-MIR Program.

Returning to service in November 1994, Atlantis flew her final solo flight – a flight that did not dock to a space station or rendezvous with an orbiting telescope – for the Space Shuttle Program with the ATLAS-3 mission.

CLICK HERE FOR PART 2 of Atlantis’ History:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/07/shuttle-atlantis-mir-realization-program-goal/

Seven months later, Atlantis launched on the STS-71 mission to the Russian space station MIR.

With this flight, Atlantis conducted the 100th, crewed U.S. spaceflight, became the first Space Shuttle orbiter to dock with a space station, became the first of only two Space Shuttle orbiters to be photographed from close proximity in space while docked to a space station, and became the first and only Space Shuttle orbiter to be photographed in that scenario while undocking from a space station.

STS-71 marked the first of seven straight voyages to MIR for Atlantis: STS-71, STS-74, STS-76 (first U.S. EVA around two mated spacecraft), STS-79, STS-81, STS-84, and STS-86 (the first joint U.S.-Russian spacewalk of a Space Shuttle mission).

After STS-86, Atlantis was removed from service and sent back to California for another Orbiter Modification Down Period of upgrades, enhancements, and modifications to prepare her for her support of construction of the International Space Station.

After two and a half years of down time, Atlantis returned to service with the STS-101 mission to the International Space Station. During this mission, Atlantis became the first Space Shuttle orbiter to fly with the new glass cockpit.

During STS-101′s reentry, however, Atlantis narrowly escaped another dangerous issue with her Thermal Protection System when a damaged tile seam on her left wing allowed super-heated gas to enter her wing. Thankfully, the gas did not penetrate too deeply, and Atlantis made it safely to the runway at the Kennedy Space Center.

Atlantis spent the next two years delivering supplies, labs, and truss segments to the International Space Station on the STS-106, STS-98 (delivery of the U.S. Destiny lab and the 100th U.S. EVA), STS-104 (delivery of the Quest Airlock), STS-110 (delivery of the backbone of the Station’s truss structure), and STS-112 missions.

CLICK HERE FOR PART 3 of Atlantis’ History:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/07/reaching-end-atlantis-fight-against-retirement/

As with 1985, STS-112 was sadly the final voyage of Atlantis before the loss of another of her sisters: Columbia and her crew on 1 February 2003.

With both Challenger and Columbia, Atlantis performed the second-to-last successful mission before both losses.

In the intervening two and a half years, Atlantis was upgraded with all Columbia safety enhancements and handed the all-important role as vehicle chosen to fly the Return To Flight mission – an honor she eventual lost to Discovery because of a landing gear issue.

In all, Atlantis was grounded for nearly four years because of Columbia, finally returning to space on STS-115 in September 2006 on a mission that officially resumed construction of the International Space Station following Columbia.

STS-117 followed in June 2007 and marked Atlantis’s longest voyage at 13days, 20hours, 12minutes, and 44seconds and the 250th crewed orbital launch in human spaceflight.

Atlantis followed this with STS-122 in February 2008 – a mission that saw her deliver the European Space Agency’s lab Columbus to the Station. STS-122 marked the first of three penultimate flights for Atlantis, as only her STS-125 mission was manifested to follow this mission at the time it was flown.

However, encountering delays because of the telescope itself, Atlantis did not launch on what was arguably her most important mission, STS-125 to the Hubble Space Telescope, until 11 May 2009.

For her one-and-only mission to Hubble, Atlantis and her crew of seven delivered two new instruments to the iconic telescope, replaced six gyroscopes and two battery unit modules on Hubble, and replaced the Fine Guidance Sensor on the telescope.

After 37hours of spacewalks, Hubble was restored to full operating condition, its orbit raised, and then released by Atlantis back into a solitary orbit.

With this flight of Atlantis, all four operational Shuttle orbiters during Hubble tenure conducted servicing missions to the telescope.

Upon completion of STS-125 to Hubble, Atlantis had two more missions to her name: STS-129 and STS-132.

STS-129 saw Atlantis deliver tens of thousands of pounds of external spares to the Station. It was, again, at the time of flight, her penultimate mission.

Six months later, after a record low number of issues during a processing flow for any Space Shuttle orbiter, Atlantis was on the pad for her then-final flight: STS-132 to deliver the Russian Mini-Research Module 1 to the ISS.

Liftoff of the first-last flight of Atlantis occurred on time on 14 May 2010. Upon landing 12 days later, it was unclear whether she would ever fly again.

In January 2011, STS-132 officially became the third and actual penultimate flight of Atlantis with NASA’s announcement of the official manifestation of STS-135 and the handing of that emotionally-charged final flight of the program to Atlantis.

On 8 July 2011, in front of an in-person, emotional crowd of over one million, Atlantis flexed her muscles, stretched her wings one final time, and ascended to the heavens.

It was STS-135 – the 166th crewed U.S. spaceflight, 135th and final Space Shuttle mission, 110th post-Challenger launch, 100th day-time launch of the Space Shuttle, 37th flight of the Space Shuttle dedicated to the International Space Station, 33rd and final flight of orbiter Atlantis, and the 22nd post-Columbia mission.

It was the end of an era.

Final reflections on a legend:

At the time of her delivery to the Kennedy Space Center in April 1985, few could have predicted that Shuttle orbiter Atlantis would be the vehicle to fly the Program’s historic final flight.

Over the course of her career, Atlantis became the first Space Shuttle orbiter to dock to an orbiting space station, going on to perform the most dockings to a space station (19 total) of any launch and entry space vehicle in history.

She obtained the distinction of being the vehicle called upon to launch more scientific laboratory modules for the ISS than any other station construction vehicle, launching Destiny for the United States (STS-96), Columbus for the European Space Agency (STS-122), and the Mini-Research Module 1 for Russia (STS-132).

And she was the final Space Shuttle orbiter to visit the two most iconic symbols of success thus far in humankind’s exploration of space: the Hubble Space Telescope (STS-125) and the International Space Station (STS-135)

In all, 25 of Atlantis’s 33 flights were dedicated to international pursuits, making her the most international orbiter in the Space Shuttle Program and the most international launch and entry space vehicle of all time.

For the official record, Atlantis (OV-104) flew 33 missions; spent 305days 7hours 47minutes in space; completed 4,848 orbits of Earth; travelled 125.9 million miles;  deployed 12 satellites; launched two interplanetary probes; conducted 19 space station dockings (a world-wide record she will keep for decades to come); carried 207 crewmembers to space; and was the only Space Shuttle orbiter to never suffer a post-engine start launch pad abort.

Put simply: her service is one that could not have been done without and one that has paved the way for unprecedented international cooperation both now and for the future of space exploration.

To many, she held the most meaningful name of all the Space Shuttles: ATLANTIS – a long-standing name of perseverance and longing.

Like the mythical city before her, Atlantis’s name symbolized our collective desire to push forward despite the nay-sayers and the unbelievers and reach for and believe in something that wasn’t always tangible but we knew in our hearts was there.

In this way, it is fitting that Atlantis was the final Shuttle orbiter to fly – taking with her our hopes, beliefs, and desires on one final Shuttle mission to expand our scientific discoveries and endeavours on the International Space Station and beyond.

To her workforce and to those who had the privilege to work close by her, she was a member of the family – a sister we constantly asked too much of, but a sister who gave more than we ever asked her to.

The final vehicle of the originally-planned orbiter fleet, Atlantis is now the final ship we say good-bye to, her flying days cut short for political purposes.

But despite the road that led us here, we will never forget the missions, the discoveries, and the ship named Atlantis.

To her and all who worked and flew aboard her, from all of us at NASASpaceflight.com, we say THANK YOU for an awe-inspiring journey.

To the good ship Atlantis – farewell and thank you for the memories.

Sincerely,
The NASASpaceflight.com team.

(Article images via L2 Historical’s huge collection of Hi Res (larger than desktop size, average 3mb each, many scanned and restored from hard copies) images, videos, MER reports, etc. For nearly every mission – over 500 gigabytes an growing just for the historical database. Some images also via NASA.gov and Larry Sullivan and Nate Moeller, MaxQ Entertainment/NASASpaceflight.com

Click here to Join L2 http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2 ).

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Atlantis Leaves Her OPF One Last Time:

Riding on top of the Orbiter Transporter System (OTS), Atlantis looked at a distance like she was getting ready for another launch; however, the Shuttle integration cells in the VAB are now being dismantled, much as the veteran spaceship’s systems were decommissioned over the past fifteen months.

Atlantis’ move also marks the completion of major Transition and Retirement (T&R) processing and the vehicle is now ready for her move down the road to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center on November 2.

A large crowd of KSC employees and their families gathered outside the VAB as Atlantis became the last orbiter to be backed out of OPF-2 after a passing rainshower moved through the area.

The OTS was parked on the tow-way in front of OPF Bay 3 for a few hours as a part of an employee event to give time for the gathered employees to walk around the orbiter, take pictures, and eat ice-cream provided for the event.

“It was a little bit somber this morning during the pre-test briefing – some folks got to give their thanks to the team and talk about what a great ship Atlantis was and is and all the great things the team did to make that happen,” Stephanie Stilson, NASA Flow Director for Orbiter Transition and Retirement, said in a media question and answer session.

“For us I think the saving grace is that we know she’s close by, so although we’re giving her away from the LC-39 Complex Area, she’s just going to be right down the road.

“I think that’s making it easier for everyone to accept.”

The roll to the VAB was one of the last in a long series for Atlantis this year, as all around the spaceship facilities have been decommissioned and retired and her sisterships have said goodbye to the Space Center.

Atlantis flew the last Space Shuttle flight, STS-135, in July of last year, returning to the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) at Kennedy before sunrise on July 21. A few hours later, the orbiter was towed from the runway to OPF-2 to begin T&R processing.

Click here for T&R Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/tr/

As it turned out, the vehicle stayed in OPF-2 longer than originally planned, with the vehicle being powered down for the final time on December 22. Then, in what would be familiar scene this year, Atlantis was towed into the VAB for temporary storage, first into the Transfer Aisle on January 20, then around to VAB High Bay 4 on Groundhog Day.

While in the VAB in February, work got started to remove most of the Main Propulsion System (MPS) plumbing out of Atlantis’ aft compartment – to be preserved for possible use on the Space Launch System in development by NASA.

On March 9th, Atlantis traded places with soon-departing sistership Discovery, moving into OPF-1, where the balance of the MPS component removal work was completed over the next three months. Then on June 29, Atlantis retired OPF-1 from orbiter processing when she was towed back to VAB High Bay 4, becoming the last Shuttle orbiter in OPF-1.

Next, on August 16, Atlantis said goodbye to her other departing sistership Endeavour, trading places and moving into OPF-2 one final time.

In the last few months in OPF-2, work to configure Atlantis for museum display was completed. The vehicle’s payload bay doors were opened and a mockup external airlock and Orbiter Docking System (ODS) were installed, along with simulated payload bay cameras.

The aft compartment exterior was closed out, with the remaining closeouts around the Replica Shuttle Main Engines being completed and nozzles being attached to the hollowed-out Orbiter Maneuvering System (OMS) pods. The External Tank doors were also removed in September; in an earlier Q&A session, Stilson explained that the way the Visitor Complex plans to display Atlantis meant the doors had to be removed:

“They wanted those to come off because…they’re mounting (Atlantis) through those connection points and so the doors were going to be in the way. If you think about it, they’re trying to convey (the orbiter) being on-orbit – well, the doors would be closed if it was on-orbit, so we took off the actual flight doors (and) they will build some kind of mockup door around the connection point to make it look closed.”

In the last few days, measurements of the orbiter’s weight and CG were taken, Atlantis was placed on top of the OTS, and her landing gear was retracted for the final time. Stilson said that Atlantis tipped the scales at just under 153,000 pounds prior to the roll. In comparison, the last few orbiters that rolled from the OPF to the VAB for stacking and flight weighed in at around 195,000 pounds.

Now, just as her departed sisters did earlier in the year, Atlantis will spend a few weeks time waiting in the VAB for her museum ride.

Atlantis’ move closes the books on Kennedy Space Center Shuttle orbiter processing, which began with the delivery of Orbiter Columbia by piggyback ferry flight on 24 March 1979. The next day, Columbia was towed from the SLF to OPF Bay 1.

Retired from orbiter processing with Atlantis’ move, OPF Bay 2 was first used with the delivery of Orbiter Challenger to KSC in July, 1982. Now that it stands empty, NASA and USA will begin decommissioning work on OPF-2 that couldn’t be done while it was occupied.

While the move officially ended the Shuttle Program’s work on the vehicle (Stilson said there was about a week’s worth of paper closeouts still to complete), it was just the penultimate one for Atlantis; in a little over two weeks, the OTS will take the retired spaceship on a long, circuitous path around KSC to get to the Visitor Complex.

Just outside the OPF area, the OTS will turning south on Kennedy Parkway, carrying Atlantis down towards the KSC Industrial Area and turning east on NASA Parkway.

The transporter will turn into the Industrial Area and eventually make it down to the southern part of the area, where it will turn back west and go across Kennedy Parkway into the parking lot at Exploration Park, where the transporter will stop for a few hours to display Atlantis for local dignitaries, invited guests, and media.

Finally, the Atlantis will be moved out onto Space Commerce Way, heading around to NASA Parkway for a turn back to the east and the Visitor Complex, circumnavigating a security gate.

To read about the orbiters -  from birth, processing, every single mission, through to retirement, click here for the links:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=25837.0

(Images: Via L2, L2 Historical, Philip Sloss/NASASpaceflight.com and Larry Sullivan MaxQ Entertainment/NASASpaceflight.com)

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And now Endeavour has the left the building.  At the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), NASA and United Space Alliance (USA) workers backed Space Shuttle Orbiter Endeavour out of Bay 2 of the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) for the last time on August 16th, ending over twenty years of processing work on the spaceship.

Shuttle Meeting:

The move also marks the conclusion of Transition and Retirement (T&R) processing for the youngest orbiter in the fleet. At the same time, Orbiter Atlantis was backed out of High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), and in a familiar scene over the past year, the sisterships traded places. 

Before completing the swap, Endeavour and Atlantis were parked nose-to-nose in front of OPF Bay 3 for a few minutes, allowing a large crowd of space center workers a chance to soak in what is likely the last time two Shuttles will be out in public together.

“This is a very historical moment for us, to have these two vehicles together again,” Stephanie Stilson, NASA Flow Director for Orbiter Transition and Retirement, said during a question and answer session with the media.

Also known around KSC as Orbiter Vehicle-105 (OV-105), Endeavour was originally delivered to the Kennedy Space Center on May 7, 1991, and launched on the first of her twenty-five flights exactly one year later. Her last flight, STS-134, ended early on the morning of June 1 of last year. 

After standard down-mission processing and removal of major propulsion system elements, the orbiter was parked in the VAB from mid-August of last year until early February, while the remaining Shuttle workforce concentrated on the other two vehicles. 

Since February, all of Endeavour’s systems were decommissioned so that they are safe for museum display – fluids such as hypergolic propellant, ammonia, and freon, were drained and their systems were flushed.  Pyrotechnic systems that could have been used in an emergency were safed and removed.  The vehicle was powered down for the final time on May 11 and the payload bay doors were closed on June 19. 

Another significant area of work on the vehicle since she was rolled back into the OPF in February involved removing most of the Main Propulsion System (MPS) components from the aft compartment, including tanks, valves, propellant lines for possible future use by the Space Launch System (SLS) program. 

All of that SLS removal work is complete for both vehicles, Stilson noted during the move. 

Replica versions of Space Shuttle Main Engines – know as RSMEs – were installed on Endeavour in the middle of July, followed by installation of the dome-shaped eyelids and heat shields around the engines. Finally, the tailcone was attached on August 6th. 

In the meantime, other parts of the vehicle were being closed out for the upcoming ferry flight; the hatch to the orbiter’s crew module was closed for the final time at KSC on August 10th. The final major task was to weigh the orbiter early this week prior to rollover.

Click here for additional T&R Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/tr/

“It came out to be, with the tailcone, approximately 155 (155,000 pounds),” Stilson said. ”If you take off the (weight of the) tailcone it got down to 149, so we were all really surprised – that was much lighter than we expected. But that goes to show you – all the components that were removed, especially out of the aft – the big impact of that. This is the lightest vehicle so far – even lighter than Enterprise, by about 600 pounds I think.”

Atlantis had been in the VAB since June 29, after being the last Shuttle orbiter to occupy OPF Bay 1. With Atlantis now in OPF-2, the processing team will finish T&R work over the next two months. 

“The Visitor Center here at Kennedy wants to display (Atlantis) with the (payload bay) doors open, and therefore wanted it to look as if it were on STS-135, which had an airlock,” Stilson added. 

“They have contracted with a local company and are in the process of building a mockup airlock… we’ll install that in the Orbiter Processing Facility, we’ll also install some mockup cameras in the mid-body, we’ll finish reconfiguring the crew module, and (also finish) closing out (the areas) around the nozzles of the Replica Shuttle Main Engines.” 

The current plan when work on Atlantis is complete is for the vehicle to be placed on the Orbiter Transporter System (OTS) and moved back to the VAB in mid-October, where she’ll wait a few weeks for a drive on the OTS down the road to the Visitor Center complex.

Endeavour will spend her last month at KSC in the VAB, much as she spent her first when she was first delivered to KSC in 1991.  Back then, Endeavour’s delivery brought the Shuttle fleet back to four, and the orbiter spent her first two months in VAB High Bay 2 before a vacancy opened up in the OPF. 

Current plans call for Endeavour to stay in VAB High Bay 4 until September 14, when she will be towed out to the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF).  The orbiter will be positioned in the Mate Demate Device (MDD), so that the lifting sling there can be attached.  Over the next day or so, Endeavour will be lifted up and placed on top of the NASA-905 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. 

Weather permitting, the ferry will takeoff from the SLF on September 17, bound for the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX); arrival at LAX is anticipated on September 20.

To read about the orbiters -  from birth, processing, every single mission, through to retirement, click here for the links:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=25837.0

(Images: Via L2 and special photography provided by Philip Sloss/NASASpaceflight.com – many thousands of super hi-res image stock available on L2′s new Photo Section covering all three orbiters – around 750 gbs in size.)

(L2 and NSF are continuing to follow the orbiters through to their retirement. To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

Related posts:

1. Dual flow ballet for Endeavour and Atlantis – De-stack debatePreliminary milestone schedules have been created for the complex dual...
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The stunning lack of an In-Flight Anomaly Review for STS-135:

For over 30 years, NASA’s Space Shuttle Program relied on the all-powerful and iconic white Solid Rocket Boosters to help propel every single Shuttle mission toward Low Earth Orbit.

For the entire life of Space Shuttle Program, one thing was certain: there would be an In-Flight Anomaly (IFA) review for all Space Shuttle missions to review all vehicle performance indicators and ensure maximum safety for the future.

And that constant held from STS-1/Columbia (April 1981) to STS-134/Endeavour (June 2011). Notably, though, STS-135/Atlantis is missing from the complete list of IFA reviews.

Some people within the program claimed it was related to NASA leaderships’ desire to kill the Shuttle Program as quickly as possible, following the highly successful and triumphant mission of OV-104 Atlantis on STS-135 (8 July – 21 July 2011).

What’s more, the non-performance an IFA review following STS-135 directly contradicted numerous pre-flight reports and statements by Shuttle Program managers, that specifically noted that all post-flight reporting and IFA reviews would follow normal procedures for the last flight of the program.

Essentially, the express desire by Shuttle Program management and NASA itself going into STS-135 was to treat it as if it were just another flight of the Program – as if there would be another flight, which in some sense is true given the large quantity of Shuttle hardware that will still be flown on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

But with the desire to terminate the program as quickly as possible came the 31 August 2011 “official” end to the Shuttle Program – and with it any chance of performing an IFA… something quite baffling when it is considered that numerous Shuttle hardware elements will be used for the Space Launch System rocket (e.g. the SRBs, Space Shuttle Main Engines, External Tank design, Main Propulsion System, etc…).

The directive not to perform an IFA was clearly issued following the successful return of Atlantis from STS-135 as indicated by the Mission Evaluation Room (MER) compilation of an actual IFA list (available for download on L2 – LINK) on 1 August 2011 for review at a later date.

Thus, the appearance of a detailed flight performance and IFA report for any element of STS-135/Atlantis is refreshing – though surprising. 

An inspiringly safe final SRB flight for the Shuttle Program:

Following the launch of STS-135/Atlantis on 8 July 2011, the launch vehicle’s twin SRBs were towed back to the Cape Canaveral for disassembly and post-flight inspection.

This process led to the creation of a detailed flight performance report of Shuttle Atlantis’s Solid Rocket Boosters on 18 August 2011 – not by NASA or Shuttle Program departments but by the contractor agency United Space Alliance (USA).

As noted by the USA Volume II – Solid Rocket Booster presentation for the Space Shuttle STS-135 Flight Evaluation Report (L2 LINK), “All Solid Rocket Booster subsystems performed nominally during launch countdown, flight, and recovery.”

With liftoff of the final Shuttle flight registered at 1129.03 EDT, the launch occurred on the first attempt with “No SRB LCC (Launch Commit Criteria) violations during the time period of SRB power up through launch. No exceedances of the Countdown Experience Base occurred this flight, and all SRB subsystems performed properly during prelaunch testing and launch countdown.”

But perhaps even more impressive than the clean pre-launch performance of the SRBs is the fact that “There were no SRB related In-Flight Anomalies (IFA) on this flight.”

SRB separation loads/events from the launch pad at liftoff:

Designed to bear the entire weight of the fully-fueled Shuttle launch vehicle on the Mobile Launch Platform (MLP), and thus representing the only place to securely bolt the SSV (Space Shuttle Vehicle) to the MLP, each SRB for the Space Shuttle was bolted to the MLP by four hold-down bolts with frangible nuts.

These frangible nuts had to separate prior to liftoff to allow for a clean launch of the SSV from the MLP. Thus, the nuts were designed to separate into two halves via a NASA Standard Detonator – with the fire command being sent to each frangible nut at approximately T-0.3 seconds.

This timing allowed the nuts to separate and fall into their designated receptacles where they were “caught” and prevented from recirculating in the aerodynamic environment around the vehicle induced at SRB ignition – thus preventing the frangible nuts from contacting the launching SSV stack and causing potential damage.

To verify the safety and continued functionality of this system, several post-flight and flight ascent data was collected on each Shuttle mission to verify a clean separation of the SRBs from the MLP and the eight hold-down bolts.

This verification process was performed for STS-135. As noted by the SRB flight performance report, “Post-flight inspection showed that all eight frangible nuts performed nominally, separating into two major halves. All four frangible nut major webs, and both minor webs, were identified in the debris from all eight blast containers.”

Furthermore, there were not stud hang-ups during liftoff, and all hold-down stud loads for STS-135 were well within family for the Space Shuttle Program – indicating a clean separation of the SRBs from the MLP at liftoff.

The maximum hold-down stud load for STS-135 was recorded on Post #2 with a value of 771.5 kips; likewise, the minimum stud load was recorded on Post- #5 just prior to SSME (Space Shuttle Main Engine) start with a value of 609.6 kips.

Both of these values were well within the maximum flight experience base of 841 kips (registered during the December 1988 launch of Atlantis on STS-27) and a historical maximum of 849 kips (registered during the STS-26/Discovery Return to Flight mission’s Flight Readiness Firing of the SSMEs).

Overall SRB ascent performance:

All ascent data points for both SRBs were well within family and consistent with previous nominal flights of the SRBs.

Both RSRM (Reusable Solid Rocket Motor) Ignition PICs (Pyro Initiator Controllers – the hardware that actually ignites the SRB propellant at T-0) met all performance requirements and functioned nominally.

All SRB rate Gyro performances were nominal, and correlated rate data from the Left and Right SRBs and the Orbiter’s rate gyro subsystems were within Shuttle specifications during powered ascent.

Moreover, “All reviewed measurements from the Operational Instrumentation performed properly throughout their respective mission phases for the launch,” notes the SRB performance report.

However, in terms of overall performance, of particular note were the Significant Event Times for STS-135′s SRBs.

While several of the manually initiated commands in the pre-launch timeframe deviated from their predicted time (an expected occurrence), of particular note were four flight event times that deviated ever so slightly from the pre-flight predictions.

The first was the actual time of ignition of the twin SRBs.

Pre-flight expectations showed a 0.006 second delay between the ignition command and the actual ignition of the twin SRBs.

Post-flight analysis of video from the launch pad revealed an actual 0.008 second delay between the ignition command (clocked from the SRB ignite command at T-0) and the actual, simultaneous ignition of the SRBs – a statistically insignificant 0.002 second difference.

Additionally, there was a 0.16 second difference in the time it took both the Left and Right SRBs to drop to a PC less than 50 indication – much better than the pre-flight prediction of a 0.3 second difference.

Likewise, there was a statistically irrelevant 0.2 second different in the safing of the Range Safety System (destruction system) between the two SRBs.

SRB nozzle null commands for SRB separation were nearly identical to each other and to pre-flight predictions; however, physical separation of the SRBs from the External Tank differed from the identical pre-flight prediction of MET (Mission Elapsed Time) 122.97 seconds. 

Physical separation of the Left SRB was registered at MET 123.08 seconds, with the Right SRB’s physical separation recorded at 123.12 seconds.

SRB separation performance:

Nevertheless, all SRB separation commands and performances were classed as nominal during STS-135.

Release of all structural attachments (8 total; 4 on each SRB – 3 on the aft attach bolts to the ET and one on the forward attach bolt to the ET) was completed within 30 milliseconds of the issuance of the separation command from orbiter Atlantis’s General Purpose Computers (GPCs).

Booster Separation Motor (BSM) – thrusters that push the SRBs away and clear from the ET – firing was nominal, with all 16 BSMs firing to completion.

SRB post-separation flight profile:

Both SRBs were tracked by ground-based radar assets from their separation from the ET to their loss of signal (LOS) due to the curvature of the Earth.

This LOS due to the curvature of the Earth nominally occurs at approximately T+340 seconds. But during STS-135, LOS for the Left SRB occurred at T+328 seconds, 12 seconds earlier than normal. Likewise, LOS with the Right SRB occurred at T+308 seconds, a full 32 seconds earlier than normal.

Post-flight review revealed this was due to a problem with the radar tracking site and not the SRBs’ post-separation flight profile.

Additionally, a temporary LOS was registered with the Left SRB at T+202 seconds. The signal was re-acquired at T+239 seconds. This LOS was traced to the same radar tracking site issue that resulted in the early, permanent LOS.

Radar tracking data of SRBs indicated a post-separation apogee altitude (highest altitude achieved) of 223,100 feet for the Left SRB at T+192 seconds and an apogee altitude of 223,200 feet for the Right SRB at T+192 seconds.

This deviated from the pre-flight prediction and Program nominal apogee of 226,836 feet by more than 3,636 feet.

Likewise, peak dynamic pressure on the Left SRB also deviated slightly from historical norms with a registered peak dynamic pressure of 1,500 pounds per square feet (psf) at T+309 seconds v. the historical norm of 1,456 psf at T+313.9 seconds.

Peak dynamic pressure for the Right SRB was not recorded due to the radar track site issue that led to an early LOS.

Nonetheless, both the peak dynamic pressure deviation and shallow apogee of the SRBs were “within the experience base of ascent trajectory planning and post-separation radar tracking.”

Drogue parachute deployments and associated loads were nominal, as was main parachute deployment, inflation, and associated loads.

Horizontal ribbon damage on five of the six main parachutes was reported during post-flight reviews; however, it was not noted during recovery operations if the damage was already present on the parachutes – indicated in-flight damage – or if the damage was caused during recovery operations.

Both SRB extension nozzle jettisons after main chute deploy and before water impact were nominal.

SRB splashdown:

With three fully inflated main parachutes each, both SRBs achieved nominal velocity for splashdown into the Atlantic Ocean.

Deriving splashdown times from “acceleration data recorded by the on-board data acquisition systems,” the Left SRB impacted the water at MET 398.98 seconds. The Right SRB followed with splashdown at MET 403.70 seconds.

Both SRBs hit the water at a relative speed of 76 ft/sec with a horizontal wind velocity measured at 30 ft/sec and seas at 4-6 ft at both splashdown locations.

Information from the Data Acquisition System (DAS) – a system installed in the parachute camera canister in the forward skirt of each SRB to record vehicle acceleration loads from just after liftoff to splashdown in the +/-125 G category – indicated a nominal +11.7 g water impact of both SRBs.

According to the SRB performance report, “This is within the range of normal SRB rigid body axial accelerations experienced for three fully open main parachutes.”

Likewise, post-splashdown cavity collapse occurred 1.17 seconds after splashdown in the Left SRB and 1.10 seconds after splashdown in the Right SRB.

Both cavity collapse times corresponded to in-family parameters from previous flight experience.

Interestingly, accelerometers in both SRBs did not record a “hard SRB splashdown” event that is nominally recorded approximately 3 seconds after water impact.

Thrust Vector Control system performance during flight:

For STS-135, all in-flight performance readings for the critical Thrust Vector Control (TVC) system indicated the proper positioning of all TVC actuators as commanded. 

As noted by the presentation, “During prelaunch and ascent, all actuators positioned as commanded. Actuator rates and duty cycles also correlated with the issued commands.”

All TVC actuator duty cycles correlated well the 134 flight experience base for the Right and Left SRBs, and all rock/tilt numbers fell well within the flight experience envelope.

Nevertheless, there were six minor exceedances in the second-to-second experience base… four for the Left SRB and two for the Right SRB.

The first second-to-second exceedance for the Left SRB occurred at T+12.5 seconds. “The LH Position TVC Tilt Actuator Position B58H1151C exceeded the second-to-second High Experience Base. The experience base high value was 1.89 inches, and the actuator position was 2.71 inches,” notes the USA SRB flight performance report.

This 2.71 inch actuator position was still well within the overall Left SRB maximum flight experience envelope during the roll maneuver.

Likewise, the all the other instances of SRB TVC actuator duty cycles spiking above the second-to-second maximum flight experience base were still contained within the overall maximum flight experience envelope.

SRB Thermal Performance:

Thermal performance reviews for the two SRBs for STS-135 further indicated a very clean and safe flight, with the actual flight thermal environment being “less severe than the current Performance-Enhanced Space Shuttle ascent and 95 percentile descent design environments.”

Click here for recent SRB/RSRM Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/srb/

No breach to the structural temperature limit exceedances were observed on the recovered SRBs, and all post-flight TPS (Thermal Protection System) conditions were well within family and consistent with previous nominal flights.

SRB in-flight debris environment:

A debris assessment review from ground cameras and on-board flight/engineering cameras from the SRBs and External Tank revealed a nominal performance and no major areas for concern.

In fact, only one squawk, 135-001, was written for “suspect ascent impacts in the RH ETA (External Tank Attach) Ring froth-pak foam,” notes the SRB performance report.

Post-flight analysis of the impact area revealed no foreign debris, and the impact areas themselves were consistent with previously-observed ice impacts to ETA ring froth-pak foam.

Moreover, all observed post-flight material loss was within flight experience and easily attributed to post-separation, splashdown, and recovery activities.

SRB onboard camera performance:

All four SRB engineer cameras and four Solid State Video Recorders (two per SRB) functioned nominally during first stage flight.

Likewise, ET-facing engineering cameras on the SRBs to monitor engineering targets of interest during SRB separation from the ET functioned as expected and collected good engineering images of the ET intertank panel during separation.

The camera feeds from the ET-facing cameras automatically switched to the parachute cameras 5mins 50seconds after liftoff. Nominal observation of the parachute deployment sequence was observed on both SRBs by the parachute engineering cameras (one per SRB).

An excellent final performance of exceptional hardware/propulsion element:

Overall, STS-135 appears to be the cleanest and safest flight of the ATK-produced Solid Rocket Boosters in the history of the Shuttle Program with ZERO In-Flight Anomalies indicated during preliminary post-flight inspections and only ONE squawk for damage that most likely was caused from ice from the External Tank, not the SRBs.

However, it is impossible to verify if this was, as suspected and indicated, the cleanest and most-successful flight of the Solid Rocket Boosters as no formal IFA review was held.

Nonetheless, the SRBs ended their service to the Shuttle Program as tried, true, and safe propulsive elements – thanks in great part to NASA’s and ATK’s intense desire to safely use the SRBs.

Obviously, this level of safe use changed significantly in 1986, finally morphing into what it always should have been.  But throughout the life of the Shuttle Program, continuous efforts were taken – at a different level of enthusiasm in the early days of the Program – to learn about and improve upon the SRB design.

This strategy and desire was greatly aided by the fact that 133 of the 135 SRB flight sets were recovered after launch, disassembled and painstakingly scrutinized for any defects or off-nominal indications.

Only two flight sets (4 SRBs total) throughout the life of the Program were not recovered: those on STS-51L/Challenger and those on STS-4/Columbia. The SRBs on STS-4/Columbia suffered parachute deployment failures and impacted the Atlantic Ocean at terminal velocity, shattering into multiple pieces and sinking to the bottom of the Atlantic.

Through this recovery and post-flight inspection process, safety levels continuous improved – even reaching the point of suspending Shuttle flight operations in the mid-1990s to address a partial burn-through of an inner O-ring on just one SRB.

And NASA’s use of SRBs is not over.  SRBs will continue to serve manned and unmanned launch endeavors for NASA as the Shuttle’s successor vehicle, the SLS rocket, makes use of twin 5-segment SRBs, verse the Shuttle’s 4-segment Solids, for its debut series of flights currently anticipated for the latter years of this decade.

To read about the orbiters -  from birth, processing, every single mission, through to retirement, click here for the links:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=25837.0

(Images: L2′s STS-135, SRB, RSRM and IFA sections – all highly expansive collections of presentations, photos, video and data. Additional via NASA and Brian Papke - MaxQ Entertainment/NASASpaceFlight.com.)

(L2 and NSF are continuing to follow the orbiters through to their final resting places. To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

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Atlantis:

Although Atlantis is not yet fully prepared for her retirement, the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) teams are looking to turn over OPF-1 to an unnamed commercial company, who – like Boeing and their CST-100 spacecraft taking up residency in OPF-3 – will breath new life into the facility now the Shuttle fleet has fallen silent.

Bart Pannullo, NASA Vehicle Manager for Space Shuttle Transition and Retirement processing, noted that the original plan was for Atlantis to be towed in mid-November out of the OPF and down Kennedy Parkway to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, where work is in progress to prepare the new facility where the orbiter will be displayed from early 2013.

However, Mr Pannullo added that there remained the possibility that Atlantis would have to vacate OPF-1 and go back to the VAB again, in order to make way for a commercial customer.

“If we turn the OPF over to another customer, we’d put Atlantis in the VAB until Endeavour rolls to the MDD (Mate Demate Device),” he noted in an interview with NASASpaceflight.com in April, with that plan now initiated.

No commercial companies have stepped forward with their claim on OPF-1, likely under an embargo agreement, as was seen ahead of Boeing’s deal with NASA and Space Florida for taking over OPF-3′s facilities for their CST-100 capsule that is one of the contenders to transport NASA astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) in the second half of this decade.

Planning documents (L2), under the 21st Century Spaceport concept, have shown various commercial vehicles using KSC facilities, including a fleet of Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) Dream Chasers – another commercial crew contender – being processed inside a clean floor OPF.

Official responses to the slides have noted such representations should be classed as notional only.

Pending acceptable weather, Atlantis will be rolled to High Bay 4 (HB-4) of the VAB, where she will remain protected by the giant building.

There she will become the new neighbor for Crawler Transporter 2 (CT-2), which is located inside High Bay 2 (HB-2), where it is undergoing modifications into a “Super Crawler”, capable of transporting the Space Launch System (SLS) to Pad 39B – (L2 Link to SLS Super Crawler Section).

Atlantis herself has contributed toward the SLS Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle (HLV), via the donation of large elements of her orbiter Main Propulsion System (MPS) and Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs – RS-25Ds).

In the end, Atlantis and Endeavour provided the majority of the components that will be used by the SLS test program, whereas Discovery remained mainly intact as the “Vehicle Of Record”.

Sporting three RSMEs – as opposed to SSMEs, following the Program Requirements Control Board (PRCB) decision to protect all flight-able SSMEs for the SLS program – Atlantis will have a similar appearance to how the public saw her when she returned home from her highly successful STS-135 mission, the flight that closed out the 30 year career of the Shuttles.

Although the SLS had not been selected at the time, the PRCB Change Request presentation (available on L2 – LINK) noted direction from the Space Shuttle Program (SSP) to roadmap the ability to keep the engines, and replace them with replicas for when the retired vehicles go on display at their exhibitions.

The RSMEs simply consist of a scrap – but cosmetically repaired – nozzle, with an adaptor to install it into the aft of the retired orbiter were produced by SSME manufacturer Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR).

Click here for T&R Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/T&R/

“Directed by SSP to prepare an integrated approach for an alternative to using flight Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) on post SSP orbiter displays. To obtain authorization and funding to design, build, deliver, and install nine (9) Replica Shuttle Main Engines (RSMEs) to replace flight SSMEs on orbiters,” noted the presentation.

“To preserve the SSME flight engines for future use, NASA MSFC (Marshall Space Flight Center) / KSC (Kennedy Space Center) / JSC (Johnson Space Center) recommends a replica engine be provided utilizing existing inoperable nozzle assets and an adapter to simulate the SSME for display purposes.”

With the Shuttle Derived (SD) Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle (HLV) utilizing four RS-25 engines on its core stage, the available stock of SSMEs (RS-25Ds) – now located at the Stennis Space Center (SSC) – will be used during the testing and the initial launches of the SLS, prior to the switch to the expendable RS-25E version of the engine in the 2020s.

With the legacy of Shuttle living on with the HLV, Atlantis will be able to feel the rumble of the SLS launching from Pad 39B, from her new home that is already under construction at the Visitor Center.

To read about the orbiters -  from birth, processing, every single mission, through to retirement, click here for the links:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=25837.0

(Images: Via L2, NASA, and Boeing.)

(L2 and NSF are continuing to follow the orbiters through to their final resting places. To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

Related posts:

1. Atlantis to rollback to VAB on October 20 – Hubble troubleshooting latestAs NASA and the SSP (Space Shuttle Program) refine their...
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Discovery’s Retirement From Processing:

Discovery’s move marked the conclusion of Transition and Retirement (T&R) work on the one-year anniversary of landing at the conclusion of her final flight, STS-133.  Discovery was backed out of OPF-1 and pushed back on the tow-way between OPF-1 and OPF-2.

Meanwhile, workers backed Atlantis out of her temporary parking place, swung her around, and towed her in front of OPF-1 where she was parked temporarily. Then, as a small crowd of Shuttle team members gathered with media for the photo opportunity, Discovery was towed by Atlantis, before taking the spot Atlantis left warm in the VAB.

After Discovery was spotted in the VAB, workers returned to finish moving Atlantis into OPF-1. Discovery’s move out of the OPF and into VAB High Bay 4 comes a little more than a month before the planned mid-April ferry flight to her Washington, D.C. area retirement home.

Sporting the shells of her decommissioned Reaction Control System (RCS) hardware and one of the aerodynamic ferry tailcones covering the back of her boattail, Discovery looked to most outward appearances like she just got back to Florida from a landing out at Edwards Air Force Base in Calfornia. 

Her ready-to-fly outside appearance somewhat belies the nearly year’s worth of decommissioning to make the spaceship safe for the public to view up-close at the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center. 

“The main thing is getting the vehicle safed, so that it can be in a public environment,” Stephanie Stilson, NASA Flow Director for Orbiter Transition and Retirement, said during a question and answer session with assembled media.  “Right now, we keep them in these Orbiter Processing Facilities, where you have to be badged and trained to even go near a vehicle. 

“We want to have them obviously so the public can get up-close and personal with them, so we had to remove hypergols (oxidizer, fuel), ammonia, freon – anything that could be a potential hazard to the public.” 

She explained how those were removed: “Depending on the system, we either went in and flushed it and cleaned it that way, or in some cases like for (hypergolic) fuel and oxidizer – because those are the most hazardous – we actually removed those components altogether.  So we cut out lines, cut out valves, cut out gaskets, those kinds of things.” 

Atlantis moves back into the OPF after more than a month in the VAB. 

She was moved out of OPF Bay 2 on January 20th into the VAB Transfer Aisle and then rolled around to High Bay 4 on February 2nd. 

While in VAB High Bay 4, Atlantis was leveled on jacks to begin work to remove aft compartment components of her Main Propulsion System (MPS), which are being donated to the Space Launch System (SLS) development program.

Meanwhile, work to finish decommissioning of orbiter RCS hardware continues. 

Atlantis’s set of RCS modules, consisting of a Forward Reaction Control System (FRCS) module and two Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) pods, was shipped out of KSC at the beginning of the month to a facility in White Sands, New Mexico, for decommissioning. 

While all of the flight orbiters flew with the FRCS module they were manufactured and assembled with, the OMS pods were more or less interchangeable. 

As a result, Atlantis finished her flight service with her own FRC4 module and with the LP04 and RP01 OMS pods.  FRC4, LP04, and RP01 are expected back at Kennedy at the end of May. 

Click here for T&R Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/T&R/

The “ship-set” that Endeavour flew STS-134 with, FRC5, LP03 and RP04, is back at KSC after decommissioning, arriving back from New Mexico on February 6th according to NASA.  FRC5 was reattached to Endeavour on February 8, and LP03 and RP04 are scheduled to be reattached this month.  Discovery is standing in the VAB with her FRC3 module and the LP01 and RP03 pods that she finished STS-133 with. 

Also known as Orbiter Vehicle-103 (OV-103), Discovery was first towed to OPF Bay 2 at the time of her first arrival to the Space Coast, in early November, 1983. 

Thirty-nine missions and not quite twenty-nine years later, the flagship of the Shuttle fleet will spend the next month or so in the VAB before KSC workers repeat the steps of her first arrival in reverse. 

She will be towed from the VAB out to the Shuttle Landing Facility on her landing gear, aerodynamic tailcone still attached, in mid-April. 

There she will be secured in KSC’s Mate Demate Device and raised off her landing gear.  The gear will then be retracted and the landing gear doors closed. 

She will then be lifted on top of the NASA-905 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft for a ferry flight up to Dulles International Airport.  The flight still remains planned for April 17th.

Discovery’s arrival at Udvar-Hazy, which is adjacent to Dulles, will start a four-day festival of events and activities to welcome the vehicle to the museum and the public. 

After she is demated from the SCA, Discovery will be towed just outside of her new home, the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar, for her welcome ceremony on April 19. 

Discovery will be positioned next to Orbiter Enterprise for the ceremony.

To read about the orbiters -  from birth, processing, every single mission, through to retirement, click here for the links:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=25837.0

(Images: Via NASA, L2 and L2 Historical content – And special photography provided by Brian Papke, MaxQ/NASASpaceflight.com – many thousands of super hi-res image stock available on L2′s new Photo Section – around 750 gbs in size.)

(L2 and NSF are continuing to follow the orbiters through their transitional period. To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

Related posts:

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Shuttle Preparing For Final Destinations:

While America’s perhaps best-known rodent meteorologist Punxsutawney Phil was forecasting an extended winter, Atlantis was moved into VAB High Bay 4 in Springtime warmth in a movie-like repeat of the previous day’s work. 

This orbiter shuffle was the second in a possible series of “double-moves” to get each of the famous spaceships ready for transport to their display sites in the coming months.

Orbiters Discovery and Endeavour traded places back in August, Atlantis and Endeavour switched positions this week, and the next potential double-move could be sometime next month, which would signify completion of Transition and Retirement (T&R) work on Discovery at Kennedy and her readiness to be ferried to Washington, D.C. in mid-April.

Atlantis will eventually take Discovery’s place in Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) Bay 1, but the exact timing and route of the moves will depend on when Discovery is ready to ferry.  For now, work to begin removing Main Propulsion System (MPS) hardware from Atlantis for preservation for possible Space Launch System use is slated to start in High Bay 4.

Meanwhile, T&R work has resumed on Endeavour in OPF Bay 2 to get her ready for her planned ferry flight to Los Angeles now planned for the Fall. 

Bart Pannullo, NASA Vehicle Manager for Space Shuttle Transition and Retirement processing, spoke with media in attendance on Wednesday for Endeavour’s move back to the OPF; when asked about upcoming processing milestones, he noted that Endeavour’s decommissioned reaction control system (RCS) hardware was on the way back to KSC. 

“They’ve actually completed processing and they’re in transport right now and they’ll be delivered to Kennedy Space Center on Monday,” Panullo said, referring to the ship-set of Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) and Forward Reaction Control System (FRCS) pods that were decommissioned out at a facility in White Sands, New Mexico. 

Depending on the progress of processing work in the near-term, Panullo said that Endeavour’s gutted FRCS module could be re-installed next week.  He also noted that contract negotiations are still ongoing for shipment of Atlantis’s RCS hardware to White Sands for decommissioning work. 

Discovery’s RCS hardware has already been re-attached, but when her OMS pods were reinstalled, they were noticeably missing OMS engine nozzles – although the pods were also missing most of their seldom-seen internal hardware. “Because some of the nozzles aren’t safe for ferry flight, they’re going to be installed at the display sites, post-ferry,” Panullo explained. 

With the second orbiter double-move underway and the possibility of another one, NSF also asked Panullo about what might happen with Endeavour between when she is “ready to ferry” and her actual ferry flight.  “Endeavour is going to be processing pretty much up until the point it’s ready to leave,” he said. 

“Now that’s where it’s different with 103 [Discovery]; 103 we’re actually going to finish up processing in the middle of March and move it to the VAB for storage and then it’ll sit there until it goes directly out to the MDD, the Mate-Demate Device, and that will happen in mid-April.”

Although the target date for Discovery’s ferry remains April 17, the exact plans and timing for where Discovery might be stored before her ferry flight seem to remain in flux.

While observing work to secure Atlantis in High Bay 4 on Thursday after her move, the media group there for the photo opportunity heard a few possibilities; the ones we heard seemed to depend on when Discovery’s T&R work is completed and she is ready to ferry.  The earlier work is complete, the more moving around – such as just seen with Atlantis – might need to be done. 

If T&R work finishes much closer to the planned April 17th departure date from KSC, then there might not be much moving around. 

Noting another factor, on Wednesday Pannullo said “there are some other things going on with facilities,” that might play into the temporary storage locations for Discovery before ferry.  No final decisions have been made yet. 

Click here for T&R Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/T&R/

The actual takeoff dates and ferry stops for Discovery and Endeavour will be subject to weather conditions, similar to the past.  When asked whether there might be any changes in the weather rules, Panullo said he was unaware of any.

In addition to work going with the orbiter vehicles at KSC, the media group also observed ferry flight hardware for Enterprise getting ready for shipment.  The Approach and Landing Test Article OMS pods (or ‘ALTA pods’) were originally built for Enterprise and were used in 1977 during Approach and Landing Tests at Dryden Flight Research Center and Edwards Air Force Base in California. 

The ALTA pods were subsequently used to ferry all the Shuttle orbiter vehicles at one time or another throughout Shuttle Program operations when the OMS flight hardware was either under construction at the final assembly plant in Palmdale, California, or in maintenance at KSC. 

Both ALTA pods were seen on Thursday attached to their transportation trailers in the VAB, sitting next to their lifting equipment.  One of pods was used in a practice fit check on Endeavour last year while she was in High Bay 4. 

The ALTA pods should soon be shipped to Washington for installation (expected to be permanent) on Enterprise.  Enterprise will be ferried out of Washington to New York City shortly after Discovery arrives in April. 

To read about the orbiters -  from birth, processing, every single mission, through to retirement, click here for the links:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=25837.0

(Images: Via NASA and L2 content – And special photography provided by Philip Sloss, NASASpaceflight.com and Larry Sullivan, MaxQ/NASASpaceflight.com – many thousands of super hi-res image stock available on L2′s new Photo Section)

(L2 and NSF are continuing to follow the orbiters through their transitional period. To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

Related posts:

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Endeavour back home in OPF-2; final KSC work begins on the baby orbiter:

Since being relegated to VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building) HB-4 (High Bay 4) in August 2011 to allow sister Discovery access to OPF-1 to complete her retirement and decommissioning flow, Space Shuttle orbiter Endeavour has sat in the VAB to be viewed by spectators and visitors to the Kennedy Space Center – a role she will soon adopt full-time later this year.

After nearly six months in the VAB – a stay in storage longer then numerous of her OPF processing flows for her 25 flights – Endeavour’s engineers flocked to her side this morning for final preparations for her move back to her home in OPF-2.

With Endeavour (OV-105) safely cocooned inside the protective and processing structures of OPF-2, final decommission work will now proceed on the baby of NASA’s Shuttle fleet.

Serving her country and the world space community proud for just one-fourth of her total design life, Endeavour will now spend the next six months (at least) inside OPF-2 – the OPF that became her very own processing facility in 2003, following the tragic loss of her sister Columbia (OV-102) and her valiant international crew of seven men and women – the 9 year anniversary of which we remember today.

After vacating OPF-2 on 28 February 2011 for mating with her ET and SRB stack for her final voyage, Endeavour was taken into OPF-1 on 1 June 2011, following her successful return from the STS-134 mission.

In OPF-1, Endeavour was quickly deserviced from STS-134 flight status before being taken into full-up decommissioning operations – which saw her lose her three SSMEs (Space Shuttle Main Engines), OMS pods, FRCS (Forward Reaction Control System) pod, SRMS (Shuttle Remote Manipulator System) arm, and numerous pieces of internal equipment.

Stripped down and exposed, Endeavour was rolled out of OPF-1 on 11 August 2011 to make room for sister Discovery.

Since then, Endeavour has been stored in the VAB, with no work being performed on her during her stay in the VAB.

Following the removal of Space Shuttle orbiter Atlantis (OV-104) from OPF-2 on Friday, 20 January 2012 to make room for Endeavour, technicians in Endeavour’s home OPF have been busy performing Open Bay Work – scheduled maintenance and upkeep work on the OPF-2 systems that cannot be undertaken with a Shuttle orbiter present in the bay.

With that standard Open Bay Work complete, Endeavour will now take center stage in the OPF as technicians complete all open work for her eventual centerpiece display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, California.

In addition to the installation of three Replica Shuttle Main Engines (RSMEs) into her aft, Endeavour will also receive her now-cosmetic-only OMS Pods and FRCS pod before having portions of her MPS (Main Propulsion System) removed for the SLS rocket and related program.

Significant work will also be conducted in the space underneath her Payload Bay as final efforts to completely safe Endeavour for public display are carried out.

Endeavour, however, will not receive her SRMS arm back. That arm, which enabled many of her accomplishments throughout her life, will be given to a Canadian museum – still to be determined – in acknowledgement of and thanks for Canada’s support for the Shuttle Program since its conception in the 1970s.

Like Discovery before her, Endeavour’s payload bay doors will then be closed for the final time and power cut to historic vehicle for the final time.

With power already terminated to former fleet leader Discovery and middle child Atlantis, Endeavour – despite having flown the penultimate flight of the Shuttle Program – will be the final surviving Shuttle orbiter once hooked back up to OPF power this week.

The most recent information indicates the Endeavour will be powered through mid-March, though with all T&R (Transition and Retirement) flow schedules in flux and under a certain degree of pressure to be finished quickly, it’s possible Endeavour could be powered down for the final time earlier than mid-March.

Click here for T&R Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/T&R/

After this milestone is passed, she will then be fitted with a tailcone assembly to prepare her for her ferry flight across the country to the CSC.

While timelines are currently in flux because of the added work of having to remove MPS components from all three orbiters – work that has not yet begun on Endeavour or her sister Atlantis, KSC Orbiter T&R Manager Stephanie Stilson revealed in an interview with NASASpaceflight.com’s Philip Sloss that KSC is currently targeting a mid-September, 2012 ferry flight for Endeavour, as much as this has since slipped to the October timeframe.

The double switch - Atlantis to take Endeavour place in VAB HB4:

With Endeavour safely in her OPF, Shuttle orbiter Atlantis (OV-104) has now taken up residence in VAB HB4, which involved her being wheeled out of the VAB transfer aisle and around the side of the building to the HB4 entrance – a move which was delayed until next week, before being pushed back up to Thursday and completed in the afternoon.

This now become Atlantis’s temporary home for February and most of March while her big sister Discovery completes her final KSC processing milestones in OPF-1.

However, Atlantis’s stay in the VAB will not be as solitary as Endeavour’s proved.

Unlike Endeavour, which saw now work performed on her during her VAB vacation, Atlantis will undergo the beginnings of her MPS tear down and removal while in the VAB.

While timelines are not solidified yet based on ongoing MPS tear down and removal work on Discovery in OPF-1, Atlantis is expected to remain in VAB HB4 until mid- to late-March 2012.

At this time, once all work is terminated on Discovery, the veteran flyer will be removed from OPF-1 and rolled over to the VAB for her last few weeks at her Kennedy home – a place she has called home since 1983.

After OPF-1 is vacated, Atlantis will be wheeled into the processing facility for her final T&R work.

In mid-April, Discovery will be rolled on her wheels from the VAB, past her two sisters, and out to Shuttle Landing Facility where she will be picked up by the Mate-Demate Device and her wheels retracted up into her belly.

Discovery will then be mated to the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft and flown up the eastern seaboard of the United States to Washington, D.C. and the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum on April 17, 2012 – 31 years 5 days after Columbia roared off Launch Pad 39A to begin this historic program.

To read about the orbiters -  from birth, processing, every single mission, through to retirement, click here for the links:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=25837.0

(Images: Via NASA and L2 content – And special photography provided by Philip Sloss, NASASpaceflight.com and Larry Sullivan, MaxQ/NASASpaceflight.com – many thousands of super hi-res image stock available on L2′s new Photo Section)

(L2 and NSF are continuing to follow the orbiters through their transitional period. To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

Related posts:

1. Dual flow ballet for Endeavour and Atlantis – De-stack debatePreliminary milestone schedules have been created for the complex dual...
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3. Atlantis to rollback to VAB on October 20 – Hubble troubleshooting latestAs NASA and the SSP (Space Shuttle Program) refine their...

Heartbreak And Honor:

It was only last summer when Atlantis was busy in space, doing what she does best, on a mission that was being conducted by an orbiter which hadn’t even reached the half way point of her service life.

Rather than looking forward to her next mission, Atlantis had to endure numerous speeches – and on occasion the crocodile tears of those who pushed for the program’s end – citing the “bright” future for NASA, despite her successful landing being marked more noticeably by the thousands of pink slips that were handed out to the workforce that helped enable her safe return.

Atlantis’ mission even missed out on the regular report card of the In Flight Anomaly (IFA) review (L2 Link to all IFA presentations from recent missions) - a key component for a follow-on, as NASA opted to ensure a line was drawn under the Space Shuttle Program (SSP), visibly seen on at least two occasions by the sight of shuttle documentation literally being thrown into trash bins near the Launch Control Center (LCC).

At the same time, a team was working towards a reprieve for Atlantis and her younger sister Endeavour, as efforts were made to take control of the orbiter’s fate via a privately funded deal – as reported by this site – before that effort failed due to the amount of “re-purposing” work that had already taken place for the Space Launch System (SLS).

One former United Space Alliance (USA) engineer sarcastically noted that if some NASA leaders put the same amount of effort into advancing SLS’ progress, as they did to kill the Space Shuttle Program, “we’ll be on Mars before you know it.”

To most people, the retirement of the Shuttle was sealed via the loss of the flagship Columbia during STS-107. It is also claimed that any real viable reversal of the retirement decision – made during the now-defunct Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) – required full political and agency level support around three years before STS-135, due to the phased shutdown of critical contractor bases.

Thankfully, the main enduring memory will be how the Space Shuttle Program (SSP) covered itself in glory since Return To Flight, not only successfully completing the final role for the fleet – as seen via the completion of the giant space station which continues to fly over our heads – but also via a run of amazingly flawless missions, conducted by what was a hugely complex – and indeed risky – spaceship by design.

Taming the orbiters for their swansong missions – and returning each ship and their crews home safe – not only honored Columbia and her fallen crew, but also provided a wealth of experience and knowledge, all of which is being handed down to the follow on programs, both NASA and commercial, with a priority on crew safety.

Soon the public will be able to honor the three remaining orbiters in person, with Discovery, Endeavour and Atlantis all moving through their Transition and Retirement (T&R) operations.

Discovery has made the most progress, as was expected, now sporting the Replica Shuttle Main Engines (RSMEs) – given all flight SSMEs have since transitioned to the SLS program – while the tailcone has been installed around her aft, a required piece of hardware to allow for her final journey to Dulles Airport on top of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA).

She will be rolled to the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) where she will be mated on top of the SCA in the coming months, with a final flight transiting her to the retirement destination of the world famous Smithsonian. She will also spend a short period greeting Enterprise on the runway, ahead of her trip to New York City.

Atlantis is yet to receive her RSMEs, and with missing Orbital Manuevering Pods (OMS) and Forward and Aft Reaction Control System (RCS) hardware, she did look less glamorous than usual during her roll to the VAB , where – upon arrival – she was greeted by Endeavour taking a peek at her older sister through a gap in the Transfer Aisle.

However, she wouldn’t of been aware of her shoddy appearance, following her final powerdown in late December of last year. The powerdown marked the end of her 26 year service to the United States and the world.

With Endeavour set to fly to the West Coast for her retirement, Atlantis at least gets to stay at her home port, taking center stage at a new facility which began ground breaking this week.

The retirement home will be hosted at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, with construction starting on a new 65,000-square-foot exhibit at the complex’s Space Shuttle Plaza.

“It is an honor to create the home for space shuttle Atlantis and to work with NASA to tell its story to the world,” said Jeremy Jacobs, chairman and chief executive officer of Delaware North Companies, which operates the visitor complex for NASA.

STS-135 commander Chris Ferguson was at the ground breaking, again showing his loyalty to the orbiter he brought home safe last year. The commander believes the public access to his ship will inspire future generations to step in his footsteps as an astronaut.

“It’s very fortunate we can celebrate this milestone, fortunate we had the foresight and the resources to preserve Atlantis to serve as a reminder of the limitless potential of the citizens of the United States of America, and inspire those who will come after us,” said Commander Ferguson.

“This coming Saturday does mark six months since the final landing of Atlantis out here, about three miles behind me,” said Ferguson.

“With that final landing, the shuttle program came to a conclusion after 30 years of discovery and exploration. At times we had to lick our wounds, at times there were joyous moments, but by the grace of God we concluded the program just the way we wanted to, very safely.”

However, the most apt words – at least from Atlantis’ standpoint – came from Janet Petro, deputy director of Kennedy Space Center, mirroring the affection shown towards the orbiters from the teams which often noted how the vehicles were like family members.

“For 30 years, the orbiters have been a part of our family. We’ve cared for them, we’ve protected them, and we’ve watched them soar. We’ve marveled at the similarities between them, and the differences that only ‘family’ could identify.

“Atlantis’ new home is beautifully designed to showcase her as the true engineering marvel that she is.”

To read about Atlantis from birth through to retirement, click here for the links:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=25785.0

Please note: Clickable links with (L2) references point directly to cited L2 content. Such content is only available to L2 members (please ensure you are logged in). All other clickable links point to NSF articles and open content.

(Images: Via NASA and L2 content.)

(L2 and NSF are continuing to follow the orbiters through their transitional period. To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

Related posts:

1. Dual flow ballet for Endeavour and Atlantis – De-stack debatePreliminary milestone schedules have been created for the complex dual...
2. Atlantis to rollback to VAB on October 20 – Hubble troubleshooting latestAs NASA and the SSP (Space Shuttle Program) refine their...