With Kennedy Space Center workers towing Orbiter Atlantis on Thursday “around the corner” of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) the day after they moved Endeavour out of the same place, one might have thought it was Groundhog Day, and by coincidence it just so happened it was.
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It’s the final time Endeavour will enter an OPF (Orbiter Processing Facility). After a storied 19 year, 25 flight career, the Space Shuttle orbiter Endeavour was rolled into OPF-2 at the Kennedy Space Center this morning to undergo final outfitting, Main Propulsion System (MPS) tear down, and configuration activities ahead of her October ferry flight [...]
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All good things must come to an end. And thus was the grand finale of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011. It was year of exceptional highs and emotional scenes as Discovery, Endeavour, and Atlantis closed out their remarkable careers with same style, grace, mission success, and safety that all had come to know from [...]
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In a rare occurrence, Space Shuttle orbiters Discovery and Endeavour were purposefully visible together this morning at the Kennedy Space Center as a Shuttle shuffle took place to move Endeavour from OPF-1 to the VAB for storage and Discovery from the VAB to OPF-1 for full Transition and Retirement processing, set to culminate for the [...]
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From the beginning of the Space Shuttle Program, the promise of a permanent, space-based work platform – dubbed Space Station Freedom – was a fixture within the Program. And while Space Station Freedom didn’t quite materialize as expected, what came from the fruits of those laborious development sessions provided a solid foundation for unprecedented international [...]
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The Space Shuttle Program was well underway by January 1986 – with preparations marching toward the launch of the 25th Space Shuttle mission, a mission to place a school teacher in Low Earth Orbit. And while the STS-51L/Challenger mission ended in disaster, from its devastating aftermath came the hope of a new beginning in the [...]
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With Discovery safely back on the ground after becoming the first orbiter to successfully complete all of the missions assigned to her, NASA is beginning the process of shutting down processing operations in Florida. Specifically, NASA and the Space Shuttle Program are preparing to release Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3 from service earlier than anticipated, [...]
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Discovery is scheduled to receive the replacement Flow Control Valves (FCVs) over the weekend, ahead of a key flight rationale meeting at the Agency level Flight Readiness Review (FRR) next week. Meanwhile, a small bird managed to find its way into the Payload Bay of Endeavour.
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As Space Shuttle Endeavour continues to enjoy a smooth processing flow at pad 39A, Space Shuttle Program (SSP) managers have completed a series of Flight Readiness Reviews (FRRs) ahead of the STS-126 launch in two weeks time.
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Space shuttle Endeavour has been escorted on a mini tour of the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) pads this morning, after she was transported off Pad 39B for a seven hour journey to Pad 39A.
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The unique transfer of Endeavour and the STS-126 stack from Pad 39B to 39A has been moved forward to Thursday at 8am. Meanwhile, the main SSP FRR has concluded with no major issues reported.
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Engineers are working on a plan to clean up around 16 tiles on Endeavour’s nose, following a ‘leak’ of a ‘syrup type ooze’ from a Vernier thruster. The small thruster (F5R) on the right side of Endeavour’s FRCS (Forward Reaction Control System) came under evaluation during a desiccant inspection that resulted in a “liquid” leaking [...]
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STS-125 has been given a new “work-to” launch date of February 17, pending a November 5 meeting that will likely result in a Change Request (CR) to officially re-align the near-term launch manifest. Hubble troubleshooting is proceeding well, with NASA engineers preparing to switch over from the Side A control system, to the back-up Side B. [...]
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Preliminary milestone schedules have been created for the complex dual processing flows of Atlantis and Endeavour – which will hopefully result in the latter launching in just under six weeks time. While plans are now solidifying for the short term, evaluations are continuing on whether Atlantis will need to be de-stacked over the New Year. [...]
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