NASA’s 15 Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) are being transported to the Stennis Space Center (SSC), as they transition towards their future role with the Space Launch System (SLS). The highly reliable RS-25Ds – nine of which flew with the last three Space Shuttle missions – will eventually be succeeded by the expendable RS-25E, early [...]
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The Agency Flight Readiness Review (FRR) has – as expected – approved the July 8 launch date, after all outstanding issues were confirmed to be out of Atlantis’ path for what will be the final Space Shuttle mission. Meanwhile, the International Space Station (ISS) crew were put through a contingency event on Tuesday, following a [...]
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Managers at the Agency Flight Readiness Review (FRR) have – as expected – approved April 29 as the launch date for STS-134. The meeting also discussed the health of Endeavour’s External Tank (ET-122), following a bout of severe storm weather at Pad 39A at the end of March – resulting in high wind loads on [...]
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Endeavour is happily moving through her pad flow, despite having to endure yet more bad weather over her launch pad – resulting in additional inspections for hail damage this week. Thankfully, no new observations of damage have been noted on the External Tank (ET-122). Meanwhile, the Flight Readiness Review (FRR) for the Space Shuttle Main [...]
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Space Shuttle Program (SSP) managers have completed their Delta Flight Readiness Review (FRR) with a decision to press on to the primary Agency FRR next Friday. The expected decision came after managers reviewed the current flight rationale for External Tank (ET-137) following its modifications, although Discovery’s pad rats are having to work through numerous issues [...]
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Discovery is enjoying an issue-free S0007 (Launch Countdown), as engineers complete the loading of the orbiter’s Power Reactant Storage and Distribution (PRSD) system. The veteran orbiter remains on track for an opening launch attempt on Wednesday, ahead of the ride uphill – to be aided by her three Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs), which received [...]
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With the MOD FRR (Mission Operations Directorate Flight Readiness Review) and the Space Shuttle Program (SSP) FRR complete, NASA is quickly approaching the final stretch of Discovery’s pad processing for her capstone mission. Among the various items to receive attention at these two FRRs were the various mission timelines that might play out during the [...]
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The STS-133 flow has been slightly impacted by a delay relating to a problem with the Payload Ground Handling Mechanism (PGHM) at Pad 39A. However, Discovery remains on track the November 1 launch date, to be approved at the Agency Flight Readiness Review (FRR) – which will take place on October 25, following a “Go” [...]
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Arriving at Pad 39A on Thursday, prior to marking a significant milestone for not only the Space Shuttle/International Space Station Program, but also the U.S. space program in general, the flight of PMM Leonardo – the premiere payload element for Discovery’s final flight – to the ISS will mark the delivery and installation of the final [...]
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With just under one month to go before the final launch of Discovery, the tell-tale series of Flight Readiness Reviews (FRRs) are underway as NASA prepares to close out the year with the STS-133 flight to the ISS. Among the various items discussed at the STS-133 Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) FRR was the remaining standard and [...]
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Discovery is behaving well during the early part of what is her final pad flow, with only one issue reported as the stack continues Launch Pad Validation tasks (S0009). Away from Pad 39A, managers are beginning their departmental Flight Readiness Review (FRR) meetings, leading up to the key Agency FRR – which is likely to [...]
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Atlantis has launched – possibily for the final time – at 14:20:07 EDT on Friday. The Mission Management Team (MMT) meeting on opened Friday’s relatively issue-free countdown by only taking 15 minutes to give a “GO” for tanking of Atlantis’ External Tank – a tank that became the focus of an investigation during manufacture. Initial [...]
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With S0007 (Countdown) operations underway for Friday afternoon’s scheduled 14:20:07 EDT launch of Atlantis, Program managers have completed the customary L-2 MMT (Mission Management Team) meeting – officially clearing Atlantis for launch. Among the items discussed and cleared at the various FRRs (Flight Readiness Reviews) for STS-132 this past month were the previous IFAs (In-Flight [...]
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As the countdown begins for STS-132, mission managers are continuing to review the status of Atlantis’ hardware, using the baseline of the Flight Readiness Reviews (FRRs). In particular, certification of the STS-132 SRBs and RSRMs for flight was aided by the clean performance of both SRBs/RSRMs on STS-131 – with only one SRB IFA (In-Flight [...]
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Engineers are heading into a weekend of critical operations for STS-132, as Atlantis undergoes flight pressurization operations on the systems that will aid her journey to the International Space Station (ISS) in a week’s time. Wednesday’s Agency Flight Readiness Review (FRR) focused on one of those systems – the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) – [...]
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Wednesday’s Agency Flight Readiness Review (FRR) has approved a May 14 launch date for STS-132, following a very smooth meeting at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Among the topics discussed was the mitigation efforts on the problem of foam liberation from the External Tank (ET) intertank region, which has been classed as a resounding success, [...]
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NASA and contractor managers will set STS-132′s launch date during the Agency level Flight Readiness Review (FRR) on Wednesday. No major issues have been noted, while Atlantis continues to behave on Pad 39A, raising the likelihood May 14 will be set as the launch date. Meanwhile, engineers have pinpointed the cause of Discovery’s Ku-band system [...]
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Pad operations continue to track a tight timeline ahead of the targeted May 14 launch, as engineers successfully worked through a number of Interim Problem Reports (IPRs) associated with the ongoing hypergolic loading operations on Atlantis’ stack. All eyes are now on next week’s Agency-level Flight Readiness Review (FRR), which will set the official launch [...]
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With less than three weeks to go before the launch of the STS-132 mission, Space Shuttle Program (SSP) managers are gearing up for the second of three Flight Readiness Reviews (FRRs) this week – the SSP FRR. Meanwhile, the MOD has already completed their FRR, presenting special topics for Ascent/Entry and New ISS and Shuttle [...]
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Preparations are in full swing for next month’s scheduled launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis on the STS-132/ULF-4 mission to deliver the Russian MRM-1 (Mini-Russian Research Module -1) payload – and six external payloads/batteries via the ICC-VLD (Integrated Cargo Carrier – Vertical Light Deployable) – to the International Space Station (ISS), as the mission heads into [...]
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